Windows 8 Hitman Pro

Jimbo22

Windows Forum Team
Staff member
I've just been introduced to Hitman Pro, an alternative malware scanning software that does a pretty decent job. Running this malware scanner it found a toolbar (Ask toolbar or something like that) that was loaded arbitrarily in my Chrome browser. If found it and removed it when no other malware/spyware scanning software could. This toolbar was also on my desktop which I keep clean and no other users. Where as my laptop is used by the whole family and I expect to find some odd and ends stuff on it from time to time.

Has anybody else seen this toolbar or no where it comes from
 
Hi Bass.

Ask Toolbar comes as an optional programs with some installer. On one occassion, I found it on one of Chrome Browser installer which I downloaded from a questionable website by mistake. It's like Conduit. It hijacks your browser and makes itself a default search bar.

I'm using Hitman Pro, too.
 
Funny thing is, I read and make sure I unchecked those boxes for that stuff...but for the life of me I didn't see that at all. It got through unbeknownst to me. I check my addons/extensions regularly and it didn't show it at all nor did it show up in any of my browsers that I use....Yet Hitman Pro found it....I was surprised to say the least.

Right now I'm just trying the trial version....but me thinks I'll be purchasing them little gem in the rough.
 
The trouble with a lot of software now is it's full of hard to find things like toolbars, gadgets, etc. I usually try to select custom install.
Joe
 
Some are very tricky Bass. Instead of a box to check or uncheck, there is a mix of installation notifications answerable by "Agree/Disagree", "Accept/Decline" and "Yes/No". Sometimes all of these 3 combinations are in one installer if the installer comes with more than one optional programs.
 
This Ask Toolbar thing comes with many program downloads, e.g. from Cnet. After every program download from sources other than Microsoft I check my program liberaries (with the Revo uninstaller) whether some junk came down - because even if you pay very good attention, they sometimes sneak this junk in.

In the old days, Filehippo.com was a very safe download source. But they have changed too and I don't trust them any more.
 
Did you consider that perhaps "hitman pro" put the malware there in the first place, so that it could look good by finding it?
 
Did you consider that perhaps "hitman pro" put the malware there in the first place, so that it could look good by finding it?


No I didn't....it's possible...but showing me the file location and date of installation, it was on there way before I installed hitman pro.
 
Hitman Pro does not actually get installed. It's like a portable program. So, I doubt about Hitman Pro installing anything else when it doesn't really install itself in the PC. So it does not in any way slows down a PC except during the scan. "It can be run straight from a USB flash drive, a CD/DVD, local or network attached hard drive." You can actually run a Hitman Pro scan without any trace of itself left in the PC.
 
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That's not true badrobot, it leaves traces in the registry and keeps track of its trial license. Once the trial period is up on a particular PC you must purchase it or it will not remove malware any longer.

That being said it is a very valuable tool and I use it all the time!
 
That's not true badrobot, it leaves traces in the registry and keeps track of its trial license. Once the trial period is up on a particular PC you must purchase it or it will not remove malware any longer.

That being said it is a very valuable tool and I use it all the time!

Oh, yeah.. once you get the trial version or license of course it will register itself on the PC. I was talking about running it as a free scanner from USB or DVD. But maybe there is a little remnant that I didn't see.
 
Hi

I've gotten the Ask Toolbar thing a half dozen times, if you look you will see that it's attached to downloads for a lot of reputable software.

I've always been able to get rid of it in Chrome from the Extensions window or from Add Remove programs.

I too, have Hitman Pro installed and it has found things that other scanners haven't.

Speaking of malware I got my first one in a long time today.
It was an email sent to someone else, and marked as a copy to me.
It said something about adding money to someones account, I assume the original addressee.

And it had an attachment that was a .rar file that said it was a record of the exchange.
There's no reason to have a .rar file for that!

Since it looked shady I deleted it and emptied my trash, then I ran Malwarebytes.
Sure enough the .rar file came up as malware and Malwarebytes removed it.
I ran it again and it came up clean.

You just have to be on your toes all the time.

Mike
 
You also have to be careful updating installed software they've been known to slip in toolbars and Google Chrome there too. Avast is good at that. I found it best to download the file then go through and select custom install option rather than just select update when it pops up.
Joe
 
Hi

I'm with Joe, never chose the Install Automatically option.
Always look and see what it's doing, and where it's putting it.

Mike
 
And always chose 'custom' install, never 'default' which is most times recommended so that they can slip their junk in.

With some programs you have to really be on your toes. They have all kinds of tricks to slip stuff in. E.g. they make it sound like you have to accept their terms - instead you accept that they can install stuff. So always 'decline'.

The problem is that most people don't read this ton of verse - neither do I, but I learned my lessons. After while, you develop a nose for their tricks.
 
And when ever possible download the software from the official site.

If you want a program like CCleaner go to the company that makes it, in this case, Piriform for CCleaner.
Or Cupid for HWmonitor etc.

Don't download it from the dozens of other sites it is available on.

Many of these sites have the popular downloads available just to suck you in so they can load the download with other junk.

Mike
 
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