One usability problem I've found with installing PC freeware products is piggyback installs of other products. (I suspect this is a way of sponsoring certain distribution costs of the base product) . I was updating a popular PDF writer utility; I remember specifically opting out of at least one optional install, but somehow I missed any opt-out for AVG Safe Search toolbar. This is not a reflection on the intrinsic worthiness of AVG products, but I prefer to install products directly.
The first indication that I had unintentionally installed the toolbar was when I opened a new Chrome tab and found myself facing an AVG version of a Google search home page. I went to my extensions page and removed a relevant extension but even after restarting the browser, same issue. I went to my browser search list and removed AVG, but the problem persisted.
I did a Google search and found a cluster of similar issues. There was a link to an AVG home page on browser add-on removal; nothing useful there, except I noticed they referenced the Tools versus Settings menu (probably a Google menu reconfiguration, a different usability issue); I found it annoying that AVG hadn't updated its webpage accordingly, but I was more annoyed there was nothing useful there.
It dawned on me maybe the toolbar software wasn't removed, and I checked my Control Panel Programs and Features. Sure enough, I found the toolbar there and uninstalled. This resolved the issue; I now saw my expected New Tab look.
