DesktopNews

Posted by Lisa Blanc on January 18, 2016

What is DesktopNews?

DesktopNews is an application which, we believe, is targeted at Windows 7 users primarily because it advertises itself as a Windows 7 gadget. We cannot blame users who download and install DesktopNews from its official website desktopnews.info because this piece of software really seems to be a useful one. If we believe the information provided on its official web page, you will not need to search for news websites anymore because all the most popular websites, including CNBC, CNN, BBC World, could be reached with the click of a button. Actually, you will really see a gadget on your desktop after you install DesktopNews. The application will also allow you to reach news websites, as it promises; however, we still cannot say that it is completely decent, so we suggest that you remove DesktopNews from your system and find a more useful application instead of it. There are several reasons why we think so; continue reading this article – we will tell you everything we know about DesktopNews. test test test

How does DesktopNews work?

Once DesktopNews is installed on the system, it creates a folder in C:\Program Files (x86) or C:\Program Files depending on the version of Windows (32-bit or 64-bit Windows). The name of this folder is DesktopNews, so you will recognize immediately that it belongs to the DesktopNews applications. Research has shown that DesktopNews creates a folder DesktopNews.Gadget in %PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Sidebar as well in order to be able to work the way it should. Last but not least, two registry keys will be created (see below). You will definitely find them if you pay a visit to the Registry Editor.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{F0F6C4CC-35A0-4662-B701-4B6A59FBEEC1}_is1
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{F0F6C4CC-35A0-4662-B701-4B6A59FBEEC1}_is1

These are not the only changes you will notice. Specialists at anti-spyware-101.com have also found that you will most likely see commercial advertisements on your screen. These ads will probably have the DesktopNews tag, so you will know that this program causes their presence.

Ads generated by DesktopNews do not seem to be harmful at all in most cases because they just advertise products and services. Even though they do not look harmful at all, you should still ignore all of them because there is a huge possibility that users who keep clicking on them will be exposed to potential threats. By saying that, we mean that users might be taken to web pages that contain malicious software, e.g. Trojans. Of course, you will not know that, so you might infect your system with malware by surfing such a website. Malicious software might sneak onto the system unnoticed, and it might really cause serious harm to your PC. Therefore, we suggest that you eliminate DesktopNews and other existing threats if you do not want this to happen.

Our specialists have also managed to find out that DesktopNews tends to advertise potentially unwanted applications as well. These programs are Reimage Repair and Speedup Pro – they say that they are capable of boosting the speed of the computer. After a user clicks on such an advertisement generated by DesktopNews, it is very likely that he/she installs the aforementioned programs on their systems. Of course, they do not even know about that in most cases. Believe us, you might allow undesirable software to enter your system really quickly if you always click on ads you come across on the web. Sadly, it is not so easy to protect the system from harm, so we highly recommend that you install a security tool on your computer. As long as you keep it active and update it periodically, malicious software will not be able to enter your system.

There is a huge possibility that DesktopNews not only shows commercial ads, but might also perform other activities which the majority of users do not like. For example, it has been observed that DesktopNews might gather information about users in order to be able to provide them with relevant commercial advertisements. It gathers such details as the information about your web usage and websites you have visited, clicks, activities, search terms, and other details. Some of these details might be personally identifiable. As DesktopNews claims in its Privacy Policy, it needs this data in order to improve the software, personalize your experience, and improve the customer service. DesktopNews admits that it uses cookies to gather details in most cases.

How to remove DesktopNews from the system?

It is rather easy to get rid of DesktopNews. You can either remove its folder DesktopNews.Gadget from %PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets and DesktopNews folders from %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% (%PROGRAMFILES%), and then remove registry keys indicated in this article, or simply get rid of the program via Control Panel. In case you prefer to get rid of the program automatically, scan your system with the SpyHunter antimalware suite. It will erase all the infections, including DesktopNews, for you within seconds.