Yahoo hijacked my menus

it seems odd that a site like yahoo would do anything detrimental to your system. what specific problems are you having?

Yahoo added a menu item in my windows explorer under the File menu "E-mail with Yahoo!" and another one in my Internet Explorer under the Tools menu "Yahoo! Messenger"

I don't even use these Yahoo features and don't know how they got on my machine. I tried to find help in the Yahoo site with no luck.

I know Yahoo! updated my regristry but I can't find where. I have since started using a registry watchdog to prevent people from changing my registry without my knowledge.

Regards,
Mark

yahoo instant messenger? yahoo toolbar?

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A Yahoo tool bar was added to Internet Explorer. I was able to remove that. I don't use Yahoo! instant messenger.

Regards,
MEP

have you tried yet to use add/remove programs to uninstall any yahoo! trash that might be on there?

wow...i just downloaded yahoo toolbar and yahoo instant messenger to see if i could have the same problem you did...it ends up that yahoo had, in fact, installed about FOUR different programs on my machine. some of these programs had to do with yahoo! email and other things i didnt particularly know i was downloading. i went to add/remove programs and had to uninstall all 4 or 5 yahoo executables before i was satisfied everything was gone. i am still going to run ad-aware to make sure no little nasties were left behind.

if you tried to uninstall any yahoo! sofware without using add/remove programs, i suggest you find some utilites (preferably nortons) that will clean up rogue registry listings/program files.

It hadn't crossed my mind to try add/remove software. That fixed one of my issues (windows explorer). I couldn't remove the yahoo messenger explorer bar program using add/remove. I still have the Yahoo! messenger menu under tools in my Internet Explorer.

I guess I will have to find some registry fixing software.

Thanks,
MEP

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions
Delete the one with the Yahoo references.

Does it ruin the performance of your puter?

Personalized toolbars and context menus is a feature of IE 5+. If you made your own you could add it. The only way it could 'degrade' performance is by the running of the program and the toolbars and menus don't start the program unless you click on it. It's as harmless as winzip adding the 'add to zip' menu in your context menus after installation.

It fixed both issues THANKS!!!

BTW I still have a Yahoo entry in my Add/Remove programs that won't remove. Would you know how to fix that??

Regards,
MEP

Well it depends. I can easily tell you how to remove the Heading in add/remove progroms. However that won't remove the program only the fact that it still shows up in add/remove programs. You'd have to make sure the files and registry (if you care) are removed yourself.
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
It's not listed by plain text but it normally corresponds with how they appear in the add/remove util. At the worst just click through each till you find the one you wish to remove.

Thanks again!!! One last piece of assistance. I found one more place Yahoo! left its impression in IE. Its in "View-explorer bar - Yahoo! Messenger.

Thanks
MEP

It's just as easy to get rid of those.
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars
Find the folder of the one you don't want and delete it. Glad I could help you.

I checked there and there was nothing different from my second computer. Any other ideas?? Also all of the other entries had som mention of Yahoo!! in them. I didn't see anything in there.

Thanks,
MEP

If you had to manually remove it then check the explorer bar section under current user as well.
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars

Yahoo has been getting worse ---- they were pretty bad before. If you install a yahoo program you need to go to the custom installation menu to uncheck the email, toolbar, etc features. It's not obvious. They don't neccesarily hurt performance, but they are, generally, unwanted clutter installed without permission. My son uses Yahoo Instant Messenger, and I am constantly going in and trying to turn off auto update and features that come with the updates. It has a life of its own.

Hijack This http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/ will let you easily change the registry keys that control search features that were taken over by Yahoo, plus show you other things you may not suspect are running when you start up. (but be careful what you change)
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