How to remove an sidebar error

The free file information forum can help you determine if sidebar.exe is a virus, trojan, spyware, or adware that you can remove, or a file belonging to a Windows system or an application you can trust.

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Sidebar.exe file information

The process known as Windows Sidebar or Windows Desktop Gadgets or WindowsX SideBar or Windows-Minianwendungen belongs to software Microsoft Windows Operating System or Windows Sidebar or Betriebssystem Microsoft Windows or prjDeskBar by Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) or Lee Matthew Chantrey.

Description: sidebar.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files". Known file sizes on Windows 7/XP are 1,233,920 bytes (21% of all occurrences), 1,196,032 bytes and 28 more variants.
The program has a visible window. File sidebar.exe is a Microsoft signed file. The application starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders). sidebar.exe is able to record inputs. Therefore the technical security rating is 6% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.
You can uninstall the program Windows Sidebar or WeatherBug Gadget, update it, or try to get help from the software vendor. Click on www.forum.oszone.ru to update it, click on www.forum.oszone.ru to visit the vendor's website, or click on Windows Sidebar or WeatherBug Gadget in Windows Control Panel (section Software or Programs) to uninstall it.

Recommended: Identify sidebar.exe related errors

Viruses with the same file name

Is sidebar.exe a virus? No, it is not. The true sidebar.exe file is a safe Microsoft Windows system process, called "Windows Sidebar". However, writers of malware programs, such as viruses, worms, and trojans deliberately give their processes the same file name to escape detection. Viruses with the same file name are such as Mal/Behav-243 (detected by Sophos), and BKDR_MEMDROP.SM (detected by TrendMicro).
To ensure that no rogue sidebar.exe is running on your PC, click here to run a Free Malware Scan.

How to recognize suspicious variants? If sidebar.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Documents and Settings", the security rating is 52% dangerous. The file size is 19,968 bytes (61% of all occurrences), 23,552 bytes and 5 more variants. It is a file without information about the developer of this file. The program is not visible. Sidebar.exe is not a Windows core file.

If sidebar.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows, the security rating is 64% dangerous. The file size is 917,504 bytes (60% of all occurrences), 688,128 bytes or 278,528 bytes. The program starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders). It is not a Windows core file. The file is an unknown file in the Windows folder. The program is not visible. The application listens for or sends data on open ports to a LAN or the Internet. sidebar.exe is able to record inputs.

If sidebar.exe is located in the Windows Temp folder, the security rating is 56% dangerous. The file size is 19,968 bytes (75% of all occurrences) or 58,368 bytes.

External information from Paul Collins:

"Sidebar" definitely not required. Searchcentrix hijacker

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as sidebar.exe, particularly when located in the c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Therefore, you should check the sidebar.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

if you find it, ( i found it by luck) and you delete it, it comes back. It stops your computer from shutting down unless you force close.
Icefireninja

this file is normally used as a backup for Trojans. there is a second one if there is a Trojan (in my case, a key logger).
The Virus Killer

Can't find it - can't remove it. It also stops me from shutting down or sleeping and often stops winmail from opening and strops IE 9 dead in its tracks
Tom Dombrosky

its keeps my computer from restarting or shutting down when I ask it to..
saddletmp

if the process is in folder "C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar" its not malicious and related to the windows 7 gadgets, the process starts when i open the gadget window or a gadget itself and automatically goes away when i close it (until a gadget is open, the process will not disappear)
TommyTheNice

Everytime I shut down, a message pops up. I can't quite see the message, but it says something about sidebar.exe not working.
Sorry

Scary, theres two of them, one starts on startup(not concerned about) and then the other starts after the first one, like its covering its tracks to get a harmless rating, the second, im sure, is a virus, and I would reccomend stopping it
Weeve Ferrelaine

Windows Vista/7 Sidebar for Gadgets like clock, weather, CPU Usage,...
Weezy

More comments can be found here:
(further information)

Summary: Average user rating of sidebar.exe: based on 41 votes with 9 reviews.

19 users think sidebar.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. 4 users think it's probably harmless. 7 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 4 users suspect danger. 7 users think sidebar.exe is dangerous and recommend removing it. 7 users doesn't grade sidebar.exe ("not sure about it").

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