Widgi Toolbar

Threat Scorecard

Popularity Rank: 17,304
Threat Level: 10 % (Normal)
Infected Computers: 5,514
First Seen: July 31, 2012
Last Seen: September 8, 2026
OS(es) Affected: Windows

There are many kinds of malware threats, ranging from full-fledged infections that can place your whole computer in jeopardy to Potentially Unwanted Programs that can have annoying effects and are not straightforward to remove. The Widgi Toolbar is a Potentially Unwanted Program (also known as a PUP) that can be quite difficult to remove. The Widgi Toolbar is created by Spigot, Inc., a company that is well known for producing these kinds of applications. This program is often detected as a spyware or adware infection by many security programs. It installs itself as a Browser Helper Object (BHO) for Internet Explorer, although computer users using the Mozilla Firefox web browser have also reported problems with the Widgi Toolbar. Although the Widgi Toolbar is advertised as a potentially helpful add-on for your web browser, Widgi Toolbar is actually designed to take over your online searches and gather marketing information that can then be used to deliver advertisements to your computer.

The Widgi Toolbar is designed to be difficult to remove through normal means, and using the 'Add/Remove programs' panel in the Control Panel will do nothing against this intrusive toolbar. Removing this add-on by using your web browser preferences will also not work. This is because the Widgi Toolbar makes changes to the Windows Registry that allows it Widgi Toolbar to reinstall itself automatically. This annoying toolbar also runs in the background instantly when you start up your computer, hogging system resources and affecting your connection speeds and system performance. Fortunately, most properly updated anti-malware applications can remove the Widgi Toolbar with few problems. ESG security researchers have observed the activities of this malware threat since May of 2011 and, since then, most security programs are able to detect and remove this Potentially Unwanted Program from your computer.

How the Widgi Toolbar Enters Your Computer in the First Place

Most computer users infected with the Widgi Toolbar will acquire this infection because they have tried to install a freeware application without carefully looking through the installation process. Some examples of freeware programs that tend to include potentially unwanted programs such as the Widgi Toolbar include free PDF conversion programs, audio and video format converters, and freeware media players and editors. The installation process for these programs will often prompt you to install Widgi toolbar and other similar programs as a way to 'help' the creators of the freeware in question. ESG malware analysts recommend looking for freeware alternatives that do not require the installation of dubious software on your computer.

SpyHunter Detects & Remove Widgi Toolbar

File System Details

Widgi Toolbar may create the following file(s):
# File Name MD5 Detections
1. freeripToolbarIE.dll 42c62a8cdb10de179747f917070efbea 2,183
2. searchcomToolbarIE.dll 3cffa72079d81334e92b778eeb204498 1,992
3. 34fbec8.rbf 6a5ef17c5c7522d0250f2e7088d3e8d6 130
4. A0165321.rbf d79b36c31244dd84ed40abf487a73255 82
5. IFBHOHelperWidgiToolbar.xpt d2fe788edbfafcb041a266faa706251a 64
6. IFBHOWidgiToolbar.xpt 78790228a0f4cacc233ed694b6c70cb2 64
7. 4cecf41.rbf fc6572f8e23ab65f6d167d909737db97 55
8. 4047d3c.rbf 61d418b5df113ab280f91130a92d7fec 36
9. A0168575.rbf 4b17a2330d2b392b2f512f30fc7016bd 31
10. SearchSettings.exe 6253d6b467ee6193215d6fea00413da2 27
More files

Analysis Report

General information

Family Name: Widgi Toolbar
Signature status: No Signature

Known Samples

MD5: e739f13d4be2d3b7a55e545bf4b0e95f
SHA1: aa70a53a6d9b0839a4c1e01819469e7cb636f7c3
SHA256: B5DCF372449F7BF667AF3B860CD3B94589DC1DF11AF50AAF6876AE16CB09412B
File Size: 3.23 MB, 3229726 bytes

Windows Portable Executable Attributes

  • File doesn't have "Rich" header
  • File doesn't have debug information
  • File doesn't have exports table
  • File doesn't have relocations information
  • File doesn't have security information
  • File is 32-bit executable
  • File is either console or GUI application
  • File is GUI application (IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_GUI)
  • File is Native application (NOT .NET application)
  • File is not packed
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  • IMAGE_FILE_DLL is not set inside PE header (Executable)
  • IMAGE_FILE_EXECUTABLE_IMAGE is set inside PE header (Executable Image)

File Icons

File Traits

  • dll
  • HighEntropy
  • x86