Hotbar

[Ziggy1]

Sorry if this thread is in the wrong discussion forum:

I just downloaded Hotbar, I know it is considered spyware. But I'm on the losing end of an argument since My WIFE's whole family is using it!!!

I read the agreement where it says they collect personal info but is kept separate

I have Norton firewall so I know when an application attempts to connect to the internet, and this program seems to do so as soon as I turn the computer on.

Also is there a way ( a program?) that can give you details of what a particular program may be sending from your computer? I always hear about the various programs with spyware but would be interested to know what they are collecting and when.

I use Kazaa lite for this reason but now I have to do some convincing to get rid of this program if it is really not recommended.

Anyways I only found a few threads that talk about it so if any one has an opinion about it I'd like to here about it.

Thanks for you comments

Ziggy

 

[Rhettman5.1]

Get them to read THIS it oughta convince them, but maybe not, I have a friend who refuses to dump it even though he knows it's spyware...good luck...Rhett

 

[$teve]

read all the nice things people have to say about hotbar here:
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3302-2366-10156187.html


kinda speaks for itself.....ill let you decide.

good luck

 

[JohnWill]

If you want a free packet sniffer that will allow you to see everything going on, here's a good one. ethereal

 

[Ziggy1]

Thanks guy's

I'm going to pass the info, it looks like it is a pain to uninstall.

I'll have to run spybot to kill it

Thanks

Ziggy

 

[$teve]

it should be in add/remove programs..........remove it from there and then run spybot to take out anything left.

 

[JustMe2]

As a former user of hotbar, I can honestly say that I did like being able to 'dress up' my IE. But, I'm just one of those people who thinks that my computer is nobody's business but mine! No more hotbar now...but I do have this little plugin from MS... http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2378-906449.html?tag=lst-0-2

I'm now running IE6 and it still works. Just going to have to re-do all of my skins that I had made. I've had no problems with it either. And so far, my firewall hasn't said that anybody's spying on me because of it!
JustMe2

 

[Ziggy1]

There is no listing in the add/Remove programs and no un-installer.

This program doesn't really install like normal programs it just seems to integrate itself with Outlook and Explorer.

So I figure I'll use Spybot to disable it and then dig it out of the registry.

Ziggy

 

[suzi]

Be sure to update Spybot first; I think it will take it out of the registry too but I'm not 100% sure.

Check this link for manual removal instructions:

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/HotBar.html

 

[Ziggy1]

I ran Spybot and it identified around 100 entries for Hotbar. Spy bot successfully removed all entries, and every thing seems back to normal.

This is the first time I used SpyBot to remove spy ware, I've used Adware previously, but it is outdated as recommended by many on this site. The one thing I liked about it was that you could restore any changes it made where spybot does not (or does it?).


Thanks again 4 the replies


Ziggy

 

[jm100dm]

Yes you can restore from spybot. Go to settings and then settings and see your options.

 

[GreenIs]

I swear, when am I going to learn to check out a software here before I download it. OK off I go to rid myself of Hotbar... it's been freezing my computer up but hearing it is also a spyware...gees! figure tho' with the microsoft approval on it.

 

[JustMe2]

GreenIs,
There are several listed at download.com. joe2cool was thinking about using this one here a while back. Not sure if he ever did though. koolbar

JustMe2

 

[GreenIs]

Thanks JustMe. I'll check it out. It would be nice to have a program that works well and doesn't invade the privacy issues.

 

[Rhettman5.1]

I don't think Microsoft approved it, Hotbar just made it APPEAR that they did..usually you get the little download message when you recieve a mail from a hotbar user...and then you send it on when you send mail using it...clever little buggers aren't they ! ...Rhett