WeatherBug

WeatherBug 6.03 displays the current weather conditions from a network of school-based stations across the USA. WeatherBug is ad supported and shows banners ~~and pop up advertisements~~. Jason Hoffman has notified me that version 6.0+ no longer show pop-up windows and raised a few other concerns regarding this WeatherBug write-up. You can read my response for more detail. There is also an ad-free version, WeatherBug Plus. Source. If WeatherBug open pop-ups, they are displayed in a browser window clearly labelled with the vendor's name on top. The WeatherBug server controls how many pop-ups the WeatherBug client open. The vendor is also offering a list of the companies that is advertising with WeatherBug.

WeatherBug can be installed from the vendor's web site using an ActiveX dialog box or as a stand-alone .exe file. WeatherBug v6.04 bundles MySearch Bar. AOL Instant Messenger v5.5.3595 offered WeatherBug as an optional component.

The vendor's statement about third party software and advertising:
"9. THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE. Installation and use of any plug-ins or other third-party software are subject to the terms and conditions of any licenses distributed with or relating to such plug-ins or third-party software.

10. ADVERTISING. The Software is provided for your use, as described above, free of charge, and is supported by advertising revenue. Separate, "ad-free" versions of the Software are available to all users subscribing to WeatherBug Plus.

11. WEATHERBUG PLUS subscription services (terms and conditions below) are free of banner, wrap, and pop up advertisements and include enhanced and customizable features that the advertising-based version does not include. "

Classification

Files

WEATHER.EXE, MiniBug.exe, Lfcmp10n.dll, LTDIS10N.dll, ltkrn10N.dll, wxinstw.dll, wxpref.dll, wxreg.dll, wxweb.dll, lfbmp10N.dll, lfimg10N.dll, ltfil10N.DLL, wxdist.dll, wxlocm.dll, wxproa.dll, wxutil.dll, WxBugSetup60b6.04.0.9m.EXE

If you have any of the files related to WeatherBug on your system, please send them for additional analysis. Generally, I have only analysed a few versions for each software component listed at this web site. With your help I will be able to look at both old and more recent versions of the WeatherBug software. Thank you very much for your time!

Vendor

End User License Agreement

Alias

AdWare.MiniBug (v6.04) [Kaspersky Anti-Virus], Adware.Weatherbug (v5.3.0.14) [Norton AntiVirus Expanded Threat]

Detection

Uninstall procedure

Uninstall WeatherBug from "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows® Control Panel. If you run into problems removing WeatherBug, please contact the vendor. Do not uninstall WeatherBug if you value the service that it offers and can accept the advertisements.

If you decide to uninstall, you will be taken to the vendor's web site for a survey, asking why you uninstalled the software. The uninstaller for WeatherBug 6.03 worked fine. During my testing of an older version, the uninstaller left a few files and directories (~2 MB) behind on your system that you can to remove manually:

%ProgramsDir%\AWS\
%ProgramsDir%\AWS\WeatherBug\
   AWS032003.jpg
   awstop060501.jpg
   BottomBrandShare.jpg
   button7_share_win.gif
   order_pro.jpg
   REMOVE.EXE
   subscribe121602.jpg
   WBug5_wrap_FINAL_topbrand.jpg
   WBug5_wrap_FINALNEW.jpg
   WRC_Toyota_Wrap_Oct2002_topbrand.jpg
%ProgramDir%\AWS\WeatherBug\Install\
   download.txt
   MiniBug.exe
   WxBugSetup502b1.EXE

Note: %ProgramsDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\Program Files.

Some users also report that the following registry key is left behind:
'HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run \ Weather' which can to be removed manually.

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Contact information for WeatherBug's vendor

In order to provide correct, accurate and updated information about WeatherBug I encourage the vendor to contact me if any part of this write-up needs a revision.

Additional notes

Thanks to AWS vice president of marketing Pete Celano for providing valuable information about WeatherBug.

Overview