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Freemake Software: Help With A Service
y0himba:
Hello. I am sure that a lot of folks have heard of Freemake's utilities, a video downloader and a video encoder/transcoder. If you are using the software, it installs a service without your permission or knowledge called "FreemakeUtilsService" which runs at system start and sits there in the background, occasionally transmitting data over the Internet, even when the software is not running.
The software is actually quite nice for encoding with a TON of features.
They state that it collects bug and crash data and then chooses the best time to send that data based on when their servers are least busy. If there are no bugs or crashes, and even if the software has never been run, it still transmits something. (I installed it on my laptop but have not used it yet) The service can be deleted and the software continues to run. The next time you upgrade (and upgrades are frequent), the service is re-installed, set to automatically run, without the user's permission or knowledge.
Can someone help me check this service out and see what exactly it is doing and transmitting? Someone with more knowledge than me.
http://www.freemake.com (Download the Video Encoder or Video Downloader)
mouser:
They state that it collects bug and crash data and then chooses the best time to send that data based on when their servers are least busy. If there are no bugs or crashes, and even if the software has never been run, it still transmits something.
--- End quote ---
There may be reasons they say it needs to do this.. This may be a great service for all I know. But something sounds fishy to me.
Regardless, I would never ever use software that did this. My advice: uninstall and find alternative software.
worstje:
I agree with mouser.
Besides, think about it: how can that service know when those servers are least busy? Right, by connecting to them. But once you start connecting, you might as well send that crash data already, since unless we are talking Windows or SAP-like monstrosities, those reports can't be more than say, 1mb.
Doing that stuff when you start the program is more than good enough in my opinion.
y0himba:
They are removing Facebook posts that ask about the service's activity and purpose. Something is fishy here. Again, if it looks too good to be true...
cmpm:
Use this to remove the add-ons if you installed them.
http://toolbarcleaner.com/
Then stop and disable the FreeMake service.
via services.msc
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