Description

An Internet Explorer toolbar with a pop-up advert-blocking feature, which also hijacks homepage and search settings to znext.com every time IE is started.

Variants

ZeroPopUp/Bar uses the filename zeropopupbar.dll for its main program file. ZeroPopUp/zp uses zp.dll.

Also known as

ZeroPopUpBar, to distinguish it from the earlier standalone commercial popup-killer of the same name, by the same author. Note there is no connection to the similarly-named "ZeroPopup" by "Tooto Technologies".

Distribution

'Viral marketing': some versions, when installed, send an endorsement purporting to be from you to everyone in your e-mail address book.

Also installed by ActiveX drive-by-download on the search bar pointed to by some variants of the TinyBar parasite (also by the same author). ZeroPopUp may accompany an infection of the TinyBar parasite or homepage-hijacker.

What it does

Advertising

No.

Privacy violation

No.

Security issues

No.

Stability problems

None known.

Removal

Open a DOS command prompt window (from Start->Programs->Accessories) and enter the following commands, for the Bar variant:

Or, for the zp variant:

After restarting the computer, you should be able to open the System folder (inside the Windows folder, called 'System32' on Windows NT/2000/XP or 'System' on Windows 95/98/Me), and delete the zeropopupbar.dll or zp.dll file.

Finally, set your home page back to what it was before (from Internet Options->General->Start page) and restore your search settings (by clicking Internet Options->Programs->Reset Web Settings).