The View From Wisconsin

A while back, I found that I had a new folder in the My Documents folder on my old XP machine, titled "SafeNet Sentinel". I was a bit concerned about this, since I didn't remember adding any apps or anything that would have created a folder like that, so I just deleted it. Strangely enough, it kept coming back.

For a minute or two, I thought that perhaps I had a keylogger or some other sinister program find its way onto my machine. It doesn't help when the top 10 Google searches for "SafeNet Sentinel folder" turn up either ! or X signs from McAfee SiteAdvisor.

However, the mystery suddenly cleared up one day when I had just deleted the folder (again) and then went to open up a document in Adobe Reader. I noticed that I had installed a toolbar from a company called TerraGo Technologies in Reader, one that allowed a user to mark and measure PDF maps from the US Department of Agriculture and the ArcGIS program used by the USGS. I minimized the Reader, and took a quick peek in My Documents - sure enough, there was the folder again.

Now, I'm not saying that TerraGo is putting out spyware, but it appears that they use SafeNet's software to track the movements of the mouse when you are using their toolbar on activated PDF files. What I'm concerned about, however, is that this could possibly be exploited by hackers to put a keylogger on a computer.

So it is for this reason that I'm putting the "How to delete the TerraGo Toolbar" out for all to utilize:

To uninstall the TerraGo Toolbar from the Control Panel

1. From Start, click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
3. From the list of installed programs, select TerraGo Toolbar.
4. Click Remove.
5. Click Yes at the confirmation prompt to begin the uninstall process.
6. In the Uninstall Complete dialog box, click Finish.

To uninstall the TerraGo Toolbar from the TerraGo_Toolbar.exe file

1. Double-click the TerraGo_Toolbar.exe file.
2. In the Program Maintenance dialog box, click the Remove radio button, then click Next.
3. Click Yes at the confirmation prompt.
4. In the Uninstall Complete dialog box, click Finish.

I haven't checked yet, but it appears that this will eliminate the folder from reappearing in the My Documents folder. YMMV.

Labels: SafeNet Sentinel TerraGo Toolbar