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How to remove Babylon Search toolbar

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Babylon Search toolbar is often downloaded and installed inadvertently and the program has a tendency to make several changes to your web browser’s settings. The good news, however, is that you can easily get rid of this toolbar. Removing the Babylon Search toolbar requires a number of steps set out below

Uninstall Babylon from ‘Add or Remove Programs’

The first thing you need to do is uninstall Babylon in the same way you would uninstall other programs from your Windows system. Windows 8 users need to perform the following steps:

  1. Open the the search bar
  2. Type Control Panel
  3. Select Uninstall a program
  4. Select and uninstall Babylon

To remove the Babylon Toolbar from other versions of Windows the steps are similar. Find the Program in ‘Add/ Remove Programs’ in the Control Panel and uninstall it from there.

Remove Babylon add-ons and extensions

Next you will need to remove Babylon’s add-ons and extensions from all the web browsers you use. If you use Internet Explorer, perform the following steps:

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Click Tools, and then Manage add-ons
  3. Click Toolbars and Extensions
  4. Locate and remove Babylon Search Toolbar

If you use Mozilla Firefox, perform these steps:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox
  2. Click Tools
  3. Click Add-ons
  4. Locate and remove Babylon Toolbar (it will be under Extensions and Plugins)

If you use Google Chrome, perform these steps:

  1. Click the 3 horizontal bars (located at the top far right-hand side)
  2. Click Tools and then Extensions
  3. Remove Babylon

Change your Browsers settings

Next you will need to change Your Browser’s Settings to replace Babylon Search as your default homepage in Internet Explorer (when the program is installed it usually overrides your default homepage), perform these steps:

  1. Click Tools and then Internet Options
  2. Enter the URL of the page you want as your homepage

For Firefox, perform these steps:

  1. Go to Tools and then Options
  2. Type in the URL of your desired new homepage

For Chrome, perform these steps:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Click Change below the Show Home button entry
  3. Type in the URL of your new homepage

After you’ve changed the homepage, it is time to replace the Babylon search engine as your default search engine. Once you’ve done that, go to the last step – clearing the cookies from your computer.

Clear your Browsers Cookies

You will find the option for removing browser cookies under the privacy settings or security settings of your browser. The above steps can be applied to most unwanted downloads, it is good practice to clean up your computer on a regular basis and remove any programs you don’t want or haven’t used in a while.

Great alternatives to popular Windows programs

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Windows operating system comes with several in-built applications that many users never use. There are several free alternatives to these Windows programs, alternatives that consume less system resources and have better functionality and features. Below we take a look at some top alternative programs that you should try out.

Application to avoid: Adobe Reader

Reason– slow, hogs resources, runs annoying helper at startup and insecure

Superior alternative – Sumatra PDF

Sumatra PDF consumes far less system resources and is quite fast even in opening large PDF files. It does not have any adware inside the setup file and there are no ads displayed while using it. Also, the application does not have any problem with browser extensions and it maintains a history of opened documents which helps in easy access.

Application to avoid – Internet Explorer

Reason – less user friendly interface, less functionality and features, fewer browser extensions

Superior Alternative –Firefox

Firefox is one of the most popular browsers, offering very fast loading speeds and overall superior performance in comparison to other browsers. The functionality of the browser can be further enhanced by installing what are know as extensions. Firefox users have the biggest pool of extensions to choose from. Firefox supports all popular web standards and Web languages which mean it can easily handle HTML5, CSS and JavaScript used by many web pages.

Application to avoid – Windows Live Messenger

Reason – high memory usage, supports only one network at a time.

Superior Alternative – Pidgin

Pidgin is one of the best online messaging clients that lets you exchange instant messages with ICQ, Gmail, MSN, Yahoo!, AIM users from a single app. It works with different protocols simultaneously thus eliminating the need to use multiple proprietary clients. The interface of the application is minimal and it consumes far less system resources. It is also available in a portable version.

 Application to avoid – Windows Media Player

Reason – Less user friendly interface, supports few media codecs

Superior Alternative – KMPlayer

KMPlayer is easy to use and has several user friendly features that make it stand out in the crowd. Some of the features that are worth mentioning are Time stretching, pitch shifting, equalizer, remote controllable, and streaming. It also allows the user to change playback speed. All basic playback controls, volume controls are available at the bottom of the app interface. Important information such as total playback time, elapsed time, and remaining time is also displayed in the main app window. It also supports 3rd party codecs.

Application to avoid – Windows Picture Viewer

Reason – very basic interface, does not support all picture formats

Superior alternative- IrfanView

IrfanView is one of the best image viewers you can find. It uses far less system resources and has a host of features. It allows you to view almost every picture format, offers image file conversion tools, and batch mode for large scale image conversions. IrfanView presents you with several image tweaking tools that includes red eye reduction, sharpen image, auto adjust colors, swap colors and several useful photo effects to improve the look of your images.

There is no doubt the super alternative programs presented here are far better in terms of functionality that the default windows programs and best of all – they are free!

Windows 7 and Windows 8 Shortcuts – A Master List

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Shortcuts are quite helpful while working in Windows; it not only saves time but also decreases your dependency on the mouse.  Windows offers shortcuts for launching apps, moving between apps, moving windows around the screen, task bar shortcuts and many more.

Computer users who have installed Windows 8 on their desktops and laptops without touch screen functionality can easily see the usefulness of the shortcuts given here. Let’s take a look at some shortcuts that can simplify our daily interaction with the Windows 8 Operating System.

Windows 8 Shortcuts

The Windows 8 Charm bar is the doorway to the majority of tasks. The Charms bar offers different functionalities such as:

  • Search – allows you to search for location, files and settings
  • Share – allows you to share what’s currently on your screen such as emailing a page link to a friend
  • Devices – allows you to send current screen information to a device such as a printer or another screen
  • Settings – allows you to tweak six major settings which includes Power, Wi-Fi/Network, Volume, Screen and Notifications

In general, you are required to bring up the Charms bar to access any of the above mentioned functionalities.   What many users may not be aware of is that Windows 8 has some dedicated shortcuts to access these functionalities.

(Note: ÿ – stands for Windows logo key)

ÿ     Switch between Metro screen and last accessed application

ÿ+ C              Access the Charms Bar

ÿ + Tab         Access the Metro Taskbar

ÿ + I               Access the Settings Charm

ÿ + H   Access the Share Charms

ÿ + Q   Access the Apps Search Screen

ÿ + K              Access the Devices charm

ÿ + X              Access the Windows tool menu

ÿ + F              Access the Files Search Screen

There are several shortcuts that work on Windows 7 and Windows 8 in a same way.  Using these shortcuts every time for the designated task can save several mouse clicks and improve your work efficiency.

ÿ + E                    Open computer

ÿ + R                   Open Run Dialog box

ÿ + T                    Cycle through the items on the Taskbar

ÿ + M                  Minimize all windows

ÿ + Pause/Break            Open the System page

ÿ + Shift + M    Restore all minimized windows

ÿ + D                   Show Desktop

ÿ + O                   Lock screen orientation

ÿ + Z                    Show the commands available in the app

ÿ + spacebar    switch input language and keyboard layout

Alt + Left arrow                 show the previous folder

Alt + Right arrow              show the next folder

Alt + Enter                           open the properties dialog box of the selected item

Alt + Esc                               cycle through program windows in the order they were opened

Ctrl + Shift + Tabs             Move backward through tabs

Num Lock enabled + Plus (+)-     Display the contents of the selected folder

Num Lock enabled + Asterisk (*) – Expand the contents of the selected folder

Num lock enabled + Minus (-)    – Collapse the contents of the selected folder

Press Shift 5 times           –              Turn Sticky keys On or Off

Once you start using these shortcuts on a daily basis, you will soon memorize them and you will find yourself using the mouse a lot less!