Should I remove Vuze Toolbar?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
81% remove it19% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #32,705
Reach 0.0040%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 15.29 days
450.93 days >
Average installed length: 236.93 days
Versions
| Version | Distribution |
| 12.10.0.3487 |
100.00% |
|
Rankings
- #32,700 DVDFab 6.0.4.0 (28/07/2009) by Fengtao Software
- #32,701 Ashampoo Photo Recovery
- #32,702 My Screen Recorder 4 by DeskShare
- #32,703 Tv-Plug-In by Intech Software
- #32,704 FileWing by Abelssoft GmbH
- #32,705 Vuze Toolbar by APN
- #32,706 ActivInspire Help (USA) v2 by Promethean
- #32,707 Enterprise Architect 10 by Sparx Systems
- #32,708 Logicool Vid HD
- #32,709 Autodesk Workflows - AutoCAD Design Suite 2013
- #32,710 Sam & Max 204: Chariots of the Dogs by Telltale Games
Vuze Toolbar
from APN, LLC
What is Vuze Toolbar?
Vuze Toolbar is an advertising-supported web browser toolbar that may modify the browser's home page, search provider and new tab pages. Changes to the browser include the following modifications:
- Modify the default home page and new tabs and protect these search settings
- Modify the default search engine in your Internet Browser, including the browser's built-in search box
- Addition of alternative error page functionality, such as “Page Not Found”
About (from APN)
No matter where your users go on the Internet, your brand is always visible with a custom toolbar. Because the toolbar is loaded directly into the browser it's always available, always enhancing the user's experience and driving engagement with your brand and product offerings.
And because functionality is trans... Read more
Overview
Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. 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 main program executable is tbnotifier.exe. Typically most users end up uninstalling this just after a few days. The software installer includes 3 files.
- Possible malware installed by this program
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Loads into the web browser
- Typically distributed through a pay-per-install bundle
- Hijacks the web browser's home page
- Hijacks the browser's default search provider
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Vuze Toolbar.
| tbnotifier.exe (33be35574e1081a91eacd2b98e0a472a) has been flagged by the following 3 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
| AhnLab-V3 |
2014.08.06 |
PUP/Win32.IECore |
| Baidu-International |
4.0.3.1486 |
PUA.Win32.AskToolbar.bF |
| ESET-NOD32 |
8.10211 |
a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.F |
Vuze 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.apn.ask.com/products/toolbars
Help link: apnstatic.ask.com/static/toolbar/everest/documents/faq/index.html
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\vnt
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /X{53475433-2D56-3700-76A7-A758B70C0A00}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Files installed by Vuze Toolbar
| Program executable: | tbnotifier.exe (Malware detected) |
| Name: | Ask TBNotifier |
| Ask Toolbar Notifier |
| Signed by: | APN LLC |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\askpartnernetwork\toolbar\updater\tbnotifier.exe |
| MD5: | 33be35574e1081a91eacd2b98e0a472a |
| (From the publisher) “The Ask Toolbar Notifier is a client process which runs as part of the Ask Toolbar. The Notifier's job is to help instruct you during the toolbar installation and browser upgrades on your computer. ” |
Additional files:
-
vntldr.exe - Virtual New Tab (Virtual New Tab Loader)
-
vntsrv.dll - Virtual New Tab Server
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- tbnotifier.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named 1.
2 Startup Files (All Users Run)
- tbnotifier.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'ApnTBMon' which loads as "C:\Program Files\AskPartnerNetwork\Toolbar\Updater\TBNotifier.exe".
- vntldr.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'VNT' which loads as "C:\Program Files\VNT\vntldr.exe".
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- tbnotifier.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\AskPartnerNetwork\Toolbar\Updater\TBNotifier.exe'.
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| vntldr.exe |
| Memory: | 1.29 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0009148031% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00002577% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00088903% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 67,009 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 19.23 KB | |
How do I remove Vuze Toolbar?
You can uninstall Vuze 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 Vuze 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).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Vuze 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 Vuze Toolbar 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) 56%
Win Vista (SP2) 1%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 81%
Keep it 19%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
62.82% |
|
| Windows 10 |
33.33% |
|
| Windows XP |
2.56% |
|
| Windows Vista |
1.28% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
26.92% |
|
| Windows 8.1 |
17.95% |
|
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
16.67% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
14.10% |
|
| Windows 8.1 Pro |
5.13% |
|
| Windows 7 Home Basic |
3.85% |
|
Geography
14.94% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
14.94% |
| Philippines |
5.75% |
| New Zealand |
4.60% |
| Estonia |
4.60% |
| Netherlands |
4.60% |
| Saudi Arabia |
4.60% |
| Belgium |
3.45% |
| RS |
3.45% |
| Sweden |
3.45% |
| Poland |
3.45% |
| France |
2.30% |
| India |
2.30% |
| BD |
2.30% |
| Czech Republic |
2.30% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
33.96% |
|
| Acer |
18.87% |
|
| Dell |
13.21% |
|
| ASUS |
13.21% |
|
| Lenovo |
7.55% |
|
| American Megatrends |
3.77% |
|
| Toshiba |
3.77% |
|
| Intel |
1.89% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
1.89% |
|
| Alienware |
1.89% |
|
Common models |
| ASUS All Series |
4.69% |
|
| HP Pavilion 17 Notebook P... |
3.13% |
|
| HP Pavilion G6 NoteBook P... |
3.13% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... |
1.56% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook ... |
1.56% |
|
| TOSHIBA Satellite L840 |
1.56% |
|