What is ToolbarUpdaterService?
I was working on a PC the other day that was very slow. No spyware,
adware, viruses, trojans, or other malware to be found on it, but it
was running very slow. After a quick rootkit scan, I decided to examine
each file in Startup and everywhere else that I could think of, still
there wasn't anything that stood out. The computer was slow to respond
to just about everything. After examining the running processes in Task
Manager for a few minutes, a process called ToolbarUpdaterService.exe
kept popping up and consuming anywhere from 25 - 50% of the system
resources for several seconds at a time.
After a quick Google search for the file, it appears to belong to a
piece software called the Start Now Toolbar. Its not spyware, or
adware, its now called PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs). These are
programs that some people find helpful, while others may never want
them on their own computer systems.
How to Remove or Uninstall the Start Now Toolbar
Luckily, it appears this program is rather easy to uninstall via the
Add/Remove Control Panel in Windows XP, or the Programs control panel
in Windows Vista/7.
1) Open the Control Panel
2) Double-click on Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP or Programs in
Windows Vista/7
3) Find the Start Now Toolbar entry in the list, click on it, and
Uninstall
4) Reboot your computer once the installation has finished to complete
the uninstall.
How to Remove StartNow Toolbar from Firefox
1) Open Firefox
2) Click on Tools
3) Click on Add-ons
4) Click on the Extensions list
5) Find the Start Now Toolbar in the list and Uninstall It
6) When prompted, restart Firefox to completely unload the Start Now
Toolbar
Your system should now be free of the Start Now Toolbar and should be
running much faster.
For more information about how to uninstall the Start Now Toolbar, visit
Start Now's uninstall page.