This is a long-shot and probably won’t work but you can try using Windows Enabler to enable the uninstall button on the Bing add-on in Add-Ons.
Even though this program was written before Windows 7 came out, I’ve used it on W7 machines and it does exactly what it was made to do.
Good luck.
OK. Spent the entire afternoon reinstalling Windows 7. Went as smoothly as it could go, took all afternoon, but at least now it appears that the error message on Windows Services doesn’t pop up when I boot up.
However, what is funny/infuriating:
I completely uninstalled Firefox and all remnants of it. I saved the bookmarks and passwords only. The problems all started when MS did the stealth install of the Bing Bar in Firefox. And there were questions people had in terms of “well, you must have inadvertently agreed to install it when you installed some add-on.” So - new Firefox install, no add-ons at all.
And guess what - there’s the damned Bing Bar showing back up in the Firefox interface! On a completely fresh Firefox install, after a complete reinstall of Windows 7. And of course, the uninstall button is dimmed out, so I can disable it but not uninstall it. Apparently Microsoft still has this stealth install as part of it’s critical updates package.
I’ve had less trouble getting rid of various trojans than this Bing Bar.
It’s not part of critical updates. I did two machine rebuilds this weekend and that thing has never shown up. It’s never shown up for months ever since it slipped out those months ago. Did you install properly by wiping the drive or you just tried to “install over?”
I’m assuming you’ve read this 100 times already but it’s worth bolding what Mozilla says installs this in the first place:
Let me note something as well: Windows Live Essentials shows up after any recent Microsoft Office install as well as an “optional” update after Office is installed. Skip it, never install it, and uninstall it if it’s there. If you really, really need Windows Live Essentials, then you should probably get used to that Bing bar.
To add to what Rei is saying, I think he’s right, you’re installing optional updates either by choice or inadvertently with your Windows Update settings.
you installed a ‘complete’ install of windows live essentials without reading.
bing bar and parental controls along with windows live messenger, windows live mail etc, blog writer etc. are all options you can deselect.
windows live essentials is under OPTIONAL windows update…hell it’s not even windows update, it’s only after you OPT INTO “microsoft update.”
then, windows live essentials shows up under optional microsoft offers.
PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE INSTALLING.
don’t install the wle (that comes with bing toolbar, so it’s not insidious at all) that is offered to you as part of windows update. install, if you want finer control, get the web/custom installer from http://messenger.live.com and deselect the parts you don’t want.
My Windows Update settings are set to “Criitical updates only.” Always have been, and checked when this happened to make sure it wasn’t reset to something else. And that is what I set it to when I reinstalled Windows 7 this afternoon.
I don’t have Windows Live Essentials installed, have never installed it or allowed it to be installed that I know of (I’m very persnickety at what I allow on this system.) The Bing Toolbar has never shown up on my system before this recent event. I seriously wish I HAD installed those (I don’t even have Office on this notebook) because then I’d know how it ended up on here.
So - let’s assume gremlins somehow installed WLE on here somehow - how would I uninstall it? It doesn’t show up in any uninstall list.
Windows haunted by the Bing Bar cracks me up. Sorry, Jeff. :)
Seems counter intuitive but try grabbing the installer from messenger.live.com and doing a FULL install so it re-registers the installer with add/remove
What a stubborn little Bing bar it is too. I’m beginning to wonder if you have a different version of Windows 7 than what I use at home and work and that’s why the update is hitting you automatically.
The page below is from one of the MS Messenger gurus and has a link to a tool to remove several of the items that trigger the update. The problem then is, how do you remove the update:
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!1118.entry
Yeah, I was in disbelief after I completely uninstalled Firefox (including all traces) and then reinstalled Windows 7. After I then reinstalled Firefox, all my passwords, bookmarks, history, and add-ons were gone - except for the damned Bing Bar, which I had to go in and disable again, and which still will not allow you to uninstall it. It is like a bad virus.
What is really odd - I don’t use Hotmail, I don’t have Office on this notebook, I don’t use Messenger nor do I have it or any MS “helper” installed. I have an account for XBox live, but I made sure that I didn’t accept any accessories or apps, etc. Why/how this thing infiltrated my system is a mystery. And now it is my goal in life to get it out of my FF add-on list and uninstalled.
Again Window 7 Home Premium, 64 bit. It attached itself on two of my notebooks, a netbook I use for work and this personal home notebook.
No problem. I feel like Bill Murray trying to kill the gopher.
I just thought of a possibly useful suggestion: did you check the “Turn Windows features on or off” list? Those are installed programs that Windows classifies as parts of Windows rather than separate applications, and I’m not sure what category Windows Live or the Bing Bar would fall under.
Weird. This thread got me to check, and I had Bing Bar as a disabled addon in Firefox (no idea how I picked it up, probably related to something Live or Office). I uninstalled Bing Bar from control panel and it was gone from Firefox, too. I don’t know why yours is being so stubborn.
Yeah, one of the first things I did was look in there to see if something was lurking - nothing there.
I originally did the Bing Bar uninstall via Add/Remove Programs, and even though it said it uninstalled it, it was still in my Firefox Add-0ns.
After I completely uninstalled Firefox including the option to delete all records, etc. and then reinstalled Windows 7, the Bing Bar was immediately back in the FF add-ons list AND there is no option in Add/Remove to uninstall it.
More related threads with possible issues. Eventually something here will hopefully work.
Jeff I’m curios under Firefox if you browse to about:config and search for bing what all comes up.
All that shows up is:
extensions.smarterwiki.search_bing;false
Didn’t you do some sort of migration of settings & bookmarks after your fresh install? Thought I remember you asking about doing so earlier in the thread.
I eventually did. But when I did the fresh, clean reinstall of FF, I looked in the Add-ons before I reimported anything. There were no add-ons - except for the Bing Bar. Which was enabled. Once again, I disabled it, but was unable to remove it. I didn’t import settings (bookmarks and logins) until later.
At this point, it is more of a personal crusade than anything. I have the Bing Bar disabled, but I am trying to figure out how to remove it from my addons list and uninstall it from my computer. Nothing in any link so far has worked for purging it from my system.
The Bing Bar is my Moby Dick at this point.
Where are you getting your Firefox install package from? Perhaps it is embedded in that installer?