NewtonKnows comprises a IE search-hijacker and toolbar, and a targeting pop-up system that works across many browsers.

Distribution

Bundled with Grokster.

Advertising

Yes. Speech-bubble-style site links pop up in the bottom-right corner of the browser window whilst browsing.

Privacy violation

Yes. When a targeted site is visited, NewtonKnows sends a request back to its controlling servers include the hostname of the site being viewed, and a unique ID. This can be used to track your usage of different web sites.

If you entered an e-mail address at the time of install, such a browsing record is personally identifying. The privacy policy explicitly allows NewtonKnows's makers to combine personally identifying web usage records with other databases (which might include, for example, addresses and telephone numbers), and to use this database for marketing.

Security issues

Yes. NewtonKnows has a silent self-updating feature which allows its controlling server to execute arbitrary unsigned code.

Stability problems

None known.

Removal

The Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs entry should remove NewtonKnows fully. Do not attempt to delete the files manually: incorrect removal of the LSP used by the software will result in a broken network connection.