Should I remove GiftHulk Toolbar?

Lifespan of installation (until removal)

Versions

Version	Distribution
6.12.0.516	20.00%
6.9.0.16	20.00%
6.8.9.0	60.00%

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from Conduit Ltd.

Remove GiftHulk Toolbar by Conduit

GiftHulk Toolbar is a Conduit distributed toolbar built on the community toolbar platform which provides browser integration. This browser extension's primary purpose is to take control of the user's search functionality in order to generate a revenue share for the publisher and Conduit. In addition to search hijacking (although there should be options during bundle installation to prevent this), the toolbar will install itself in Internet Explorer as a toolbar and Browser Helper Object. Also, many installs contain 'Value Apps', which provides additional functionality as well as include various ad-supported extensions such as Cash Back and Price Gong. As for distribution, the toolbar is typically bundled with 3rd party publishers in order to try to maximize install revenue as typically payouts per installation is between a few cents and a couple dollars depending on the geographical location of the host. The platform in many cases installs a service 'engine' that is designed to protect the toolbar as well as the modified search and home pages to Conduit's affiliate search partner.

From the License Agreement: "As part of the installation process of the Conduit Software and/or the Customized Software, we may change your Internet Browser settings and/or provide you with the ability to opt to make changes to your Internet Browser settings and/or your mobile device settings and/or your social network account settings."

What toolbar EULA says it can do:
- Change of the default search engine, including your Browser's built-in search box, and address bar.
- Addition of alternative error page functionality, such as “Page Not Found”.
- Change of the default Home Page and/or New Tabs, and protect your search settings.
- Allowing Conduit access to location-based information.
- Allowing Conduit access to information contained on your social network account.

The most common release is 6.8.9.0, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. The program adds a toolbar to Microsoft Internet Explorer. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The primary executable is named tbGift.dll. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. It also bundles additional software in the form of the Conduit Engine, which installs a potentially unwanted toolbar, and makes homepage and default search engine changes to a user's web browser. The setup package generally installs about 6 files and is usually about 4.96 MB (5,205,271 bytes).

Displayed publisher: GiftHulk

URL: GiftHulk.OurToolbar.com

Help link: GiftHulk.OurToolbar.com/help

Installation folder: C:\Program Files\gifthulk

Uninstaller: C:\Program Files\GiftHulk\uninstall.exe toolbar

Estimated size: 4.96 MB

GiftHulkToolbarHelper.exe
Total CPU:	0.4892737327%	0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:	0.29804920%	0.016088% average
User CPU:	0.19122453%	0.015104% average

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 GiftHulk Toolbar, 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 GiftHulk Toolbar.
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.

1. Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools button, and then click Internet options.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset. Select the Delete personal settings check box if you would also like to remove search providers, Accelerators and home pages. When Internet Explorer finishes applying default settings, click Close, and then click OK.
3. The changes will take effect the next time you open IE.

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting Information.
2. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens. It will close and be reset.
3. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open.

1. Open Chrome and click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Settings. In the "Search" section, click Manage search engine. Check if (Default) is displayed next to your preferred search engine. If not, mouse over it and click Make default. Mouse over any other suspicious search engine entries that are not familiar and click X to remove them.
3. When the "Show Home button" checkbox is selected, a web address appears below it. If you want the Homepage button to open up a different webpage, click Change to enter a link.
4. Restart Google Chrome.

OS VERSIONS Win 7 (SP1) 60% Win 7 20%

HOW DOES IT RUN? Plugs into Internet Explorer

USER ACTIONS Uninstall it 75% Keep it 25%

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?

United States	92.86%
Canada	7.14%

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?

Conduit is an online platform that allows web publishers to create custom toolbars, web apps, and mobile apps at no cost.

Publisher URL: www.conduit.com

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