Hotbar

[APW 0]

Some $#@! thing called hotbar downloaded itself without my conscent last night,and installed a toolbar on my internet browser.Now it,according to a friend of mine,is spying on me and collecting information and wherever I go and whatever I download.It has also began making my browser crash,and is slowing down my connection speed.I tried deleting it,but was not allowed to.

Does anybody have any suggestions?My friend suggested I buy some sort of security program from Aluria Soft that can get rid of spyware and any trojan horse programs that I may have....I'm a computer idiot.I don't know what to do.

[removed 0]

that happened to me too! but it DID allow me to delete it.

 

one thing you can try is go to download.com and download Adaware. that works at getting rid of spyware.

[Red Shirt Volunteer 0]

Hmm, I had Gator once and managed to delete it. It didn' want to be deleted, but I pulled it off eventually - but I don't remember how. Most spyware is fairly innocuous and is used to target advertising at you; however, it's an open door for nastiness.

 

I suggest you install the following two programs on your computer to avoid this kind of thing in the future:

 

Zone Alarm Pro 4.xx

 

This is an excellent firewall that will stopi advertising. There's a free version that you can DL for nothing and use as long as you like, but the full version has better features. I believe it costs US$50. It's well worth it. It may slow down your Internet connection very slightly depending on settings.

 

Zone Labs

 

Pest Patrol

 

This program searches for and deletes nasty cookies, spyware, etc. US$40 This also has a free trial that you can download. If you're really desperate, you could DL it, get rid of the junk, then let it expire. Personally, I think it's well worth the money. If you go to the Zone Labs link, I think you can get both for a cheaper price than if you buy them separately.

 

Pest Patrol

 

I've used both of these for about a year and a half and haven't had any problems with them. You'd be surprised how much junk accumulates on your computer. I wouldn't assume that Hotbar is the only spyware you've got on your machine if you're not using a firewall.

Edited November 2, 2003 by Red Shirt Volunteer

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Backup all files and desired PC programs onto a CD-RW. Then, provided you have the programs on CD that came with your PC, including the operrating system, wipe the hard drive clean and re-install everything. Then re-install your downloaded programs from your CD-RW and copy your files over to the PC. It will be as if nothing happened and your PC will run better than before the problem. It's a lot to do, but beats virus-software hunting. :lol:

[Red Shirt Volunteer 0]

No, do not wipe your hard drive unless you have almost no software installed. It's not even that serious a problem. Even then you'd be looking at about 5 hours to reinstall Windows XP (if that's what you're running) and get it set up again properly. Also, formatting your hard drive does not necessarily get rid of all files. If you're that worried and don't want to pay money or waste time, just try the Pest Patrol trial.

Edited November 2, 2003 by Red Shirt Volunteer

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Have you tried running the uninstall program option to get rid of it?

[APW 0]

that happened to me too! but it DID allow me to delete it.

 

one thing you can try is go to download.com and download Adaware. that works at getting rid of spyware.

Thanks Bysty!I took your advice and downloaded ad-aware.It got rid of hotbar really quickly,and also found a ton of spyware on my computer and got rid of that as well.

Tomorrow I'm driving into Springfield and buying Ad-Aware Plus.

Thank everyone else,too.You are all great!

[Xeroc 0]

Speaking of Ad-Aware, there is also another (free) anti-spyware program called

Spybot Search & Destroy

It does an excellent job of removing spyware and also has an immunization area which prevents some spyware from ever being installed. You should get more than one anti-spyware program like Ad-aware and Spybot because when working together, they catch the most spyware. Both programs have been higly rated by consumers and tech magazines like PC World.

 

In addition, there is another great (free) program called

SpywareBlaster

It prevents thousands of spyware programs from ever being installed!

 

As soon as you get any anti-spyware programs, be sure to check for updates often!