Author Topic: ImgBurn - full of OpenCandy and other crap (Read 44533 times)

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #25 on:** April 27, 2014, 04:03 AM »

Carol, that's simply impossible/unreasonable/impractical. You're effectively asking that before the code runs, code runs to let you opt out. You have to run the code in order to be able to opt out.
-Renegade (April 26, 2014, 08:56 AM)

I think you misunderstood - if I have to have OpenCandy try and foist crap on on me why can't Open Candy say to me - here is the crap we are offering ... do you want it?

To be honest I am not sure if Conduit came from OpenCandy (there was definitely no opt out option during installation in custom install mode - it wasn't mentioned anywhere except by Malwarebytes popping up hundreds of warnings) or directly within the package I downloaded.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter to me how it arrived - the fact is it arrived and was bloody annoying. The only people to blame for that arrival was ImgBurn since one way or another it came from their installer. If they put it in the installation package then then are actually now distributing malware - if it came from OpenCandy without warning then ImgBurn is still to blame for making a pact with the devil!!

What really gets my blood boiling is that I have both donated to ImgBurn in the past and have recommended it widely to other people (and asked them to donate too). Now the finger is likely to point at me if those people's computers get infected when ImgBurn offers an update.

Renegade · « **Reply #26 on:** April 27, 2014, 09:23 AM »

Carol, that's simply impossible/unreasonable/impractical. You're effectively asking that before the code runs, code runs to let you opt out. You have to run the code in order to be able to opt out.
-Renegade (April 26, 2014, 08:56 AM)

I think you misunderstood - if I have to have OpenCandy try and foist crap on on me why can't Open Candy say to me - here is the crap we are offering ... do you want it?

To be honest I am not sure if Conduit came from OpenCandy (there was definitely no opt out option during installation in custom install mode - it wasn't mentioned anywhere except by Malwarebytes popping up hundreds of warnings) or directly within the package I downloaded.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter to me how it arrived - the fact is it arrived and was bloody annoying. The only people to blame for that arrival was ImgBurn since one way or another it came from their installer. If they put it in the installation package then then are actually now distributing malware - if it came from OpenCandy without warning then ImgBurn is still to blame for making a pact with the devil!!

What really gets my blood boiling is that I have both donated to ImgBurn in the past and have recommended it widely to other people (and asked them to donate too). Now the finger is likely to point at me if those people's computers get infected when ImgBurn offers an update.
-Carol Haynes (April 27, 2014, 04:03 AM)

Blaming OC is still off-mark.

What might have happened is that some software (not OC) was on your system and did the download/install. OC is an installer platform. If a company used OC to get on your computer, then went rogue, well... There you go.

I have a program with users that I could go rogue on. I won't. But I could. I'd have myself a nice little bot army. I just couldn't ever bring myself to be a douche like that though. Some people can.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #27 on:** April 27, 2014, 05:13 PM »

Sorry I didn't have Conduit on my system until I downloaded ImgBurn and installed it - as soon as the installer started MBAM went mad. My system is scanned regularly and was/is clean.

If you actually read what I said :

To be honest I am not sure if Conduit came from OpenCandy ...

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter to me how it arrived ... The only people to blame for that arrival was ImgBurn since one way or another it came from their installer.

Not sure how that equates to blaming OpenCandy - though I do think they are a scummy system specifically designed to confuse people.

J-Mac · « **Reply #28 on:** April 28, 2014, 01:16 PM »

I happen to have two setups for ImgBurn on my computer, and the size difference is telling:

SetupImgBurn_2.5.0.0.exe 2.06 MB
SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe 5.83 MB

Sooo, I extracted the contents of both using UniExtract and found the following:

SetupImgBurn_2.5.0.0.exe

Installer for ImgBurn in the main folder, plus two subfolders, for Plugins and Sounds.
Plugins contains DLLs and images pertaining to ImgBurn only.

SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe

Main folder contains three subfolders: Install directory, Plugins directory, and Temp directory
Install directory contains a folder named Uniblue that has three files: DriverScanner, RegistryBooster, and SpeedUpMyPC.
Plugins directory contains ImgBurn DLLs and images plus Ask toolbar .ini and .bmp files
Temp directory contains ApnIC.dll, ApnStub.exe, and Apn Toolbar Installer.exe - all Ask Toolbar related.

So to me it appears that 2.5.0.0 was the last clean version of ImgBurn. I wouldn’t install any version released later than that.

BTW, 2.5.7.0 had no reference to OC within the installer package.

Jim

hamradio · « **Reply #29 on:** April 28, 2014, 01:52 PM »

Sounds like you not alone...

Here is a few of them...
http://forum.imgburn...ny-another-customer/
http://forum.imgburn...d-usermalware-issue/
http://forum.imgburn...ut-an-op-out-option/
http://forum.imgburn...the-thrid-party-app/

As for that last topic the authors reply to the user...

I don't suppose you took a screenshot of that offer screen did you?

I have no way of knowing if I'll see the same one should I ever get offered that application.
-LIGHTNING UK!

If I was going to do something it would definitely not use a system that provides random offers not knowing what offers my product users might get offered to them for that very reason... To me it would be like letting the fox guard the hen house.

mwb1100 · « **Reply #30 on:** April 28, 2014, 02:14 PM »

Yup - one of the attributes of OpenCandy is that what it decides to offer to install is dynamically generated. This made it difficult for me to run some tests to see if some anti-malware I was evaluating would be effective against Conduit Search Protect. Most of the stuff I could find that installed Search Protect used OpenCandy, but when I wanted to test the Search Protect install, I'd only rarely get it "offered". I eventually found something that had the Search Protect installer packaged with the software rather than as an OpenCandy offering (I forget what software that was).

Anyway, the point is that when OpenCandy is used, there's no telling what might be offered.

I will say that the OpenCandy offers did seem to always have an opt-out. I still don't like it because the offers always seem to be for junk that no informed user would want. OC offers an opt-out, but are relying on people to not understand what's happening. Also I wouldn't be at all surprised if even when OC offers an opt-out that some of the stuff installed via OC ('by permission') will install further junk that doesn't get an opt-out option.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #31 on:** April 28, 2014, 04:34 PM »

What really gets my blood boiling is that I have both donated to ImgBurn in the past and have recommended it widely to other people (and asked them to donate too). Now the finger is likely to point at me if those people's computers get infected when ImgBurn offers an update.
-Carol Haynes (April 27, 2014, 04:03 AM)

This is a big problem - you come to know an item, recommend it a couple of times, then they pull these kinds of tricks. I'm pretty sure I've seen other threads like it recently.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #32 on:** April 28, 2014, 04:39 PM »

I will say that the OpenCandy offers did seem to always have an opt-out. I still don't like it because the offers always seem to be for junk that no informed user would want. OC offers an opt-out, but are relying on people to not understand what's happening. Also I wouldn't be at all surprised if even when OC offers an opt-out that some of the stuff installed via OC ('by permission') will install further junk that doesn't get an opt-out option.
-mwb1100 (April 28, 2014, 02:14 PM)

Oh oh! I know this one! We all played it in the 90's, that thing where you had to unclick buttons and not get wrecked! It was called Minefield!

http://en.wikipedia....x_Multiple_mines.png

Dammit, it stopped being a game!

techidave · « **Reply #33 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:19 PM »

After reading the links that HamRadio posted, I have to wonder if the author of ImgBurn has even tried to download his own product to see what it actually does. I don't know enough about Open Candy to know if it is "harmful" or not. But I do know that Conduit and the other crapware can be extremely difficult to remove totally.

And how can the author deny the claims that all these people are making about his install routine. "Where there is smoke, there is fire"

Maybe he should listen a little closer and check things out instead of arguing with everybody about all the "opt outs" that are there.

<rant done>

Renegade · « **Reply #34 on:** April 28, 2014, 08:27 PM »

Yup - one of the attributes of OpenCandy is that what it decides to offer to install is dynamically generated. This made it difficult for me to run some tests to see if some anti-malware I was evaluating would be effective against Conduit Search Protect. Most of the stuff I could find that installed Search Protect used OpenCandy, but when I wanted to test the Search Protect install, I'd only rarely get it "offered". I eventually found something that had the Search Protect installer packaged with the software rather than as an OpenCandy offering (I forget what software that was).

Anyway, the point is that when OpenCandy is used, there's no telling what might be offered.

I will say that the OpenCandy offers did seem to always have an opt-out. I still don't like it because the offers always seem to be for junk that no informed user would want. OC offers an opt-out, but are relying on people to not understand what's happening. Also I wouldn't be at all surprised if even when OC offers an opt-out that some of the stuff installed via OC ('by permission') will install further junk that doesn't get an opt-out option.
-mwb1100 (April 28, 2014, 02:14 PM)

If you want to dig some into OC, all OC traffic is unencrypted, so you can use Wireshark to see exactly what is happening.

J-Mac · « **Reply #35 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:32 PM »

If you want to dig some into OC, all OC traffic is unencrypted, so you can use Wireshark to see exactly what is happening.
-Renegade (April 28, 2014, 08:27 PM)

Actually it doesn’t matter to me; I don’t want to see it in the first place!

If it is only on freeware, then I guess it is OK - in that case I'll just use something else. However all freeware I currently use I have made donation(s) to, so that does burn me up.

Jim

J-Mac · « **Reply #36 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:58 PM »

I will say that the OpenCandy offers did seem to always have an opt-out. I still don't like it because the offers always seem to be for junk that no informed user would want. OC offers an opt-out, but are relying on people to not understand what's happening. Also I wouldn't be at all surprised if even when OC offers an opt-out that some of the stuff installed via OC ('by permission') will install further junk that doesn't get an opt-out option.
-mwb1100 (April 28, 2014, 02:14 PM)

Unfortunately those "opt-out" check boxes don’t always mean anything. I used Networx for some years until earlier this year. While installing the latest update I was confronted with the "option" to also install the AVG Toolbar along with some other AVG garbage - Rewards program and stuff. I declined all but after installation I discovered that all of the AVG crap had installed anyway. After much bitching and moaning to anyone I thought would care - Softperfect, AVG - the most I got was that either I mistakenly accepted the installation, or they might have made an "oops". I posted on the Networx forum after searching it and wondering why no one else had ever complained about this... right up until they deleted my thread and I realized that no complaints survived their moderation apparently.

So beware the opt-outs, as they're not always real.

Jim

40hz · « **Reply #37 on:** April 28, 2014, 10:30 PM »

Maybe we should add "You can always opt out!" to the famous Three Greatest Lies in History list as the fourth?

mwb1100 · « **Reply #38 on:** April 28, 2014, 11:38 PM »

If you want to dig some into OC, all OC traffic is unencrypted, so you can use Wireshark to see exactly what is happening.
-Renegade (April 28, 2014, 08:27 PM)

I have no reason to doubt that. But even in the non-technology world there are business practices that depend on deceiving people through small-print, difficult to comprehend legalese, or misleading (but technically true) claims. I don't like those practices either.

I am certain that OpenCandy is used to get people to install unwanted software such as Conduit Search Protect and other packages that don't benefit the user in any way (and in fact are troublesome to users) - I've seen it happen myself. I can't think of an OpenCandy offer that made me think, "gee, what a great offer!". I suppose it may happen every now and then, but I suspect that it's pretty rare and might be non-existent. Why would I have reason to be kind to OpenCandy?

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #39 on:** April 29, 2014, 06:37 AM »

I will say it once again for clarity -

When had the initial install problem I went through custom install - I knew OpenCandy was going to be in there somewhere but I was also under the impression you could opt out.

I opted out of everything it was possible to opt of and there WAS ABSOLUTELY NO REFERENCE TO CONDUIT ANYWHERE but Conduit got installed. The installer came direct from ImgBurn's server not a mirror site.

Either OpenCandy has been hacked (and is now servicing stuff even it doesn't know about and what a great vector that would be for hackers), OpenCandy are lying and doing stuff that they explicitly say they don't do or ImgBurn is lying and doing something it says it isn't.

WHATEVER the reason in this instance the fault lie absolutely 100% at the door of IMGBURN

What developer with any brain would allow a third party bunch of scumbags to install anything along with their product without knowing in advance what is being offered?

I feel somewhat relieved that at least I am not alone in all this!! Having read the ImgBurn forum links above it is obvious that he doesn't care any more because he doesn't take what users say seriously.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #40 on:** April 29, 2014, 11:09 AM »

Maybe we should add "You can always opt out!" to the famous Three Greatest Lies in History list as the fourth?
-40hz (April 28, 2014, 10:30 PM)

Maybe we've heard different lists, But...

$:-\$ ...I'm pretty sure that falls rather squarely under (I promise not to *** in your *****) lie # 3.

40hz · « **Reply #41 on:** April 29, 2014, 12:55 PM »

Maybe we should add "You can always opt out!" to the famous Three Greatest Lies in History list as the fourth?
-40hz (April 28, 2014, 10:30 PM)

Maybe we've heard different lists, But...

$:-\$ ...I'm pretty sure that falls rather squarely under (I promise not to *** in your *****) lie # 3.
-Stoic Joker (April 29, 2014, 11:09 AM)

Yep. That's the list.

Midnight Rambler · « **Reply #42 on:** May 20, 2014, 09:46 AM »

Although I use mainly CopyToDVD, ImgBurn has been in my DVD toolbox for a while now and have always downloaded it from http://www.filehippo.com/. You'll notice that the site includes links to older versions of the programs.

UPDATE: Just used ImgBurn 2.5.8.0 downloaded from filehippo to burn THE_CONJURING.ISO to DVD+R and the program worked fine as before. Chose custom installation and simply rejected malware instal but still understand thread-starter's complaint. Shouldn't have had to deselect anything.

mikiem · « **Reply #43 on:** May 20, 2014, 09:59 AM »

I use 7-Zip to expand the SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe [or whatever version number], then move the file, ImgBurn.exe, to the ImgBurn folder -- update completed. Universal Extractor, original & mod versions, works too.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #44 on:** May 20, 2014, 11:13 AM »

I use 7-Zip to expand the SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe [or whatever version number], then move the file, ImgBurn.exe, to the ImgBurn folder -- update completed. Universal Extractor, original & mod versions, works too.
-mikiem (May 20, 2014, 09:59 AM)

Fair enough but you shouldn't have to!

MikePerry · « **Reply #45 on:** May 20, 2014, 11:34 AM »

I'm using ImgBurn 2.5.1 - I've found the program is fully portable. I just go to the "Program Files" directory, copy the ImgBurn folder to a flash drive and move it to another computer. Then make a shortcut to the executable (either on the desktop or put it in the start menu) for ease of use. No install, no crapware... It's amazing how many programs are inherently portable.

kgooch · « **Reply #46 on:** May 20, 2014, 12:32 PM »

I'm am using ImgBurn 2.5.8.0 3.389 KB and I have always used the custom install in any software I install. Having deselected the optional software, I get an install with only Imgburn as verified by Malwarebytes - no conduit, no malware of any sort.

40hz · « **Reply #47 on:** May 20, 2014, 12:51 PM »

@MikePerry & kgooch - glad to see you both posting your first comment in the forum after being members since 2010 and 2008 respectively.

Welcome!

Tuxman · « **Reply #48 on:** May 20, 2014, 02:20 PM »

I wonder if they come from the ImgBurn forums to advertise here.

mouser · « **Reply #49 on:** May 20, 2014, 02:23 PM »

From the posts we've seen now -- it sure seems like whatever Carol experienced was corrected, and that ImgBurn now just has some fairly standard adware/toolbar bundles stuff that you can opt out of, which is pretty common these days. It just requires that you install it carefully and make sure to uncheck what you don't want. Pretty small price to pay for a great app.

Let's just keep on top of this kind of thing and make sure the really bad stuff (that Carol reported earlier) does not sneak back in.