HDWallpaper

Potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are not malware, but, often come close to it. After testing HDWallpaper, we classified as a PUP because it is set to collect information about you and share it with unknown third parties. Apart from that, its official function of providing you with dozens of wallpapers does not work all too well. all things considered we recommend that you remove it from your PC. However, in this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about this program, and we hope that the provided information will prove to you that this program is not worth keeping.

When you install HDWallpaper, it is set to run automatically on each system startup by default. However, you can turn off this function and launch it whenever you please. Furthermore, it is set to run minimized when you click the close button, but you can also turn this feature off. These are all of the customizability options you have because you cannot customize the content that you get to see. You can select wallpapers from preset categories that include Latest, Food, Brand, and Plant. The wallpaper selection is not that great, but, most importantly, we find that the program does not take into account your monitor's screen size and whether it is 4:3 or 16:9 or nay other aspect ratio for that matter. All of the wallpapers are in 16:9, so they will be too wide for 4:3 monitors and will be compressed if set. The application may update the wallpaper list, but the election is not that great, and you have a non-high-definition monitor, then the wallpapers will not fit.

We classified HDWallpaper as a potentially unwanted program primarily because of its information collection feature. Many legitimate applications collect information and use it for improving the user experience. However, since this particular application comes from an unknown developer, we suspect that it misuse the collected information. Here is an interesting quite from this program’s privacy policy found on http://hd-wpaper.com which states “We also use cookies and anonymous identifiers when you interact with services we offer to our partners, such as advertising services or HD Wallpaper features that may appear on other sites.” It is apparent that HDWallpaper can be used to promote all kinds of content. However, we do not know where these ads should appear. They may be shown either on the desktop in the form of a coupon or on websites via the web browser. In any case, at the time of our research, this program did not show any advertisements. Still, testing has shown that it connects to the Internet, so we have no doubt that it collects information and sends it to its server.

The documentation found on the website does not specify the details regarding the information to be collected. However, we assume that this program can get a hold of information such as your Internet Service Provider’s domain name, your IP address and, by extension, your location. This information may not look much, but it definitely helps to tailor advertisements for a particular demographic which leads to larger advertising revenue.

We attempted to identify the company that created this program, but to no avail. Therefore, we concluded that HDWallpaper was published by an unknown developer that is supposedly based in Hong Kong. However, the application and its dedicated distribution website are in English. The website at Hd-wpaper.com features this program’s standalone installer, but the main focus of our research was the second distribution method. We have found that this application is being bundled with software downloaders needed to download a particular program. Freeware developers take advantage of this system and bundle the downloaders with the likes of HDWallpaper. Nevertheless, this program is not hidden, and you should be able to uncheck its installation.

As you can see, HDWallpaper does not offer a high-quality service and the fact that it can collect information about you and share it with the advertising partners of its creators is worrisome. Thankfully, this program does not show any ads, and you should remove it before it does because the reliability of the promotions cannot be verified.

How to uninstall this application

Windows 10

1. Right-click the Start menu.
2. Click Control Panel and go to Uninstall a program.
3. Locate the application and double-click it.
4. Uninstall.

Windows 8 & 8.1

1. Open the Charm bar and Click Settings.
2. Go to Control Panel and click Uninstall a program.
3. Locate the application and click Uninstall.

Windows Vista & 7

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

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Go to Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Find the adware and click Remove.