Last Updated on: March 17th, 2017
This article tells you, specifically, the best way to remove the VisualBee (VB) toolbar from your computer. It tells how I got it on mine, and how I successfully removed it. It also tells you how you can remove the toolbar that’s troubling you!
My story:
Recently I downloaded some malware accidentally. I had been reading different articles on improving the performance of my laptop’s battery and came across a program that would count the number of cycles my battery went through and notify me when it was time to calibrate it. (Boy oh boy, just listen to me, the non-technical person, sounding all technical!) Figuring it would be handy to have, I downloaded it. It is called BatteryCare, and I got it from CNET.com.
The first step:
Once I realized I had some possible malware on my computer, I went into my computer’s control panel, went into Programs and Features, found anything related to BatteryCare and VisualBee (VB) and uninstalled them. Then I went to the recycle bin and emptied it.
I thought this would do the trick. It didn’t. My google chrome browser was hijacked by this malicious toolbar. It would not let me do what I wanted. Fortunately, I was able to open Internet Explorer and do a search on how to uninstall the VisualBee, or VB, toolbar. I ended up at mybleepingcomputer, where I read the problems and testimonials of others who had experienced similar problems. My solution was ultimately found here.
Although I did not trust anything at that point in time, and was extremely upset for having malware on mybaby (my new laptop’s name!), I had to do something. Since several people vehemently claimed that adwcleaner removed this toolbar successfully, I had no choice BUT to trust them. So I did.
My next step, which worked:
I had to download adwcleaner in order to get rid of the VB toolbar. When my computer asked me if I allowed THIS program to make changes to my computer, a big yellow exclamation point popped up and asked if I was sure when I said YES, even though I was not sure of anything anymore. However, I gave it permission, and then followed the steps I was told to follow in the posts I read at mybleeping computer.com and I WAS SUCCESSFUL at removing this unwanted toolbar.
If you decide that you want to remove the VB toolbar, also known as the Babylon toolbar (it probably goes by other names, too) then I would advise going to the link I provided, which is mybleepingcomputer, and then scroll down about halfway until you see the #7 posting by boopme, which has the link for adwcleaner, as shown below, and then follow the specific instructions that boopme gives beneath this link. I guarantee that this will work, and is the best way to remove the VisualBee (VB) toolbar. It worked for me!!!
What I did next:
I then did some further research. I found that most people who downloaded stuff from CNET.com got the present of malware that I did. My conclusion, therefore, is to not make the same mistake twice, and to NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FROM CNET ever again.
I am writing this to warn you not to go through the hassles I went through regarding this malware. I have also posted warnings to my friends on Facebook. I would like to shout out to the whole world that I hate CNET for causing me all this grief, and warn you to ALWAYS LOOK AT THE URLs of the pages you visit when surfing the net. Forewarned is definitely forearmed.
Until next time, happy surfing!
Oh god how much I hate malware, and you downloaded it from CNET, which I thought was a trustworthy source. We have to be so careful these days :/. Thanks for the advice and I really like the look of your blog, excellent presentation.
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
I know. I thought they were a trusted source. 🙁 I will never go to them for anything ever again!
Thanks for the compliments, Vijay. I have only recently discovered HEM!
SHARED & following you on Twitter… Again, thanks.
Thank you. I really appreciate the share. See you on Twitter, if I don’t see you here! 🙂
I am hoping that your stupid, annoying toolbar is gone. Do you know how you got it?
Thanks for the malware heads-up and for the solution, too!
You are very welcome, Bette!
I’ve had the malware and the browser hijack happen to me. My PC repair man (yes, male in this case) told me about a free program he uses for the malware problem. I downloaded it, of course. For the hijack problem, I downloaded another program from the same site. If anyone is interested, for both programs I downloaded, you can go to http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/.
Thanks for the tip, Glynis!
Thank you Glynis,
This is a great program. I was able to get rid of 62 infections on my PC. Running great.
YAY!
I agree, it’s annoying as hell but I don’t think it’s malware. Most security/tech sites say it’s a browser hijacker, not malware, example: http://deletemalware.blogspot.com/2013/05/remove-visualbee.html
I mean even Google, Ask.com, AVG (antivirus company) and many other well known companies have toolbars. And they actively promote them. As a computer repair technician I have experience dealing with malware and toolbars of all kinds and you know what I don’t really need any malware removal tools, for instance adwcleaner or any other to remove visaulbee. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t represent authors of visualbee and I’m not trying to justify them. I actually blame Cnet and other popular download sites for bundling toolbars, etc. even with non commercial software, so I totally agree with you >> “NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FROM CNET”. EVER!!! Unless they will stop promoting useless and annoying toolbars.
Matt
Thanks for your input. I have heard different things about this toolbar, but I can only speak from personal experience and that is exactly what I have done in this post. While people may have differing opinions about what is “malware” to them, I recognized this toolbar as something I did NOT want, and so I classified it as “malware”. Thankfully, I was able to remove it using adwcleaner, as noted, and, since I had success with adwcleaner, I have told others to use it to get rid of their UNWANTED toolbars!
Thanks goes out to whomever created adwcleaner, too, since IT TOTALLY WORKED!!! 🙂
Getting malware is soooo not fun, thanks for the heads up here!
Whenever you are downloading something, make sure you take the time to READ CAREFULLY the agreement, before you click I ACCEPT. That is how I got this stupid thing….by being naive….
Same thing here. I trusted adwcleaner. It worked. I got VB when trying to download skype. What a pain in the neck. Also have a few choice words for the people who created this.
It is difficult to know when and where you will get “infected”, and I am so glad to hear that you got rid of it. I was leery about trusting adwcleaner, too, but what choice did I have? I know how you feel, too, as I also have words for them!
I’m so over all of these things- they always turn out badly. I have had so many problems with these programs, and 99% of the time I inadvertently installed them with some other known program. So annoying
Yes, very!
This happened to me just the other day…bastards! lol
Yup, those guys/gals who do this to us are indeed @$$****$