The hbtsrv.exe file is the process called Hotspot Shield Helper Service that is used by the application Hotspot Shield created by AnchorFree. This is not a visible program. This process file has a digital signature issued by VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer. It is not a system process. Hotspot Shield is free software that lets you secure your connection as you surf WiFi hotspots and access sites that are not normally available outside USA. This program creates a secure connection called VPN or virtual private network between the USA-based AnchorFree Website and your computer. It makes your base appear to be in USA. You can view Websites that are restricted to people not living in the USA. You can view region-restricted YouTube videos and other sites like Hulu. Hotspot Shield also offers malware protection. Its VPN has 128-bit SSL encryption for safe surfing.

Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. hbtsrv.exe. is used by Hotspot Shield, If you shut down hbtsrv.exe, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop hbtsrv.exe, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is Hotspot Shield, from your system.

After uninstalling applications it is a good idea to scan you Windows registry for any left over traces of applications. Registry Reviver by ReviverSoft is a great tool for doing this.

The ReviverSoft experts have not yet reviewed hbtsrv.exe

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Hotspot Shield, or your operating system that is responsible for running in functions of that application. Some application require that they have processes running all the time so they can do things such as check for updates or notify you when you get an instant message. Some poorly written applications have many processes that run that may not be required and take up valuable processing power within your computer.

We have not received any complaint about this process having higher than normal impact on PC performance. If you have had bad experiences with it please let us know in a comment below and we will investigate it further.

The first thing you should do if hbtsrv.exe. is causing errors on your computer is to run a Windows registry scan with Registry Reviver If you are still seeing errors after this you should uninstall the program that hbtsrv.exe, belongs to, in this case Hotspot Shield