Do you use Softonic a lot? well that means your system is in danger!

Attention to users who use softonic to download stuff, You must stop using that website! why?
:warn: Their downloader has a virus.
So every time you download something from softonic, you get viruses. :warn: And sometimes your Antivirus program can't detect the virus. but Hitman Pro by Home - SurfRight
here are the info about those viruses, They pretend they are not viruses by starting their name like this, Not.a.Virus, or NotaVirus.(Virusname) i think. here is what i found in those files in the picture/attachment.

Hi,
Thanks for the report,
Have you reported this to Softonic ?
It's really no secrete sites like this and Cnet.... add crapware P.U.P = Potentially Unwanted Programs to their free downloads,
I believe SorceForge doesn't but I really do not download a bunch of weird programs/ apps anyway,
But these days you/ I... need to really pay attention during downloads,

Some have offered this a nice way to get these Addware unchecked for a user,
Unchecky - Keeps your checkboxes clear
Cheers.

Softonic knows their viruses. they just trick people onto downloading them. but the files in their downloaders are not viruses. just their downloaders. Cnet and SourceForge are trusted.

Hi,
I don't see how sites "trick" anyone into downloading anything,
A user/ visitor of any site downloads stuff for their own reason ?

Cnet adds pupware to all of their downloads as well,
Reading the download options and you'll usually see all the added pup's,
Most users here stay away from Cnet and read only the articles and even take them with a grain of salt
I personally wouldn't download anything from Cnet,
Cheers.

I usually decline extra stuff. But well in that case, I would say SourceForge is better.

Virus? No.

It's technically going to install adware rather than something malicious. I think that it's their own software installer.

You can hopefully avoid it by clicking on the download link in tiny print near the bottom of the page:

Alternative ******** from external server (availability not guaranteed)

In any case you can check downloads with this browser add on before you actually download them.

Dr Web Link Checker right click any download link to scan before download.




Or scan the downloads once completed with any number of apps including:

PE Studio

Just drag the executable that you want to check onto the program's icon to get a report.

pups (Potentially Unwanted Programs) are different then viruses.

Unfortunately you have to be pretty careful with what you d/l nowadays. I read an article recently that suggests you never use default installation of a program anymore, instead, go to custom install (if the option is there) & see if anything is hidden there. I recently came across a program (can't remember the name, sorry), but it all looked clear until I went to custom install. There were 2 items that I had to uncheck, one was a toolbar.

Most legit companies will give you the option right up front to opt out of any added software. Others just bundle it in without giving you a hint it's there.

I while back tried to upgrade GOM player, which I noticed said it would install a certain program, or toolbar. No way to opt out that I could find, so after digging into the EULA, I found that it is a required that you install this item if you want to use the player.

Goodbye to GOM player.....

It's better to d/l the program directly from the manufacturers site. D/Ling it from another site, there's always the chance that site has added some PUP's of it's own.

GOM Media Player bundled with OpenCandy

Borg 386 said:

I while back tried to upgrade GOM player, which I noticed said it would install a certain program, or toolbar. No way to opt out that I could find, so after digging into the EULA, I found that it is a required that you install this item if you want to use the player.

Goodbye to GOM player.....

It's better to d/l the program directly from the manufacturers site. D/Ling it from another site, there's always the chance that site has added some PUP's of it's own.

Click to expand...

Hi,

I've just installed GOM Media Player (for test purposes) and it comes bundled with OpenCandy. I managed to clean install it. Here's how if you're interested and would still like to install it.

Download the GOM installer but don't run it.

Restricting any desired application.

Go to following registry key:
(or create it and set it to 1 to enable)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun

Create new String value with any name, like 1 and set its value to the desired program's EXE file.

e.g., If you want to restrict msconfig, then create a String value 1 and set its value to msconfig.exe. If you want to restrict more programs, simply create more String values with names 2, 3 and so on and set their values to the program's exe file.
Don't actally use the msconfig example!

So for the OpenCandy installer that's bundled with GOM create three new strings values and rename them to the next three available numbers in the sequence. Then add the following executable names (one name for each of the strings):

mconduitinstaller.exe
ieLogic.exe
ExPromo.exe



Then exit RegEdit.
Log off/ on.

Run the GOM installer.
You see the following when OpenCandy Installer attempts to run:



It's blocked and GOM installs cleanly!


Also it's possible to make use of the following registry key to assign another program to run in place of any specified executable (but the above method takes priority if the executable is present under the DisallowRun key).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

Just create a new subkey and give it he name of the executable you want to block. In the right pane create a new String with the Value Name "Debugger" (no quotes) then set the Value Data to the file path of the executable that you wish to run in it's place.

This second method blocks an executable no matter what method is used to launch it. (Conhost, Run as Admin, Elevated Command Prompt) and so on!

Screenshots for OpenCandy (block installation):



You'll notice the file path leads to FM.exe as the application to run in place of the installer. That's software that I've installed to display a user defined message as per this post:

Blocking Toolbar Installation

That software can be used to block OpenCandy installation (as a backup method to the first method):

Screenshots.

Lets clarify this: It is not necessary that using third-party download sites like Softonic, Cnet etc. would always get you into trouble. Yes. Their installers do have a problem of bundling adware with them. It is not that the companies are not aware of it. They bundle adware on purpose. The adware companies are paying them a lot of money to get their software bundled. The instance of getting adware on a computer is quite common nowadays. The habit of people clicking the "next" button too quick without reading their privacy policy or what comes with the software can get people into trouble. Most people just ignore them a.nd this is what leads them to trouble. It is not that these sites are bad or dangerous, but if a person uses his/her common sense, most of the trouble of curing their computers can be avoided easily. Prevention is better than cure. That said, it is very helpful to be EXTRA sure when downloading from such sites and uncheck the options to download toolbars and other crapware. Virus scanners would rank these as "Malware" because of the software that comes bundled with it.