Hotbar

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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