Hotbar removal - help required

[Andy]

I got a colourful message from a friend and a link at the bottom which took
me to Hotbar.com

At no cost (suspicious) the visitor can download and install of an extension
to MS Outlook, adding colours, stationeries etc.

It was supposed to be compatible with MS Outlook and I had (naïve) an
impression that it had to be somehow endorsed by Microsoft.

Immediately after the installation I saw that I got more than I bargained
for.

For one, it seems to be a spyware. It has also embedded itself quite deep
and there is no uninstall option.

What bugs me the most is that it has replaced my Copernic Search Agent and
it did it really brutally.

It has just replaced the addresses and the buttons on the Copernic toolbar.
That toolbar is still called Copernic but now it links me to an impostor.



My question to the group: Have you seen something like this before? Do you
know a remedy?
I have already scanned the registry for all the traces of hotbar and removed
every mention of it.
It doe not appear in my task manager anymore. It there anything else I
should look?

Ciao,
Andy

 

[Conrad Pfleging]

You are right about what Hotbar is. Trash/Spyware/Malaware/Etc. The
easiest way to get rid of it is to get Adaware and SpyBot S&D (both free).
They are tools to remove spyware. Get both, install and update them and run
them, you'll be amazed how much spyware you have. I suggest you run Adaware
first, then SpyBot. Use care with Spybot, it can be overly aggressive.
When it gives you the list of things found, read it carefully and make sure
there isn't something in there you don't want to delete. If your unsure or
concerned, just use Adaware. It does a good job and gets probably 99% of
the trash.

 

[Michael Eschenburg]

I just removed HotBar from a computer. There was an
uninstall entry on that computer but it didn't seem to do
anything. I ended up deleting it using PestPatrol
(www.pestpatrol.com), which is similar to Adaware - worked
great.

MWE

-----Original Message-----
You are right about what Hotbar is.

Trash/Spyware/Malaware/Etc. The