DivX installs Gator spyware!

[JohnnyCNote]

I just updated my DivX codec and was extremely disappointed to discover it installed Gator junkware on my computer! This is one of the worst spyware apps around!

I ran Ad-aware immediately after the installation and got this result:

Vendor:Claria
Categoryata Miner
Object Type:RegKey
Size:-
Location:SOFTWARE\Gator.com\
Last Activity:2-8-2004
Risk LevelLow
Comment:
Description:No Detail Information Available.

I'm going to remove it; hopefully it won't interfere with DivX. If so, I'll look for an alternative. They should be more up front about this. Having worked in Internet tech support in the past, I have dealt with numerous callers who've had all sorts of problems with Gator. It's pure junk!

[disturbed1]

You have 3 choices when you download Divx.

Free
Free (adware supported)
Not free (costs you money)


Also during the installation, it tells you that GAIN is about to be installed. You have the options to abort at that point, and it's also in the EULA at the beging of the setup.

[JohnnyCNote]

I found a link to the GAIN-free version:

[urlhttp://www.pcpitstop.com/offsite.asp?http://download.divx.com/divx/DivX51Bundle.exe]Gator Free DivX[/url]

It took a bit of digging, but at least it's there. It's underneath the big table. I guess that's what I get for not checking out the "Ad-supported" link. Hopefull I can help others avoid getting Gator on their computers....

[disturbed1]

It's easily found on the Divx download page at www.divx.com

[JohnnyCNote]

¡Correcto!

[Timmychuck]

Don't itSUCKS that software companys use GAIN to surport there products,when they know its spyware.

[JohnnyCNote]

I agree 100%! There are plenty of other ways to generate revenue that are much more honest than spyware like Gator. Even if they do state in the EULA that it's included, there are plenty of people who will miss that. I did a search for DivX and Gator on yahoo.com and found lots of links about it - none had anything positive to say....

[jesus_verga]

plenty of info on doom9...
http://forum.doom9.org/search.php?s=5663409bfff9d3f18bb08085e24f5570&action=showresult...=&pagenumber=1

[JohnnyCNote]

¡Muchas gracias!

[Timmychuck]

Gator changed there name,
Read http://www.pcpitstop.com/gator/default.asp

[JohnnyCNote]

Gator changed there name,
Read http://www.pcpitstop.com/gator/default.asp

That must be what the "Claris' in my first message refers to. It's good to see that PCPitstop has also made a strong statement against Gator/Claris:

Our Position

PC Pitstop is speaking out against Gator and similar products because we believe that most users do not benefit by having them installed. This is consistent with the basic tenets that drive both our business philosophy and the advice that we give to users.

Gator should be removed from everyone's PC.
PC Pitstop wants every PC to run reliably and optimally. Our own experiences with GAIN and Gator applications show that they can reduce system reliability. Their background activity and resource usage can impair system performance. The ads they pop up can be distracting. Finally, the functionality offered by free Gator applications is usually available at little or no cost from other sources that have better license terms.

[jimmalenko]

...Having worked in Internet tech support in the past, I have dealt with numerous callers who've had all sorts of problems with Gator. It's pure junk!

Johnny you disappoint me. Having worked in tech support, you should have known better than blindly clicking on install instead of reading what it was actually installing.

Anyway, I'm sure the noobs appreciate the heads up.

[JohnnyCNote]

What can I say, I slipped up. That's what I get for staying up all night and trying to diagnose problems when I'm half-asleep . At least I was able to correct the mistake, and figured I'd try to warn others.

It's one of those "happens to the best of 'em" things. The real problem here is I can't seem to get any AVI files to play any more. I'm tempted to blame it on a bunch of junk that I've installed over the past few months, all part of experimenting with video capture from VHS, etc.

I'm going to do one of my periodic re-formats pretty soon. I've gotten it down to a system by now. I'm waiting because I'm going to do some system upgrades, a faster DVD writer (probably a Plextor 708) at a minimum, and a motherboard/CPU upgrade if I'm lucky.

So sometimes I get a little adventuresome. I also use GoBack, which has bailed me out of more than a few mistakes over the years.

PS: are you Ukrainian?

[jimmalenko]

Nah, from the land down under.

Ahhhh, reformatting. Now there's a chore I don't envy. I work as PC maintenance and support for a private company and it seems every second week there is a PC in need of reformat and reinstall of everything. We only have about 50 computers in the whole company with no real renewal/turnover policy so ghosting is not really an option.

Have fun

[JohnnyCNote]

I used to take care of the computers for a small office on a free lance basis, and it was frequently easier to simply to a reformat since they only needed MS Office and a few other applications. However, that's probably the exception to the rule. I do it at home about 3 times a year.

The last time was after I installed the new Napster. For some reason it caused my system to freeze up and I could hardly get it booted up. Fortunately, I do multiple back-ups, so I really didn't lose anything critical, but it was a major pain in the rear. In any event, I'm staying away from Napster, even though it seems a lot of other people are having no problems. Maybe I'll try it right before I'm ready to wipe the drive, then I can be prepared if it "goes south", as they say up here.

Which reminds me, would you guys say "go north" when things mess up?

[jimmalenko]

No. Like everyone else,

"its fucked"

[johns0]

JohnnyCNote,i dont think you slipped up,sometime these sites installs spyware and pest programs by tricking you,the other day my homepage was hijacked by a javascript that had a reg entry pointing to it to start on run and i hadnt click on yes to install anything.

[JohnnyCNote]

No, I did slip up this time, because I recall the EULA thing. I just automatically clicked on as it flashed by, However, I know all too well about those hijackers, and I hate them even more! Occasionally I let a friend use my computer, and sometimes I find a different home page, windows resized, etc., and it's all from that sort of junkware.

So far, Ad-Aware and SpyBot has taken care of the problems, and if it's really bad I can (almost) always use GoBack. I also run a full virus scan every night, as well as back-ups to both my D drive and a CD-RW. So I'm pretty well protected. I even use Norton Internet Security and a hardware firewall, and I've always managed to prevent any intrusions (not that it happens very often).

I've been pretty lucky. While I've picked up a couple of viruses, I've been able to catch them before they did any damage. I almost got tricked by the MyDoom virus last week when I got some "undeliverable" e-mails, but once I realized what they were I deleted them and did several scans. Nothing was detected so I'm pretty sure they were never activated.

I'm amazed at how many people I know never update their virus definitions and leave their computers connected to 24/7 DSL or cable modems. On the other hand, it makes me a nice little side income, not that I don't warn them. ....

[proxyx99]

JohnnyCNote

I'm going to do one of my periodic re-formats pretty soon

Periodic reformat? How about this: I've carried over stuff from my win95->win98->win98SE->winME->winXP installations/upgrades. My MB/CPU was changed I think 6 times, HD's etc. I backup only doc's. I have 4 PC network at home, just reimaged new HD's. Have tonn of sfuf and never had to reformat, even once. Just use maintenance tools to clean up registry from time to time.

[JohnnyCNote]

I've tried a lot of different approaches over the years, but I've gotten the best results from a reformat. One the other hand, I have lots of disks of stuff I've d/l'd and saved over the years. What appeals to me about the reformat is that it cleans out all of the junk files, like dll's, etc., that seem to clog the works.

It's another "individual results may vary" thing. One other thing I tried, after reading an article in Mazimum PC, was a clean install, and then used an imaging program to make a master baci-up set. That worked okay, but in the long run was as much trouble as a regular reformat.

The drawback is that after making a master disk set, many manufacturers release new drivers, updates, versions, etc., so after restoring a computer to the state it was, e.g., 6 months before, now it has older drives. Plus, there's the way Windows is always needing updating.

So it just depends on what works best in each situation. I'd never say there's only one right way to do things, of course. What works in one system may not work in another....

[proxyx99]

You are absolutely right. I just wanted to emphasize the fact that the key is good maintenenca habbits. Just can't imagine myself going through reinstallation of all my stuff. And couple megs of redundant dll's doesn't bother me at all. HD's are so affordable now. I'm still amazed how well it all worked out for myself against a common belief that "periodic reformat" is unavoidable.

After many clean installs for friends and family I can say one thing for sure that starting fresh does not always mean you are better off. I've seen too many errors shortly after the installation of some major "must have" apps on top of brand spanking new OS install. It lead me to believe that this is not necessarily the best way to end up with a well tuned system