84,488,480 programs installed

Should I remove Expat Shield?

What percent of users and experts removed it?
61% remove it39% keep it
Overall Sentiment
Bad
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #27,145
United States Rank #31,401
Reach 0.0059%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 53.82 days
699.83 days >
Average installed length: 367.71 days

Versions

VersionDistribution
2.24 100.00%

Expat Shield 2.24

What is Expat Shield?

Expat Shield is a VPN program that allows users to access UK TV websites such as BBC iPlayer and ITV when outside of the UK. Expat Shield routes your IP address via a UK IP address as if you were still in the UK wherever you are in the world. Normally, the BBC will block any IP address that is outside the UK from accessing its services both online and through the BBC iPlayer program.

About  (from AnchorFree Inc)

Browse anonymously and take full control over who can see your personal information. Examples of information that ExpatShield protects are your name, location, browsing history, and searches you perform online. Prevent online thieves and hackers from getting access to your private data (e.g. Credit Cards, Emails, Socia...  Read more

Overview

Upon being installed, the software adds a Windows Service which is designed to run continuously in the background. Manually stopping the service has been seen to cause the program to stop functing properly. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. It adds a Browser Helper Object (BHO) to Internet Explorer. The primary executable is named ExpatIE.dll. Many users end up uninstalling this after less than a month of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 30 files and is usually about 9.54 MB (10,001,588 bytes).
  • Integrates into the web browser
  • Connects to the Internet
  • Installs a Windows Service
  • Known to include offers within the setup
Expat Shield has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.

Program detailsProgram details

Displayed publisher: AnchorFree
URL: www.expatshield.com
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Expat Shield
Uninstaller: C:\Program Files\Expat Shield\Uninstall.exe
Estimated size: 9.54 MB

Program filesFiles installed by Expat Shield 2.24

Program module:ExpatIE.dll
Path:C:\Program Files\Expat Shield\HssIE\ExpatIE.dll
MD5:fc5dc35c04a8d2ccea54131be967d590
The Hotspot Shield Toolbar is a browser add-on for Internet Explorer and Firefox. This browser add-on includes a search engine, a radio and podcast player, an app marketplace and more. While it allows you to search for content no matter...
Additional files:
  • ExpatIE.dll
  • ExpatIE_64.dll
  • HssInstaller.exe
  • HssInstaller64.exe
  • hsssrv.exe
  • Uninstall.exe
  • af_proxy_cmd.exe
  • EXPATTrayService.exe
  • fbw.exe - FBW Application
  • gui-ara.dll
  • gui-bur.dll
  • gui-chi.dll
  • gui-eng.dll
  • gui-fre.dll
  • gui-ger.dll
  • gui-per.dll
  • gui-rus.dll
  • hssinst.dll
  • hsswd.exe
  • libcurl.dll (by The cURL library, http://curl.haxx.se/) - The cURL library (libcurl Shared Library)
  • libeay32.dll
  • libidn-11.dll
  • libpkcs11-helper-1.dll (by OpenSC Project) - pkcs11-helper (pkcs11-helper - An easy way to access PKCS#11 modules)
  • libssl32.dll
  • openvpn.exe
  • openvpnas.exe
  • openvpntray.exe
  • tapinstall.exe (by Windows (R) Codename Longhorn DDK provider) - Windows (R) Codename Longhorn DDK driver (Windows Setup API)
  • vistahlp.dll
  • winhlp.dll

Program behaviorsBehaviors exhibited

2 Internet Explorer BHOs
  • ExpatIE.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a Browser Helper Object with the class of {3706EE7C-3CAD-445D-8A43-03EBC3B75908}.
  • ExpatIE_64.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a Browser Helper Object with the class of {3706EE7C-3CAD-445D-8A43-03EBC3B75908}.
4 Services
  • hsswd.exe runs as a service named 'HssWd'.
  • openvpnas.exe runs as a service named 'hshld'.
  • hsssrv.exe runs as a service named 'HssSrv'.
  • EXPATTrayService.exe runs as a service named 'ExpatTrayService'.
Network connections
  • hsssrv.exe connects to 68.68.107.160 (port 80).

Program resource utilizationResource utilization averages

hsssrv.exe
Memory:3.58 MB
21.09 MB average
Total CPU:0.0255868154%
0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:0.01143997%
0.016088% average
User CPU:0.01414685%
0.015104% average
CPU cycles/sec:213,287
8,062,084 average
Switches/sec:8
70 average
I/O reads/min:29.74 KB
435.61 KB average
I/O writes/min:7.9 KB
105.02 KB average
fbw.exe
Memory:8.91 MB
Switches/sec:112
hsswd.exe
Memory:2.83 MB
Total CPU:0.0026309466%
Kernel CPU:0.00140485%
User CPU:0.00122610%
CPU cycles/sec:611,853
Switches/sec:16
I/O reads/min:513 Bytes
I/O writes/min:26 Bytes

How do I remove Expat Shield?

You can uninstall Expat Shield from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
  1. On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
    • Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. When you find the program Expat Shield 2.24, click it, and then do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
    • Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
  3. Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Expat Shield.
  4. If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.

How do I reset my web browser?

If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by Expat Shield 2.24 you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Google Chrome

OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 68%
Win XP 1%
 
HOW IT RUNS
Windows Service? Yes
(Installs a service)
 
USER ACTIONS
Uninstall it 61%
Keep it 39%

Windows OS versionsWindows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 81.74%
Windows XP 9.57%
Windows Vista 7.83%
Windows 10 0.87%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows 7 Home Premium 42.98%
Windows 7 Ultimate 25.44%
Microsoft Windows XP 8.77%
Windows Vista Home Premiu... 7.02%
Windows 7 Professional 5.26%
Windows 7 Starter 3.51%

Distribution by countryGeography

30.77% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
  United States 30.77%
  Iran 13.85%
  United Kingdom 7.69%
  Spain 4.62%
  Germany 4.62%
  France 3.08%
  Netherlands 3.08%
  Ireland 3.08%
  Belgium 2.31%
  Finland 2.31%
  Australia 2.31%
  SY 2.31%
  Italy 2.31%
  Norway 1.54%

OEM distributionPC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Acer 25.30%
Dell 24.10%
Hewlett-Packard 22.89%
ASUS 7.23%
GIGABYTE 6.02%
Samsung 3.61%
American Megatrends 3.61%
Sony 2.41%
Medion 1.20%
Compaq 1.20%
Lenovo 1.20%
Toshiba 1.20%
Common models
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... 4.00%
Dell Latitude E6410 2.00%
Dell Inspiron 1545 2.00%
HP Pavilion dv5 Notebook ... 2.00%
TOSHIBA Satellite A210 1.00%
TOSHIBA Satellite A200 1.00%

About AnchorFree Inc

AnchorFree provides online privacy and security solutions for Web users, advertisers, and publishers.
Publisher URL: www.anchorfree.com

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