Weatherbug uninstall

Published by: wktd 2010-03-11

How do I get rid of the aptly named "Weatherbug." Also, while not nearly as important as that crucial info, I am curious about the identity of the worm-brained monsters who perpetrate it. Why have they not been squashed???

This answer gave me the information I needed, even though my question was malformed. (I really wanted to get rid of the "search bar." Thanks.

Just in case you are interested in the functionallity of weatherbug without the annoying ads, try www.accuweather.com - they have a similar feature which displays local weather in the taskbar, but are free of weatherbug's annoyances. I had been using them, but switched to weatherbug because it came on my new HP computer. I quickly disabled it though, and went back to accuweather. It not only gives temperature, but also tells if it is clear, cloudy, etc, and notifies you of weather warnings for the area.

Dear jimbaen-ga; Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question. I’m going to give you a couple of different sources for the removal of Weatherbug and it’s associated annoyances because some are may be considered “official” while others might tend to be more in depth and unbiased toward the program and it’s perceived add-on's and effects. Let’s start with the obvious: WEATHERBUG The makers of Weatherbug offer these OFFICIAL instructions for the removal of its program: “How can I uninstall WeatherBug?” “To uninstall WeatherBug, first, make sure the program is not running. Please right click on the temperature or WeatherBug icon and select "Terminate or Exit WeatherBug." To permanently remove WeatherBug from your system: -Click START (lower, left of computer screen) -Select SETTINGS and CONTROL PANEL -Double click ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS -Select "WeatherBug" (or other programs) from the list of applications -Click ADD/REMOVE and follow the instructions This will uninstall WeatherBug.” http://ww3.weatherbug.com/aws/defaultx.asp?cid=297#uninstall Depending on your computer and how the program was originally installed, you may have to uninstall your “My Search” separately: “How do I uninstall My Search?” “Click START (lower, left of computer screen) Select SETTINGS and CONTROL PANEL Double click ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS Select "My Search" from the list of applications Click ADD/REMOVE and follow the instructions” http://ww3.weatherbug.com/aws/defaultx.asp?cid=297#mysearch You can find another OFFICIAL version of the uninstall procedure here: UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG http://ww2.weatherbug.com/aws/default.asp?cid=234#q2 The makers of the Weatherbug program suggest these additional actions. To make sure you have killed every last vestige and lingering annoyance that might be associated with Weatherbug, you can down and run these free programs AFTER YOU UNINSTALL Weatherbug: AD-AWARE http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ (This IS a good one. I’ve used it myself) or PEST PATROL http://www.pestpatrol.com (I’ve never used this one personally but the Weatherbug site recommends it.) OUTSIDE THE OFFICIAL SITE: For reasons known but to these forum members, you can clearly see that Weatherbug is a commonly discussed topic at Annoyances.org. Here you will see that people have discussed the issue and worked it out among themselves. This appears to be an unbiased discussion outside the official Weatherbug uninstall site. You may find some helpful tips here that were not offered on the official uninstall site: ANNOYANCES.ORG – HOW DO I UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG? http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/n1049207375 As for your question concerning, “…the identity of the worm-brained monsters who perpetrate it. Why have they not been squashed???” According to this article “PC Hell: How To Uninstall Weatherbug”, Jay Hoffman, Weatherbug’s Manager of Customer Support is quoted as saying in part: "Weatherbug does not monitor, collect data or 'spy' on its user base. If a software program is implying or reporting that Weatherbug is 'spyware', it is incorrect. Weatherbug is incapable of tracking your overall web use or deciphering anything on your hard drive. Weatherbug has no functionality to determine what you were doing/where you were surfing before you opened your Weatherbug program - or where you go after using the Weatherbug.” “With computer privacy a vital issue for so many people, we want to assure you that Weatherbug, in addition to being spyware-free, is committed to helping our millions of users understand how to remove spyware from their computers, if they desire to do so. Spyware, as defined by CNET, generally refers to any technology that gathers personal information about your computer's configuration, your surfing/shopping habits - including information like Web sites you've visited, your IP address, and your computer's host name. Weatherbug does none of these things. In addition, we require any software that is offered with Weatherbug to also be spyware-free.” You can read the entire article here: PC HELL: HOW TO UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG http://www.pchell.com/support/weatherbug.shtml Like it or not however there are many, many sites where one can find discussions about spyware and adware and whether or not Weatherbug actually contains any of these. Weatherbug’s position is clear in that it categorically denies having any spyware but the public opinion (albeit unofficial) seems to suggest that the program does contain annoying adware. I suppose the public jury is still out on this one but even so, the judicial opinion has been rendered. The fact of the matter, regardless of your opinion of whether Weatherbug contains adware or not, is that Judges have been ruling that adware programs ARE LEGAL. So you see, the bottom line here is that this battle has been fought already, and lost (or won, depending on which side of the fence you happen to be on): JUDGE SAYS ADWARE IS LEGAL http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3073741 "ADWARE": RESEARCH, TESTING, AND SUITS http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/ads/ Special attention to this section of the article: “Pending Suits against Designers of Adware” Spyware, on the other hand is not as readily defended but alas, it is deemed legal too, at least for the moment, if it meets certain disclosure criteria. The general consensus is that if you install a program and agree to the terms of its installation and use that you are consenting to the installation of accompanying spyware programs. This is the philosophy of “legitimate” spyware programs and at the moment it seems to be working unless it can be proven that a program installed spyware without your knowledge: JIMMY THE GEEK: THE WRONG SPYWARE http://geekbreeder.com/rs-spyware.htm Finally, let me offer my own research disclaimer and this unsolicited statement in Weatherbug’s defense: I am not a user of Weatherbug and I have no personal opinion about the program one way or the other. My research indicated that the program seems to do exactly what it claims to do and a great many users appear to be totally satisfied with it. The sites I found which describe annoying add-on programs (real or perceived) in the Weatherbug program are primarily from end-users and not from professional de-programmers who have officially identified the existence of adware or spyware. Having said that, I suppose it is entirely possible that your computer could have become the host of such programs through other means and if this is the case the detection and removal programs I mentioned above should still resolve these problems you mentioned. I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us. Best regards; Tutuzdad-ga INFORMATION SOURCES Defined above SEARCH STRATEGY SEARCH ENGINE USED: Google ://www.google.com SEARCH TERMS USED: WEATHERBUG WEATHERBUG ADWARE WEATHERBUG SPYWARE WEATHERBUG UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG ANNOYANCES “WHAT IS ADWARE” “WHAT IS SPYWARE” “IS SPYWARE LEGAL” “IS ADWARE LEGAL”

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner Log 328::
WeatherBug 828.313.151 Weather Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WeatherBug\DisplayName. http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/library/weatherbug/index.phtml
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/logarchive/328.phtmlHOME

Minibug :: Minibug Removal Instructions::
Minibug Description and Removal Instructions. Find and Detect Minibug on your PC. Remove, Uninstall and Get Rid of Minibug. of WeatherBug malware.
http://www.spywareremove.com/removeMinibug.htmlHOME

CNR supports Linux Mint, adds Weatherbug::
News, views, and articles on using Linux on enterprise and end-user desktops. uninstall, manage, and update thousands of software programs on their Linspire
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS6736055367.htmlHOME