Should I remove Expat Shield?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
61% remove it39% keep it
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
Version | Distribution |
2.24 |
100.00% |
|
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Rankings
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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 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
Files 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
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af_proxy_cmd.exe
-
EXPATTrayService.exe
-
fbw.exe - FBW Application
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gui-ara.dll
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gui-bur.dll
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gui-chi.dll
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gui-eng.dll
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gui-fre.dll
-
gui-ger.dll
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gui-per.dll
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gui-rus.dll
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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
Behaviors 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).
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
hsssrv.exe |
Memory: | 3.58 MB | |
Total CPU: | 0.0255868154% | |
Kernel CPU: | 0.01143997% | |
User CPU: | 0.01414685% | |
CPU cycles/sec: | 213,287 | |
Switches/sec: | 8 | |
I/O reads/min: | 29.74 KB | |
I/O writes/min: | 7.9 KB | |
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.
- 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 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).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Expat Shield.
- 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
- Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools button, and then click Internet options.
- 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.
- The changes will take effect the next time you open IE.
Mozilla Firefox
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting Information.
- To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens. It will close and be reset.
- When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open.
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
- 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.
- 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.
- Restart 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
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% |
|
Geography
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% |
PC 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