Infopackets Reader Lorraine M. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

Way too often while I am online, I receive an error message that says: 'Iexplore has caused an error in BTLINK.DLL. Iexplore will now close.' This seems to happen out of the blue and it is extremely annoying. Each time it happens, it takes me off the web site I'm visiting and back to the Windows desktop.

How can I stop this from happening? "

My response:

I went to Google and researched "BTLINK.DLL". From what I understand, the BTLINK.DLL file is part of a Spyware program, called HuntBar.

In a nutshell, HuntBar docs itself onto Internet Explorer and records your key strokes. If HuntBar detects that you are visiting a search engine web site (such as Google.com), it will intercept Google's search results and provide you with sponsored search results from HuntBar. This act is commonly referred to as Browser Hijacking.

Side note: I briefly mentioned the term Spyware in yesterday's feature article which discussed 3 Approaches to Stopping PopUp Advertisements. To recap, Spyware is defined as "programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties on the Internet. Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program." Source: (cyberhome-fl.com)

How to Remove HuntBar

You can manually remove HuntBar using the instructions found at DoxDesk.com:

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/HuntBar.html

Or, you can use a Spyware removal tool to automate the removal of HuntBar and also scan your system for other malware. I personally use Spy Sweeper because it actively protects my PC by alerting me if / when a Spyware program attempts to load onto my computer -- before it can do any damage (unlike most freeware Spyware removal tools).

For more info on Spy Sweeper:

Spy Sweeper Review