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Topics - Clairvaux [ switch to compact view ]

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I learned about Shareware on Sale through the last newsletter. They have some attractive offers, including free deals. However, they also drop a toaster-style daily nagware on your PC in a quite underhanded way.

I haven't experimented it myself, because I aborted the installation of the software I wanted just short of that.

My question is : did anyone experiment this nagware ? First and foremost : is there any way to avoid it ?

When you ask for a download after submitting your details, the following things happen :

You get a licence code, and a link which you think is the software download, but it isn't : it's a stub. The filename ends with hub.exe.

It will open a Shareware on Sale installer, with this devious warning popping up at some point : Shareware on Sale Daily Giveaway Notifier provides you with an instant notification whenever there is a new giveaway available. Never miss a giveaway again with Shareware on Sale Daily Giveaway Notifier !

And it asks : Download and install ? Yes / No. Download and install what ? Of course, if you click Yes, you will get both the coveted software... and the nagware. And if you click No... you will get neither. Talk about an opt-out...

The Swiss computing site Libellules.ch has a workaround for this (in French), but it's not clear whether it avoids the nagware altogether (I think not), or it just allows you to download and save the full software package from the publisher for future use.

In order to do this, you must react in a completely counter-intuitive way to this screen, clicking the box next to Save installer to my computer in Downloads folder, but also clicking the Do Not Install button !

Libellules.ch also says that you can download the software you want directly from the publisher's site (provided it is offered there at all), then install it in a regular way, inserting the licence code given out by Shareware on Sale.

Shareware on Sale has backtracked somewhat on its previous policy, which was even worse than that. They say that you can uninstall the nagware, which appears in Windows' Control Panel, but I'm not willing to trust them. Even if uninstall is possible, how can you be sure that nothing untowards would have been left behind, if they engage in such shady tactics ?

I'm all the more furious, since I created an RSS alert for myself on their site, as soon as I found that their deals were, indeed, interesting. Message to Shareware on Sale : I'm perfectly willing to receive news from you, provided I chose to do this, and it's not forced on me !

Anyone has experimented this ?


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