As many are painfully aware of, Oracle continues to not only bundle the Java installation with the useless Internet browser toolbar from Ask.com, but also enable its installation by default. In addition to the toolbar, Ask also replaces your favourite search engine in your browser with Ask.

Furthermore, the Java installation goes as far as to actually recommend installing this useless junk, meaning that any non IT-savvy person is more than likely to leave it checked and install it (after all, it was enabled by default and the friendly Java installer did recommend it, right?).

To add insult to injury, even if you remove the Ask Toolbar, you can be sure to see it again soon, when the next Java update hits you (which seem to happen quite often lately, due to loads of security fixes for Java, but that's another story).

I'll duly remove the check-mark to install Ask Toolbar, whenever I update Java, but when supporting my family and friends, it's obvious they don't.

How can I prevent the pesky Ask.com Toolbar from being installed in the first place?