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Uninstalling BearShare

Click on the "Start" button. The "Start" button is typically located at the bottom left hand side of the screen. Select Settings. This will cause a popup menu to come out. Then select Control Panel. When the Control Panel opens you will have an icon for "Add/Remove Programs".

Double-click that icon.

The "Add/Remove Programs Properties" windows will appear displaying a list of all the currently installed programs.

Locate BearShare on the list, and click on it. If you are running Windows 95 or 98, click on the button that says Add/Remove - if you are running 2000 or XP click on the button that says Change/Remove.

A "Select Uninstall Method" will come up. The default value is "Automatic" this method should be left as is. Click the Next button to continue forward. The last dialog will come up confirming that you are now able to uninstall the BearShare Installer. Click Finish. This begins the uninstall process.

BearShare automatically installs WeatherCast, which constantly displays weather information in your system tray. Since WeatherCast creates unnecessary network traffic even when BearShare is not running, you should uninstall WeatherCast if you do not use it. To uninstall WeatherCast:

1. Also look for and select WeatherCast. Click Add/Remove. 2. Follow the instructions on your screen to remove WeatherCast.

Installing BearShare also installs SaveNow, which monitors your on-line purchases and may redirect sales commissions from other referring sites to BearShare; previous versions of BearShare include other advertising and monitoring software. Uninstalling BearShare does not completely remove SaveNow or other advertising and/or monitoring software. To completely remove these types of hidden applications several free applications are available.

• Follow this link to access WiredSafety's information on detecting and removing Adware and Spyware >>