PURPLE'S ZOO

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Do you recognize that code? Do you see it appear when YOU post a message on the message board? If you have that code appear when you post a message, it means you have HotBar on your computer and you MUST get rid of it!

HotBar is a dangerous piece of free software that hijacks your computer and relays information about your browsing habits and the software you have or download. It will slow your computer down as it silently relays that information and increases the spam you receive in your e-mail as well and pop up's as you surf the net. I've seen some reports of people finding their computer so damaged that they have to reformat and start over again.

To get rid of HotBar, you first go to Add/Remove Programs and uninstall it from there. Unfortunately, that doesn't take care of it, it just removes pieces of it. You then need to run a spyware cleaner such as AdAware. Run it and you'll find more of it. After running it, you'll delete or quarantine the results and then run it again. Repeat the scan until your computer comes up clean of all spyware/malware. The nature of spyware now is that it adds components that will lie dormant until you start clearing it out. That "awakens" other components so if you only do one scan, you will likely miss pieces. I also recommend that after you scan and come up clean that you download a trial version of a registry cleaner and make sure that you have cleaned up your registry completely.

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