Should I remove StartNow Toolbar?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
86% remove it14% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
United States Rank #31,400
Reach 0.0013%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 610.74 days
1364.41 days >
Average installed length: 716.89 days
Versions
Version | Distribution |
2.0 |
100.00% |
|
Other programs by Zugo Ltd
StartNow Toolbar 2.0
What is StartNow Toolbar?
StartNow is a web browser toolbar that changes your homepage and redirects valid searches. StartNow toolbar is developed by Zugo and it gives you instant access to multimedia search, Facebook one click away, your local weather forecast and many other features that give you the best online experience. It is simple, light weight and blends perfectly with your browser to give you instant access to your favourite sites and information.
About (from Zugo Ltd)
Our Search Toolbar offers access to the Bing™ decision engine helping users to search and surf the web! Bing brings together key information and organizes it in one place, you can check the weather forecast, look up ticket prices and book a flight all at once. Users will also find the latest news, popular videos, onlin... Read more
Overview
It adds registry entry for the current user which will allow the program to automatically start each time it is rebooted. 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. The program adds a toolbar to Microsoft Internet Explorer. The primary executable is named Toolbar32.dll. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 5 files and is usually about 668.27 KB (684,309 bytes). The installed file ToolbarUpdaterService.exe is the auto-update component of the program which is designed to check for software updates and notify and apply them when new versions are discovered.
- Malware detected in the program
- Starts automatically
- Integrates into the web browser
- Adds a background Windows Service
- Delivered through a thrid-party offer
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in StartNow Toolbar.
Toolbar32.dll (b6a66165347254f8958641a75473dee7) has been flagged by the following 7 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
Comodo Security |
16654 |
UnclassifiedMalware |
Dr.Web |
9.0.0.0143 |
Adware.Zugo.71 |
Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
8.13.05.23.04 |
Riskware.Win32.Toolbar.Zugo.AMN!A2 |
ESET-NOD32 |
7.8611 |
a variant of Win32/Toolbar.Zugo |
K7 AntiVirus |
13.170.9109 |
Riskware |
K7GW |
13.12.7.0.12 |
Riskware |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
7.2.8 |
TROJ_GEN.F47V0920 |
StartNowToolbarUninstall.exe (12981e2f601148d148eb6ae3c11f24e2) has been flagged by the following 4 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Dr.Web |
|
Adware.Searcher.755 |
Malwarebytes |
1.75.0.1 |
PUP.Zugo |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
TROJ_GEN.R0CBH01GV13 |
VIPRE Antivirus |
22224 |
Zugo (fs) (not malicious) |
ToolbarUpdaterService.exe (222d07b010af51888098da869bd9c173) has been flagged by the following 4 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Dr.Web |
|
Adware.Zugo.71 |
eSafe |
7.0.17.0 |
Win32.Trojan |
ESET-NOD32 |
8479 |
a variant of Win32/Toolbar.Zugo |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
TROJ_GEN.F47V0528 |
search_protect.exe (6d6fbe6465d1f496257c3c422dd1f4b7) has been flagged by the following 4 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Comodo Security |
16206 |
Heur.Suspicious |
Dr.Web |
|
Adware.Zugo.71 |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
TROJ_GEN.F47V0908 |
Vba32 AntiVirus |
3.12.22.0 |
suspected of Corrupted.Win32File.ILE |
genfix.exe (28ae3dd3ac533b525a3fcbe4f26fd6f8) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Dr.Web |
|
Adware.Zugo.114 |
VIPRE Antivirus |
22002 |
Zugo Ltd (v) (not malicious) |
View all 21 all detections

StartNow Toolbar 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
URL: www.zugo.com
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\StartNow Toolbar\
Uninstaller: C:\Program Files\StartNow Toolbar\StartNowToolbarUninstall.exe
Estimated size: 668.27 KB
Files installed by StartNow Toolbar 2.0
Program module: | Toolbar32.dll (Malware detected) |
Name: | Toolbar |
Path: | C:\Program Files\startnow toolbar\Toolbar32.dll |
MD5: | b6a66165347254f8958641a75473dee7 |
Additional files:
-
(Malware detected) StartNowToolbarUninstall.exe - StartNow Toolbar
-
(Malware detected) genfix.exe
-
(Malware detected) search_protect.exe - StartNow Search Update
-
(Malware detected) Toolbar32.dll (by Zugo) - Toolbar
-
(Malware detected) ToolbarUpdaterService.exe
Behaviors exhibited
Internet Explorer BHO
- Toolbar32.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'StartNow Toolbar Helper' with the class of {6E13D095-45C3-4271-9475-F3B48227DD9F} (StartNowToolbarHelper).
Internet Explorer Toolbar
- Toolbar32.dll is loaded as Internet Explorer Toolbar with the name 'StartNow Toolbar' with the class of {5911488E-9D1E-40ec-8CBB-06B231CC153F}.
Service
- ToolbarUpdaterService.exe runs as a service named 'Toolbar Updater Service' (Toolbar Updater Service).
Startup File (User Run)
- search_protect.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'StartNow Search Protect' and executes as "C:\Program Files\StartNow Toolbar\search_protect.exe" /RELAY /REPORT /PROTECT.
How do I remove StartNow Toolbar?
You can uninstall StartNow Toolbar 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 StartNow Toolbar 2.0, 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 StartNow Toolbar.
- 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 StartNow Toolbar 2.0 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) 58%
Win XP 4%
|
|
WHEN IT STARTS
Auto-starting? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 86%
Keep it 14%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 |
79.17% |
|
Windows Vista |
16.67% |
|
Windows XP |
4.17% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
66.67% |
|
Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
16.67% |
|
Windows 7 Starter |
4.17% |
|
Windows 7 Professional |
4.17% |
|
Windows 7 Ultimate |
4.17% |
|
Microsoft Windows XP |
4.17% |
|
Geography
95.24% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
United States |
95.24% |
Iran |
4.76% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard |
39.13% |
|
Dell |
34.78% |
|
Acer |
13.04% |
|
Toshiba |
8.70% |
|
Sony |
4.35% |
|
Common models |
TOSHIBA Satellite A505 |
4.35% |
|
HP-Pavilion NY536AA-ABA 3... |
4.35% |
|
HP Pavilion 061 RC663AA-A... |
4.35% |
|
HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook ... |
4.35% |
|
Dell Studio XPS 7100 |
4.35% |
|
Dell Inspiron 1545 |
4.35% |
|
About Zugo Ltd
Zugo provides search based products that deliver monetization solutions for online publishers, content owners and distributors.
Publisher URL: zugo.com