Stop Java updates from installing Ask.com Toolbar

Many of us have to use Java, which means we all need to keep updated with the latest patches (of which there have been many, with no end in sight). The only problem is that each time there's a Java update, the user is asked if they want to install the Ask.com toolbar. No wait, that's not what happens. What happens is that the user is asked if they don't want to install the Ask.com toolbar. When the update prompt appears, there is a checkbox that is checked by default to install the Ask.com toolbar. No one wants this software, but it will often appear on computers anyway because of this checkbox.

Now there are many ways to prevent this from happening (the best one being don't use Java. But if you have to use it...). My way involves making a small change to the Hosts file in Windows. Whenever Windows has to look up a web address, the first place it looks for is the Hosts file. Here's how to do it:

For the quick and easy way, I have a batch file you can download to make the fix.  Feel free to right-click the batch file and go to Edit to see the source code before you run it.
http://ubuntuone.com/5p1OZpm6SnOv8q1wxNgLQB

To do the fix yourself...

Go to the Run command and type this:
%SYSTEMDRIVE%\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

And click OK.

It will likely ask you to choose a program to open the Hosts file with. Choose Notepad.

At the bottom of the document, add this line:

127.0.0.1   rps-svcs.sun.com

Click Save, then close it. 

Each time the Java update tries to fetch the Ask.com Toolbar, it's going to try to go 127.0.0.1 to get it, and it'll fail.  It'll skip over that and install Java normally.  In fact, if it works properly, you shouldn't even be prompted for the toolbar at all!

If you ever need to undo these changes, put a # in front of that line, or delete it altogether.

I discovered this by flushing my computer's DNS cache just before running the Java installer.  Once it was installed with the Ask toolbar, I checked what addresses showed up in the DNS cache, and then started blocking them in my hosts file and reinstalling Java.  I had my computer search in Documents and Settings for anything containing "apn", which is what the toolbar's installer calls itself (apnstub.exe, specifically).  Once the rps address was blocked, the Java installer didn't even ask, and the apn stuff never downloaded.