Wapsi Square Forum

Unchecky is a small background program that watches what you're installing and automatically deselects and/or warns you about bundled adware, shovelware or toolbars in the installer.
 
This stuff is not necessarily malware - though the Ask toolbar is so close that it's hard to see daylight between them (and damnably hard to get rid of) - but it's stuff the freeware distributor includes because they get a small payoff every time someone installs it.
 
They are generally set up so that you can opt out - often so that you have to opt out to avoid installing it - while installing the software you actually want.
 
Unchecky watches for that stuff, and, in most cases, deals with it.
 
I like it, and i've been meaning to mention it here for a while.
 
(The link takes you to the writeup on Gizmo's Freeware i first heard about it from.)

Neato! I'm kind of a freeware junkie, so this is relevant to my interests. Thanks Fpf!

Been meaning to mention it ever since the GF page went up - 2 January - and keep forgetting.

Any help with that sort of sneakware is appreciated, thanks FP.

Groovy! I'll have to check/try it out. in some cases, I've ended up just avoiding some really good stuff because the adsneaks are so many.

One trick is to disconnect from the internet while running installers. It prevents them from connecting to the ad networks some load dynamically and skip straight to the real stuff.

shadowinthelight wrote:One trick is to disconnect from the internet while running installers. It prevents them from connecting to the ad networks some load dynamically and skip straight to the real stuff.

Except for WinBLOWS 8. It's so {insert many colourful expletives here}, that if I try to install without internet, it auto-cancels my downloads. Apparently it's because it auto-backs up your WinBLOWS settings(whether you want it to or not, and I have yet to find a way that works to shut it down. Even compatibility mode fails to do so. If I did not have a killer warranty on the machine with it on, I'd so be using Penguin...

shadowinthelight wrote:One trick is to disconnect from the internet while running installers. It prevents them from connecting to the ad networks some load dynamically and skip straight to the real stuff.

one of the problems with that strategy is that more and more crapware will just save the settings and the next time you do go online, it will auto download the junk at that time by doing it in the background, while you go to the website you wanted to go to, and you never realize that it's doing it in the first place... and by the time you do realize, it's too late.

scantrontb wrote:one of the problems with that strategy is that more and more crapware will just save the settings and the next time you do go online, it will auto download the junk at that time by doing it in the background, while you go to the website you wanted to go to, and you never realize that it's doing it in the first place... and by the time you do realize, it's too late.

Many installers will make it confusing to opt out of the extra crap. A few nasty ones will refuse to continue if you don't say yes or install something even if you say no. I've never had to deal with the behavior you describe. It pays to read reviews of unfamiliar programs before downloading to see what dangers people have run into. Trying to stick to open source helps a bit as it limits any shenanigans to the installers and not the desired programs themselves. The best example I can think of is DAEMON Tools which is probably the best virtual optical drive. Their ad partner was (still is?) doing the shady install stuff even if you say no thing. Disconnecting before running the installer made the "optional" software never even come up. My system is clean as a whistle right now.