Desktop Bar

Desktop Bar is a potentially unwanted program that you can remove without hesitating, because it does not provide you with anything useful. It has been developed and targeted towards users who like to have numerous bells and whistles on their computers. In a nutshell, this application is a cluster of links or bookmarks that are displayed in a separate dock above the Taskbar. First of all, keeping this application is pointless; just because it is more convenient to put bookmarks on the browser and licking them from there as opposed to minimizing the window each time you want to do it via this application. Second, the application is set to promote applications that, once installed, will hijack your browser’s homepage and display commercial advertisements. So removing this application is highly recommended.

As far as we know, this program is being bundled with other potentially unwanted programs that are put up for download on unreliable software download hosting websites. However, we have found that most people get it from its dedicated website at Desktopbar.net. This website features two versions of Desktop Bar. One version must be paid for, while the other is free but ad-supported. This article is focused on the ad-supported version that we tested, and we are going to share our research results with the rest of the Internet community.

We downloaded the standalone installer from its main website. The installation went smoothly and the program launched as soon as it was installed. We noticed that Desktop Bar features a dedicated link to Skyrocketplayer.com which hosts a program called Skyrocket Player. This program also falls into the potentially unwanted program category, so we recommend that you remove it if you have already installed it. It also features links to social media websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. All was well and good until we got redirected to a website/search engine at Docksearch.com

This website contains both a Download and an Install button, but both of them redirect to the same website. The website is fake. It was made to look like an Adobe update page (hence the grey and red color scheme). Right after entering the website we were met with a dialog window that reads “WARNING! Please Install Update To Continue.” After clicking OK, the website initiated a FLV Player download. The player came bundled with potentially unwanted programs called DownChecker and Vuupc and adware called Plus-HD and Savepass Smartbar.

After the installation completed, the browser’s homepage was hijacked by a browser hijacker called istartsurf.com. Interestingly, soon after the installation of this bundle, a malicious background process automatically initiated downloads of other programs, though not all of them were malicious. It installed an adware program called AnyProtect and a few legitimate yet somewhat useless programs called RegClean Pro, LiveiStream, and Advanced System Protector.

As you can see, the list of additional applications you can get after installing Desktop Bar is quite extensive. Therefore, recommend that you remove it in a timely manner. However if you have already installed it and your computer has been infected with malicious software, then we suggest using our manual removal guide. The guide will show you how to uninstall the programs, remove their browser extensions, and fix the hijacked browser settings. Keep in mind that adware and browser hijackers can severely compromise your computer's security, so be quick to neutralize the threats before it is too late.

Remove Desktop Bar and its affiliated programs from your computer

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu and click Control Panel.
2. Open Add or Remove Programs.
3. Find the unwanted software and click Remove.

Windows 7/Vista

1. Open the Start menu and click Control Panel.
2. Select Uninstall a program.
3. Find the software and right-click on it.
4. Uninstall.

Windows 8/8.1

1. Open the Charm bar.
2. Click Settings and select Control Panel.
3. Open Programs and Features.
4. Find the unwanted program and right-click on it.
5. Uninstall.

Windows 10

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Go to Programs and Features.
3. Find the program and Uninstall it.

Restore the default Target line

1. Right-click on the browser shortcut.
2. Select Properties.
3. Go to the Shortcut tab.
4. Delete the URL of the unwanted search engine and save the changes.

Restore the homepage address and remove the malicious browser extensions

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Press Alt+X.
2. Click Manage Add-ons.
3. Click Toolbars and Extensions.
4. Remove the unwanted add-on.
5. Click Close.
6. Press Alt+T and click Internet Options.
7. Change the homepage address.
8. Click OK.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A.
2. Click Extensions and Remove the extension.
3. Press Alt+T and click Options.
4. Change the homepage address.

Google Chrome

1. Tap Alt+F.
2. Go to More tools.
3. Click Extensions and Remove the add-on.
4. Then tap Alt+F again.
5. Locate the On Startup list and click Set pages.
6. Change the homepage address and click OK.