Preditory CAD softwares

[c***@yahoo.com]

A new friend of mine is currently downloading demo and freebie CAD
softwares found all over the net. He got hit a few years ago after
installing some (unknown) software by some Anti-competition bug set
into the demo software.

What happened to him back then it essentially destroyed or overwrote
elements of any CAD software already set up on to the hard drive of his
computer. Then too, if you tried to load up yet another competitive CAD
software, it would not permit that to operate properly or not to load
whatsoever. You then got stuck with the CAD software, like it or not,
and only way to erase it was to reformat the hard drive. The normal
Uninstall did not completely remove it, for by installing, it altered
the boot up sequence of that computer and then even old things did not
work properly anymore. The fellow thought OK and used the demo software
for a while, and then began getting requests and Update information
pop-ups every few months. He once had TurboTax on the hard drive and it
acted similar during the winter of each year.

Has anyone come upon such software and may know the name of these?

Wm.

[Keith W]

Post by c***@yahoo.com
A new friend of mine is currently downloading demo and freebie CAD
softwares found all over the net. He got hit a few years ago after
installing some (unknown) software by some Anti-competition bug set
into the demo software.
elements of any CAD software already set up on to the hard drive of his
computer. Then too, if you tried to load up yet another competitive CAD
software, it would not permit that to operate properly or not to load
whatsoever. You then got stuck with the CAD software, like it or not,
and only way to erase it was to reformat the hard drive. The normal
Uninstall did not completely remove it, for by installing, it altered
the boot up sequence of that computer and then even old things did not
work properly anymore. The fellow thought OK and used the demo software
for a while, and then began getting requests and Update information
pop-ups every few months. He once had TurboTax on the hard drive and it
acted similar during the winter of each year.
Has anyone come upon such software and may know the name of these?
Wm.

I've heard of such things, but fortunately have never had to deal with them.
It should be possible to remove the offending software - but only if you go
to sopeone who knows what he/she is about - not the 'mass market' people,
who will only reformat the disc because it is the most cost-effective way of
getting the disc 'clean'.

The first thing to do if you get this type of infection is to go to the
police computer fraud unit - they will be very interested, as it will be
obvious who has perpetrated the blackmail (the people wanting to charge for
updates), and will add another case to their clean up record very easily!

Keith

[jg]

Post by c***@yahoo.com
A new friend of mine is currently downloading demo and freebie CAD
softwares found all over the net. He got hit a few years ago after
installing some (unknown) software by some Anti-competition bug set
into the demo software.
elements of any CAD software already set up on to the hard drive of his
computer. Then too, if you tried to load up yet another competitive CAD
software, it would not permit that to operate properly or not to load
whatsoever. You then got stuck with the CAD software, like it or not,
and only way to erase it was to reformat the hard drive. The normal
Uninstall did not completely remove it, for by installing, it altered
the boot up sequence of that computer and then even old things did not
work properly anymore. The fellow thought OK and used the demo software
for a while, and then began getting requests and Update information
pop-ups every few months. He once had TurboTax on the hard drive and it
acted similar during the winter of each year.
Has anyone come upon such software and may know the name of these?

Doesn't your friend know the name of it after all that trouble? I have had
software which didn't uninstall properly but don't believe it was ever
malicious, always got rid of it without drastic measures although I have a
"Copernic Desktop Search" shortcut in my system which won't go away. Lately
I bought System Mechanic 6 to fix a problem and very pleased with it -
earlier versions I found a bit buggy... and never had much joy with
Norton's.

[c***@yahoo.com]

No he hasn't conveyed to me the name of such. First time I knew he had
the problem was when he telephoned here a few mornings ago. He spent
most of the weekend looking for and obtaining the free demo versions
etc.

Several of which were duplicates. He would go to one site, find a CAD
software under a certain name, then download it, and go on. Often times
once enacted to install, it may have come from thissa site and thatta
site, but they contained the same software but from a different firm or
vendor. Took him most of Sunday evening to cull out the duplicates, and
now has no idea as to where they all came from. Was mention a good two
years ago on Los Angeles radio computer show about this in yet another
field of software. The host said only way was to format and reinstall
everything. My friend has some bad original disks on file and know they
would not install properly again to get him back to where he was two
weeks ago.

In general, he ran the Uninstall option on EVERYTHING, so there is no
folders to represent the software anymore, but then again he gets a
little message in corner when beginning the boot cycle for Icad. Now
loading..... which it never did before. There just aren't any more
Uninstall buttons to go through and the boot record for his registry
gets changed everytime a reboot, of about every 45 minutes. The hard
drive has swelled about 50% also. which same old software on it.


Now loading........



Wm.

Post by jg

Post by c***@yahoo.com
A new friend of mine is currently downloading demo and freebie CAD
softwares found all over the net. He got hit a few years ago after
installing some (unknown) software by some Anti-competition bug set
into the demo software.
elements of any CAD software already set up on to the hard drive of his
computer. Then too, if you tried to load up yet another competitive CAD
software, it would not permit that to operate properly or not to load
whatsoever. You then got stuck with the CAD software, like it or not,
and only way to erase it was to reformat the hard drive. The normal
Uninstall did not completely remove it, for by installing, it altered
the boot up sequence of that computer and then even old things did not
work properly anymore. The fellow thought OK and used the demo software
for a while, and then began getting requests and Update information
pop-ups every few months. He once had TurboTax on the hard drive and it
acted similar during the winter of each year.
Has anyone come upon such software and may know the name of these?

Doesn't your friend know the name of it after all that trouble? I have had
software which didn't uninstall properly but don't believe it was ever
malicious, always got rid of it without drastic measures although I have a
"Copernic Desktop Search" shortcut in my system which won't go away. Lately
I bought System Mechanic 6 to fix a problem and very pleased with it -
earlier versions I found a bit buggy... and never had much joy with
Norton's.

[Bob Morrison]

Post by c***@yahoo.com
In general, he ran the Uninstall option on EVERYTHING, so there is no
folders to represent the software anymore, but then again he gets a
little message in corner when beginning the boot cycle for Icad. Now
loading..... which it never did before. There just aren't any more
Uninstall buttons to go through and the boot record for his registry
gets changed everytime a reboot, of about every 45 minutes. The hard
drive has swelled about 50% also. which same old software on it.

Sounds like he needs a good registry cleaner. Tell him to buy a copy of
"RegVac". It's one of the best on the market.

[JG]

Even better is do a system restore to the day before he installed the
crap. But he deserves what he got. NEVER use your primary machine to
test downloads. If you have to, then do a full backup before, and be
prepared to do a format and restore.

Post by Bob Morrison

Post by c***@yahoo.com
In general, he ran the Uninstall option on EVERYTHING, so there is no
folders to represent the software anymore, but then again he gets a
little message in corner when beginning the boot cycle for Icad. Now
loading..... which it never did before. There just aren't any more
Uninstall buttons to go through and the boot record for his registry
gets changed everytime a reboot, of about every 45 minutes. The hard
drive has swelled about 50% also. which same old software on it.

Sounds like he needs a good registry cleaner. Tell him to buy a copy of
"RegVac". It's one of the best on the market.