Live TV Toolbar

The Live TV Toolbar is a browser add-on that's marketed as an easy utility for viewing global television stations through your computer. While the Live TV Toolbar does provide its functions as the Live TV Toolbar claims, the Live TV Toolbar includes some less than positive functions: most importantly, a general resistance to being deleted. Although the Live TV Toolbar is not a high-level threat to the safety of your computer, the Live TV Toolbar usually should be removed with anti-malware software in any case where you're not completely sure that you want the Live TV Toolbar to be installed.

Why It's Hard to Change the Channel Away from the Live TV Toolbar

The Live TV Toolbar is one of a sub-genre of toolbars that promote watching television through your PC monitor, but use their foothold on your PC to modify it in other ways, too. The Television Fanatic Toolbar is another recent example of a similar Potentially Unwanted Program to the Live TV Toolbar, with similar features used as excuses for making other changes to your computer. Along with the new TV stations the Live TV Toolbar provides, the Live TV Toolbar also collects basic information about your Web-browsing habits and may display advertisements, although only at its website.

Other than its minor privacy-invading issues, the Live TV Toolbar also is guilty of a much more significant function that malware analysts always would be considered being unjustifiable: preventing you from uninstalling the Live TV Toolbar easily whenever you've decided to do so. The Live TV Toolbar may not display an entry through the Windows Control Panel's installed programs list, and, even if the Live TV Toolbar is removed through the Control Panel, continues to keep its major components on your computer. It's largely because of this particularly damning fact that malware analysts feel forced to categorize the Live TV Toolbar as a PUP instead of a benign program.

Finding the 'Off' Switch After Installing a Live TV Toolbar

Since the Live TV Toolbar is unusually difficult to remove by normal software uninstallation methods, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend using anti-malware products whenever you need to be certain that you've deleted the Live TV Toolbar completely from your computer. However, the Live TV Toolbar hasn't been classified as risky in the same sense as a Trojan, spyware or other high-level PC threat, and while removing the Live TV Toolbar still is recommended as the ideal reaction to the Live TV Toolbar, your computer shouldn't be damaged permanently from any Live TV Toolbar installation.

The Live TV Toolbar usually is installed with your permission, but a minority of Live TV Toolbar-related incidents also has been seen using installation methods that aren't completely consensual. You should be particularly watchful for bundles that include Live TV Toolbar installations along with other applications and be ready to opt-out of any Live TV Toolbar-installing options that are offered to you. This is applicable to most Windows browsers, although non-Windows computers appear to lack a compatible version of the Live TV Toolbar, for now.