Jan 31 2008
No Hotbar, Please!
I thought this had died down, but I have started seeing it more and more again. And yes, this is for my Windows using friends. Please, please, please do not install Hotbar. If you have it now, please uninstall it and run something like Spybot Search & Destroy or go to http://housecall.antivirus.com and run their free scan.
Hotbar is a known carrier of spyware. Yes, it will help you put cute little smiley faces in your email. Yes, it adds a neat little toolbar to your browser. But it has been proven to slow down machines, cause pop-up windows, and allow in all kinds of other unfriendly beasties. Baseline is that you do not want it on your machine.
You also really do need a full suite of protection protects on your Windows machine. For the home user I recommend AVG’s free anti-virus for Grisoft. You can also either use their spyware tool or the one I mentioned above. Or, if using Vista, just use Microsoft Defender which came with Windows to protect your machine from spyware. But please, use something.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or feedback please let me know!
Many moons ago I installed this - quickly uninstalled it when I realised how much crap came with it!!
The previous post listed Hotbar (provided by Zango, Inc.) as a threat.
We would like to correct this listing.
Hotbar is a safe and secure program which will not harm users’ computer.
We are certainly aware of the ever-growing number of harmful applications that have surfaced on the Web.
Please be assured that Hotbar, unlike such applications, will always make the user’s privacy our top priority. Hotbar is a safe and secure program which installs only upon user’s download and does nothing without the user’s consent.
Following are some clarifications on the function of Hotbar’s software:
1. Hotbar does not build personal profiles.
2. Hotbar does not gather any data you enter in online forms.
3. Hotbar does not access any sensitive information entered while surfing, such as account details, passwords, credit card information, products you purchase online, etc.
4. Hotbar’s installation does not install any third party applications. In addition, Hotbar can be installed only through a standard download process initiated by the user from Hotbar’s websites and is easy to uninstall.
Unfortunately, it appears that some scanning applications have mistakenly included Hotbar on their lists. We are aware of this situation and our legal team is contacting these companies in order to be removed from their lists.
Hotbar is a user friendly program, and it is of paramount importance to us that our program will function properly and will be easily removed and installed.
To remove Hotbar from your computer, please do the following:
1. Close all open applications/ programs/ windows
2. Go to: Start - Settings - Control Panel - Add\Remove Programs
3. Click on Hotbar Browser and Wowpapers Tools
4. Click Change/Remove button
5. Check the components you wish to remove, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.
6. Restart your computer
Alternatively, you can use our uninstaller:
1. Click on the following link - http://client.hotbar.com/downloads/Uninstaller/Uninstaller.exe
2. Click Run and follow on-screen instructions
3. Restart your computer.
Hotbar support team can be easily contacted through our help site: http://hotbar.com/helpdesk/faq/index.asp or directly at: support@hotbar.com