OPEN CANDY, The right to say no.

OPEN CANDY, The right to say no is a right that should not be taken away.

Open candy claims to be safe but the behavior of open candy is very suspect. It is forcefully and without your consent checking what you have on your computer and using that info to know what to advertise to you. They say they will never use the info wrongly but would you trust someone the behaves in such a manner, I don't.

A quote from Frequently Asked Questions - OpenCandy.

you, as a user, will see these app recommendations (ads) while you’re downloading and installing an app and you can choose to accept or decline the app recommendation. If you accept, you install both the original app and the recommended app and if you decline, you install only the original app. You can uninstall any app at any time.

Have you ever seen the box empty without the check mark or is it already checked as accept. That is not my accepting, it is forcing.

Another Quote from Frequently Asked Questions - OpenCandy.

You may have downloaded a software installer which contains the OpenCandy developer plug-in. When the installer is run on your computer our small plug-in runs temporarily along with it but is not installed permanently on your computer. The plug-in shows you an app recommendation and is designed to then be deleted from your computer when it has finished operating. Should you accept an app recommendation, an OpenCandy helper application may run periodically on your computer for up to a few days to verify if the recommended app was activated and then it deletes itself automatically.

Where in all of this have I had any options or right to say no.

I read on this very site where an OpenCandy rep specifically tells everyone that nothing is installed. Should you really trust this company.

Link to other thread is

OpenCandy

OpenCandy isn't concealed or "piggy-backed" in software installers. In fact, OpenCandy isn't installed on your computer at all. As I said above, it's used by the installer to retrieve and present a software recommendation in the installer, and only in the installer.

Not only has he gone against there own fag page and said nothing is installed, he also eludes to the fact that stuff is retrieved. Who gave them the right to retrieve anything from my computer, this is insane.

I could go on forever on how utterly against open candy I am but I think I covered enough to make my point so now a little about protecting your self.

First if your antivirus is not letting you know and giving you the option to protect yourself then get another antivirus. it is that simple. The following help is useless if your antivirus supports open candy and is not letting you know of its presence.

A huge amount of free software makers out there are combining with open candy in order to make money. It is what it is. My anitvirus warns me during each and every install of that free software and I select PROTECT. Then the free software continues to install without the open candy. If your anitvirus is not then find one that does (AVG and Windows Security do). You also have to watch for other crap such as Ask Toolbar but that is separate from open candy. You must read every NEXT NEXT screen during the install and get rid of the extra crap. Be aware to read each screen and remove the check marks. When you see decline always click it. You will need to click accept for the license agreement and usually only the license agreement. Always click custom and then remove the check marks on the crap you did not even see until you clicked custom. So remember to always decline and always click custom. Only accept the license agreement.

I build up computers with software very repetitively for my friends and family. I have been learning what makes computers tick for over thirty years. Not to be arrogant but I am very very good at what people need for home computers not corporate. I must be doing 2 computers a week right know and it takes about a week to prepare each one because of how much work I do. Then I backup up the computer to a memory stick that auto boots and fixes the C: drive to the state I built it without touching the Documents partition and the Factory partitions. This removes the need for a geek like me in the future. I do this cheap as a favor and I like to help people who simply use computers and do not know what I know.

That said, I install a very large amount of free software multiple times a week and have never been caught by open candy or other crap such as Optimizer Pro and Search Conduit. By the way if you see the word Conduit, runaway. Each and every time I install any free software that has open candy AVG lets me know and I click protect, then the software continues to install but without open candy. Then I watch each NEXT NEXT screen for more crap and always custom and always decline and always remove the check marks.

I have come across one piece of software that has recently been made free and I have been unable to install it, NERO WAVE EDITOR. WTF. You could follow the above guidelines with the wave editor up until recently and it would install without the open candy, but not now. If you tell AVG to protect against open candy now, it fails to install. This has left me with only one option, do not install Wave Editor. I have liked the wave editor for countless years and now I cannot use it because of open candy. Do you see the hidden advise here, do not install unless you can protect and continue without open candy.

Open candy is spyware and it is installing without your consent. All other forms of sneaking software onto your computer has had hidden ways to stop it if you are careful but open candy is not giving you the option to not install, but AVG is popping up and letting you know it is trying. Regardless of how safe any software claims to be, if it is forcing itself onto your computer without consent, it must be fought.

I have a quote that can apply here.

Beliefs

If your beliefs hurt no one they must be harmless.
If they are embraced by others they must be beautiful.
If they are forced on others they must be fought.

Any software that leaves you no choice but to install will never be installed on any computer I build up.

I want to right the say no and will settle for nothing less, so should everyone else.

Words to live by folks and sorry for the long winded Post.

Tim Maher said:

If your beliefs hurt no one they must be harmless.
If they are embraced by others they must be beautiful.
If they are forced on others they must be fought.

Ramen!