WikiZ

WikiZ is the name of a questionable desktop application that you may install if you want to "use Wikipedia straight from your desktop"; however, we would advise you against it. We have found that this program is actually the same as WikiThemes, DailyWiki, and DailyBee, which, of course, does not make it a dangerous threat to your system. We cannot actually say anything bad or sinister about this potentially unwanted program (PUP) itself. However, it may enter your system in questionable ways, which may also mean the there could be more serious threats, i.e., malware infections present. This is rather suspicious behavior that security-minded users should not tolerate. We believe that it is important that you remove WikiZ from your system and any other potential and malicious threats as well if you take your system security seriously. Please let us tell you more about this PUP so that you understand our verdict better and learn how you can protect your system from similar threats.

This PUP is available for download from its promotional page, wikiz.timeapp-studio.com. This is a rather simple page with limited information about this tool. It is also important to mention that this application is not affiliated in any way with Wikipedia or Wiki Services even if you see it using the well-known logo. This is a bit suspicious behavior but we understand if this alone is not enough for you to want to delete WikiZ from your system. What is more worrisome, this PUP may also be spread more effectively on the web in more questionable ways.

We have found this application in freeware bundles. Actually, its predecessors were also heavily bundled. This means that this PUP may come on board even without your noticing it when installed in a bundled version since it may sneak on as one of several PUPs and malware infections. Such a bundle may carry adware programs, browser hijackers, Trojans, fake alerts, and more threats. The most likely ways to end up with such a package is to download free software from suspicious sources like torrent and freeware sites, to click on unsafe third-party advertisements on shady websites (gaming, betting, dating, and porn pages), or to have infections like adware hiding on your system. If you want to be sure that your computer is clean, you should delete WikiZ and then, run a full system malware scan to identify all possible threats.

This PUP is a desktop application that offers you direct search in Wikipedia to make you smarter and obtain knowledge faster. Well, you can always have a shortcut to the Wikipedia website on your desktop if you would like "the real thing" one click -- or rather, a double-click -- away. This application sends your search requests to en.wiki2.org and provides you with possibly non-modified results meaning that these results may not contain promoted third-party ads and links. Innocent as this PUP may seem, we have found some questionable details in its Terms of Service, namely:

WikiZ may collect and use Users personal information for the following purposes: [...]To share your information with third parties We may share or sell information with third parties for marketing or other purposes[...]To run a promotion, contest, survey or other Site feature[...]

This obviously means, that this application may display questionable third-party ads and content based on the information it may gather about you. So you could be introduced to customized content that might even lead to suspicious websites for all you know. Engaging with such content could lead to further infections on your system, for instance. Since this PUP starts up automatically with your Windows, you cannot really escape this kind of exposure to questionable content. And, you cannot do anything against it since there is no setting to disable this autorun function. Well, there is actually one thing you can do: Remove WikiZ from your computer.

Yet another suspicious thing about this PUP is that you cannot uninstall it without leftovers. Therefore, after uninstalling it via Control Panel, you also need to eliminate these leftovers manually. Please follow our instructions below if you want to take care of this application yourself. It should be obvious by now that infecting your computer with all kinds of threats is really simple. Unless you become a more cautious web surfer, you could be exposed to further threats. If you would like to protect your computer more effectively, we recommend that you install a reliable malware removal application like SpyHunter.

How to remove WikiZ from Windows

Windows 8/Windows 8.1/Windows 10

1. Tap Win+R and type control panel. Press OK.
2. Select Uninstall a program.
3. Click on the uninstaller and click Uninstall.

Windows Vista/Windows 7

1. Access the Start menu and select Control Panel.
2. Open Uninstall a program.
3. Click on the uninstaller and click Uninstall.

Windows XP

1. Click Start and select Control Panel.
2. Select Add or Remove Programs.
3. Click on the uninstaller and click Remove.

How to remove leftovers

1. Tap Win+R and type regedit in the box. Click OK.
2. Delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AppDataLow\Software\WikiZ" registry entry.
3. Exit your registry editor.
4. Tap Win+E.
5. Delete these folders:
   %LOCALAPPDATA%\WikiZ
   %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\WikiZ
6. Empty your Recycle Bin.
7. Reboot your PC.