Want To Kill Hotbar

MerpsMom

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Founding Member
Joined
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Posts
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Leawood, Kansas USA
How does one rid oneself of this damnable barnacle?? I've tried deleting/disabling/murdering anything to do with it and it's STILL THERE!! How do you get rid of this horrible thing? Ad-Aware has been downloaded. Please tell me what to do to erase my foolish download of this nasty thing. :(

And...how DARE it tell me there is a write-protected file which I can't access: who the billyhell put the stupid thing on there in the first place? Me! so why is it write-protected?? :mad:
 
Hello

If AD-AWARE is unable to remove a file because it's "in use", it will usually do so during a system reboot - and automatically restart itself.

Try rebooting the PC to see if that happens.

Hopefully, that's all you need to do.

Mike
 
Not a chance. I've rebooted, rekicked, rethought it: this program is on here and won't be expunged. Now I'm just plain mad. What does it take to undo what I did? Nothing should be thing difficult to erase.

I'm watching the Super Bowl as I do this and what a surprise: it's a good game.

Someone please help me get rid of this problem. :( Mike?? who might be sorry he's now a moderator.


I WANT THIS THING MURDERED.
 
Hotbar offers a special uninstaller program, but I haven't verified that it works - and make no promises. Here's the link to their tool: http://hotbar.com/downloads/HbUninst.exe

Supposedly, the bulk of it can be removed by going to start -> control panel -> add/remove programs -> highlight HOTBAR and hit remove. After that it leaves behind some registry settings. That link above should take care of it all, or a combination of one of these and then AD-AWARE again after a clean reboot.

Ad-aware always did it for any of my clients that were infected. It's odd that it didn't work in your case. Was outlook open at the time maybe?

Please try and let us know. I understand your frustration!

Mike
 
I don't know about Hotbar. Does it install itself as another toolbar on MS Internet Explorer?

I've had some ISPs that install their own toolbar. In some cases, it was a simple matter of going to 'View' then 'Toolbars' and then unchecking the one you don't want to see. It's still installed - you just don't have to give up any real estate to it.

In other cases, it had to be uninstalled to make it go away.

If there is a write-protected file that's causing problems, are you able to identify and locate the file in Windows Explorer and modify the properties so it can be deleted?

In other words, if the uninstall program is identifying the write-protected file, you could do a file search to track it down and then 'un-write-protect' it so you could be rid of it.

I could have sworn you use a Mac. Mac users aren't supposed to have these kinds of problems. They get to focus on trying to find application programs that will run on a Mac.


[ 02-02-2004, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: Ron Eggers ]
 
Hello

Yes, it does install as a toolbar. It also attaches itself in OUTLOOK and to each outgoing email. It reports every web page you visit back to a central server, tracks your habits, and sends appropriate ads that match your interests. For some web pages it also tracks what you enter in forms and sends that info back to the server. It has the ability to steal credit card #s, and to run arbitrary code of its choice on your computer.

I believe it comes bundled with IMESH and often comes through spam email as "an important microsoft upgrade for your email that adds smilies and icons". I think most people fall for it because it looks somewhat official and mentions Microsoft.

Since it "puts its hooks" into both the IE and the Outlook programs, it's important to have them closed when doing an uninstall or Ad-Aware scan. This might be why she had the error.

Hotbar, Gator, Bearshare, 123search, Coolsavings, Comet Cursor, Cydoor, Ezula, are some of the popular ones.

Imesh, Gator, Radlight, Internet Washer, Limewire, AudioGalaxy, Morpheus, Grokster, OneMX, and Kazaa are some of the more popular programs that secretly install spyware in the background during their own install. Most of these are file trading programs.
 
Oh, that's nasty.

I just got an email from a Grumbler. At the end of the email were some very cute animated graphics and an invitation to add similar ones to your email by clicking on a button.

I did not click, but I checked the site and it was www.smileycen

If that's the same kind of deal, Mike, I'll warn the Grumbler who sent the mail (though he's probably read this by now.) If it's harmless, that's just great.
 
Dear Gussie: Had I known the thing was that insidiously invasive, I would have run, not walked, away. I did notice that the webpage icons changed depending on what subject I was researching. Should have been a clue right there.

Thanks to Mike's link to the Hotbar Uninstaller, I think I've driven a stake into the devil.

Novices and B-Team computer types such as myself probably shouldn't be allowed to cruise around with a mouse button in hand.

Thanx for all the assistance and advice.
 
Merpsmom the parasite slayer!


As far as smileycentral, opinions seem to be mixed. The company says no, and the public seems divided. It's PROBABLY safe, but there was a definate problem in the past with a specific "CAT" graphic set.

Mike
 
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