Should I remove Penny Bee?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
80% remove it20% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #30,382
United States Rank #32,263
Reach 0.0047%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 6.85 days
202.00 days >
Average installed length: 106.14 days
Versions
Version | Distribution |
3.0.0.0 |
73.91% |
|
1.1.0.15 |
26.09% |
|
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Penny Bee
from Jambo Digital Ltd
What is Penny Bee?
PennyBee is an advertising supported (adware) extension that runs in the context of the user's web browser as well as a process in the background. This adware program is typically bundled by a third-party download manager which bundles potentially unwanted software offers in order to monetize installs. Once running, the software is designed to deliver advertisements to the browser in a number of common formats such as banner, text hyper-links, inline text ads and/or transitional. These ads are not affiliated with nor endorsed by the underlying website on which they appear. Many banners are either injected in the header or footer of the web page or simply replace any legitimate ads the web site already has. Many of the advertisements are considered malvertising since they promote products that could cause harm to the user's PC. A typical promotion is for additional software downloads (including adware and bundlers) as well as price comparison and search ads. In some cases, ad placements may contain links to further information about the ad (by clicking the "Ads by PennyBee ".)
Additionally, PennyBee communicates with a remote server in order to report back the browsing habits of the user as well as URLs and domains the browser visits so that it can update its advertisements. In some cases, PennyBee's uninstaller will not function properly or will not remove the entire contents of the program and ads may still appear even after removal.
Overview
The most common release is 3.0.0.0, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. During setup, the program registers itself to launch on boot through a Windows Schedule Task in order to automatically start-up (this is typically done to avoid any UAC prompts). 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. 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 software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The primary executable is named pennybee.exe. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 4 files and is usually about 1.34 MB (1,404,726 bytes).
- Malware detected in the program
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Installs a Windows Service
- Known to reinstall itself
- Typically distributed through a pay-per-install bundle
- Displays unwanted advertisements
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Penny Bee.
wpennybeed.exe (b6a3f1bb150d1df4494361a9d1e3840c) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
avast! |
2014.9-140807 |
Win32:Rootkit-gen [Rtk] |
G Data |
14.8.24 |
Win32.Trojan.Agent.WO6YRN |
Qihoo-360 |
1.0.0.1015 |
Win32/RootKit.Rootkit.7e5 |
Rising Antivirus |
23.00.65.14805 |
PE:Trojan.Win32.Generic.170C13F4!386667508 |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
7.2.219 |
Suspicious_GEN.F47V0724 |
pennybee.exe (79770c02c58f8a7edcdc273e7118a819) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Dr.Web |
7.0.9.4080 |
Trojan.Lyrics.150 |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
Suspicious_GEN.F47V0719 |
Penny Bee has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.
Program details
Displayed publisher: pennybee
Installation folder: C:\ProgramData\pennybee
Uninstaller: C:\ProgramData\pennybee\Uninstaller.exe /ga=1503
Estimated size: 1.34 MB
Files installed by Penny Bee
Program executable: | pennybee.exe |
Name: | Penny Bee |
Path: | C:\ProgramData\pennybee\pennybee.exe |
MD5: | 3e01a07597677e78805a1947e0b52a8e |
Additional files:
-
Uninstaller.exe (by pennybee) - Installer (Main Installer)
-
pennybeeutil.dll (by Penny Bee Agent) - Penny Bee
-
wpennybeed.exe (by Penny Bee Agent)
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task
- pennybee.exe is scheduled as a task named 'Tempo Runner'.
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- pennybee.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named pennybee Runner.
2 Services
- wpennybeed.exe runs as a service named 'wpennybeed' (wpennybeed).
- pennybee.exe runs as a service named 'pennybee' (pennybee).
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- pennybee.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\pennybee\pennybee.exe'.
How do I remove Penny Bee?
You can uninstall Penny Bee from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- 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.
- When you find the program Penny Bee, 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).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Penny Bee.
- 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.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 47%
Win XP 1%
|
|
HOW IT RUNS
Windows Service? Yes
(Installs a service)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
|
Uninstall it 80%
Keep it 20%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 |
60.87% |
|
Windows 10 |
32.61% |
|
Windows XP |
4.35% |
|
Windows Vista |
2.17% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
35.87% |
|
Windows 8.1 |
14.13% |
|
Windows 7 Ultimate |
13.04% |
|
Windows 7 Professional |
6.52% |
|
Windows 8.1 Pro |
4.35% |
|
Microsoft Windows XP |
4.35% |
|
Geography
36.54% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
United States |
36.54% |
Brazil |
29.81% |
India |
6.73% |
Germany |
4.81% |
Vietnam |
3.85% |
Poland |
3.85% |
Portugal |
1.92% |
Italy |
1.92% |
United Kingdom |
1.92% |
Thailand |
0.96% |
Norway |
0.96% |
Russia |
0.96% |
Sweden |
0.96% |
Austria |
0.96% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard |
36.00% |
|
Acer |
28.00% |
|
Dell |
16.00% |
|
Toshiba |
8.00% |
|
GIGABYTE |
6.00% |
|
American Megatrends |
4.00% |
|
Gateway |
2.00% |
|
Common models |
HP G42 Notebook PC |
2.47% |
|
HP 2000 Notebook PC |
2.47% |
|
Dell Inspiron 3520 |
2.47% |
|
Dell Inspiron 3421 |
2.47% |
|
Hewlett-Packard Presario ... |
2.47% |
|
Acer Aspire E1-522 |
2.47% |
|