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ImgBurn - full of OpenCandy and other crap
mwb1100:
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:
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)
--- End quote ---
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:
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)
--- End quote ---
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.org/wiki/File:Firefox_Multiple_mines.png
Dammit, it stopped being a game!
>:(
techidave:
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" :P 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:
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)
--- End quote ---
If you want to dig some into OC, all OC traffic is unencrypted, so you can use Wireshark to see exactly what is happening.
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