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I've noticed recently that many new DELL computers are coming preloaded with spyware/adware. I'm in 5-6 homes a day and I see just about everything you can think of when it comes to home computers. Good and bad. What happens is when I launch IE and type in the web address I want to go to in the addres bar I get hijacked and taked to a third party search results page. just wanted to let you know how DELL is supplementing their income. The bad part is so many user are so clueless.
Hi jabrown
I find what you are saying hard to believe, as Dell have consistently claimed that spyware/adware is the major reason for their helpdesk calls, so it is costing them money.
I know they had problems with some of their affiliates using it, but I thought they had fired them.
I would put it down to user ignorance rather than any policy on the part of Dell. And users will never admit to having done anything, as I am sure you know :D
:)
The default builds of these machines make them very prone to Spyware/AdWare/hijackers almost as soon as they become live on the net.
Our timing gives them 3-5 minutes to be infected by at least 3-5 'nasties'
Responsibility ~ Yes, you're responsible.
You are sitting at your computer, surfing the web, when your computer declares “You have a VIRUS”. Suddenly twenty to thirty pop ups appear, and your 'Homepage' is reset to 'Mikes Porn Site'.
Of course, you immediately start cussing the skiddie ~ the malware author ~ or the advertiser that dumped fornicating horse pucky on you. But who is ultimately responsible ------- YOU ARE OF COURSE!
You didn't protect your self, enough. You have endangered your computer, your identity, and your money. You have thrown a couple of hundred on the bar of a busy bistro, yelled for a drink, and then left to visit the bathroom -- expecting you money to remain where you left it.
If you are a part of a network, you have also endangered everyone else on it, and even the network its self. The same as if you handed a precocious 10 year old a loaded weapon and then left him alone.
You are responsible for all your actions, and inactions. You are responsible to update virus and malware definitions, for updating and configuring your firewall, for installing the latest patches for your operating system. You are responsible for me being out of beer ~~ well ok, that is going a little far (unless you slipping in to my house and nipping a bottle or three).
A little background.
In the last few months (some of you 'might' have noticed my absence) I have been restructuring my life, and doing quite a bit of malware cleanup on various computers, networks, and systems(?) that were trashed by users who assume that MSN, AOL, Dell, and anyone (or everyone) other than themselves are responsible for protecting them. They not only want their cake, and to eat it also......but also some one to spoon feed them too.
Now I realize that I'm preaching to the choir, but perhaps one or two of you might suddenly remember to update those definitions you forgot last week, and save all of us a possible headache next week.
moxnix
Actualy I have read recently that dell have been accused of this. Dell of course strongly denigh it. However I have had to install a few dell systems recently and there are a couple of things that they have introduced.
First Dell used to supply a full copy of the Win OS on cd. Now you get a piece of paper with instructions to recover the OS, via an short cut on the desktop.
Secondly, they have started selling there own brand printers, these come with software that moniters ink levels and can auto purchase resupplies. In the same way as Lexmark printers do, some people regard this software as spyware.
Thirdly, they have bundled some support software, not the old Dell help app. This new software appears to be more invasive than what there was before. I have not had a good look at this new app, that is just my impression.
Didn't Packard Bell used to (still do?) that? With restore information on a disk partition just so you are nicely screwed if your HD pops out of warranty.Quote:
Now you get a piece of paper with instructions to recover the OS, via an short cut on the desktop.
Anything like the 'Big Fix ' software Evesham supply? The evesham stuff used to work quite well for some of the domers who had bought new pcs. Been a few years since I've sen it though.Quote:
Thirdly, they have bundled some support software, not the old Dell help app. This new software appears to be more invasive than what there was before. I have not had a good look at this new app, that is just my impression.
Yep, basicaly any system purchased at stores like PCWorld etc. One of the reasons I brought up the change with Dell, it was one of the points I thought went in favour of Dell, having the OS on CD. I believe PCworld will supply a full OS but you have to pay extra.Quote:
Didn't Packard Bell used to (still do?) that? With restore information on a disk partition just so you are nicely screwed if your HD pops out of warranty.
I'm not sure about the Big Fix app..........................The old help and support app was not to bad only connected to the net when opened and gave some good info. The new one is always on and connected, but like I said I have not had th opurtunity to have a good look at it. My impression is It is like the AOHELL support/monitering/maintainance crap bundled with there latest software.
Everyone is doing this now. HP Compaq, Dell, Gateway. But only Microsoft OEM stuff. Ask for linux installed and you get the media. The Dell servers still come with the M$ media.Quote:
Now you get a piece of paper with instructions to recover the OS, via an short cut on the desktop.
/me thinks its M$ trying to prevent software piracy
I haven't noticed any strange issues or spyware, but then again I re image all pc's upon arrival.
How many more people are going to get turned away from microsoft with their "valid windows authentication". All of my windows licenses are legit, but will a person with a hacked copy of xp still be able to receive updates if their copy is proven invalid?
Also I have had more complaint about the dell support pop-up that freaks people out. That woudl be about the closest thing to spyware I have seen on a dell build. The support pop-up is like the dell version of automatic updates for xp, just more annoying. It freaks people out when they see "dell is getting your information, and is going to broadcast it to dell to see what other software you have that could need updating". yikes!
Just go to ad/remove programs in your control panel and take the Dell support out. It comes out completely, with no problem.Quote:
Originally posted here by kr5kernel
Also I have had more complaint about the dell support pop-up that freaks people out. That woudl be about the closest thing to spyware I have seen on a dell build. The support pop-up is like the dell version of automatic updates for xp, just more annoying. It freaks people out when they see "dell is getting your information, and is going to broadcast it to dell to see what other software you have that could need updating". yikes!
Even that is going a bit far for most people who are buying from Dell.
I suppose you could say rtfm but it's never going to happen is it.
The move away from supplying a restore CD with the full OS on it would put me off buying from Dell and I was thinking about one for a cheap second PC.
I should have followed up on this a year ago when I had all the information. I bought a dell laptop and the very first thing I do with any computer before its ever allowed to connect to the internet is load up AVG,TinyFirewall, and AdAware SE Professional.
When I did this with the dell laptop and ran AdAware it caught a spyware program. I went to another computer looked up the info about the spyware and I verifed it to be a true positive.
Ill have to see if I can dig up the info.
quote:
"A Dell spokesperson said concerns about the product were misplaced. "My Way is not a spyware product and it does not monitor user's behaviour. It's a toolbar that displays relevant search results in response to search queries," she said. "You can disable the product
using the options menu."
imo, if you have to disable a proggy (preloaded or downloaded alike) from doing something it doesnt say happens, doesnt that make it spyware?
-z3
If the machine also reinstalls with the hidden partition it's going to reinstall the 'spyware' with it. You'd never be able to start with a clean system unless you go and buy XP again.
I'll stick to self builds I think.
Dell does come with spyware pre-installed. It's called Microsoft Windows. It phones home right after you install it to let them know that you own a computer. Then (if you never change the defaults) it phones home every time you open a web browser (home page ala MSN). You have your "Automatic Updates" enabled by default, which phones home to see if you need any updates to your software.
Dell also pre-installs some other spyware on top of that spyware program. The dell support agent thing, god i hate that. Then if it comes with Real Player (haven't bought a dell in awhile so not sure if this is still in the mix) which has that Real Scheduler thing which in my mind is equivalent to adware.
Alot of the stuff i mentioned is a good thing, and just about any OS has something equivalent to it. Its just food for thought. You never really think about how many different peices of software phones home in one way or another. They just call the obnoxious stuff malware. Everything else is "Convenience" or an "Enhancement".
Think about it. your the head of a huge company and 99% of the people who buy your product don't have an idea what spyware or adware is, the profit margine in the sector is weak at best. so why wouldn't someone whos looking to increase the bottom line to make share holders happy do this. i mean its not like to many large businesses have morals or even care to much about the consumer. didnt worldcom and tyco CLAIM everything was great! all the suits up front look for is the red and black in the monthly report. if they see red the look to alternative options.
the computers i spoke of earlier are brand new dell's right out of the box and i just installed the highspeed internet to it. i'm not claiming this because i've seen one or two computers like this, i've seen about a hundered new dell's like this in the last three months or so.
its easy to tell the difference between a new computer that hasnt been on the internet to a two month old computer with no protection because of user negligence that has been on the net
I just got my dell 700m laptop and wow. I don't know about spyware, but it comes with a ton of junk. Going to do a clean OS install on it.
When someone PAYS me to help them select and install a new home computer the first thing i do is format, if it doesnt come with an OS i use one i have laying around, M$'s genuine disadvantage doesnt allow direct dl's of updates on this OS but i just turn on automatic updates and it immediately grabs all the critivcal ones (and probably the critical patches for the earlier patches, lol)
The blank cd's that ask you to do your own backup, i think, are a way to generate funds via tech support, emachines are notorious for making it all but impossible for the casual user to find drivers
symantecs norton antivirus (what a sin) used to come bundled on all new computers, hogging resources and being somewhat questionable in its effectiveness, but it was sheer genius as a marketing ploy, symantec is the ONE av name recognized by the casual user.
As a bizness practice, bundling shareware and "spyware" is a good practice, novell sets firefox's homepage to its site on its Suse OS's, btw Suse 10 official is due for release on oct. 6, and computers and the internet is increasingly becoming more and more of a bizness as opposed to a repository of data
It's like having sex with a hooker and no condom (or body suit)! You take your chances to get an infection.
It would be nice, however, if big corp companies strike a deal with anti-spyware companies to install "SE" versions to protect people's computers from Spyware, expecially if it's costing their helpdesk money to troubleshoot (Like mine).
*Heck, even install the Microsoft Beta One, any protection is better then none...
First thing we do when we take over someone's computer is install an anti-spyware like Ad-Aware nd run a scan.
Quote:
Originally posted here by Aspman
Even that is going a bit far for most people who are buying from Dell.
I suppose you could say rtfm but it's never going to happen is it.
The move away from supplying a restore CD with the full OS on it would put me off buying from Dell and I was thinking about one for a cheap second PC.
The funny thing, this is Dell moving /back/ to not giving out a restore disk. Back in 97/98ish they were using something called zz.bat to pull up a ghost image that was on a hidden partition of the drive. They did not give out restore disks then.
I find it interesting that they are going back to that, I wonder why that move is happening.
Heres a fun idea, reinstall your OS then you can pick and choose what you want on there. Then you can reinstall all of the drivers. Then you will have a nice clean operating system.
Probably presure from Microsoft, I expect some one has hacked their OEM OS to allow it to install on none Dell Boxes.In much the same way that Dell were forced to withdraw the Firmware upgrade they released on line to fix the broken PPC2003 OS for the Axims' they sold. Someone found a way to allow anyone with PPC2002 to upgrade to the new OS, without having to pay for it.Quote:
I find it interesting that they are going back to that, I wonder why that move is happening.
The method to hack the firmware was posted on axim.com for a while but removed some time later.
this was posted on the registry in july, have a look,
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07...y_controversy/
whether the Myway Searchbar is spyware/adware or not it doesn't matter. the point is that DELL didn't install that on thier systems for free. i know a lot of pc makers put a lot of useless stuff on thier computers but when you type an address into the address bar and it doesn't take you directly to that site then somethings not right. keep in mind i'm talking about a brand new computer. not a computer that has been online and became infected.
Thanks to a previous post you can see that DELL admits to putting the MyWay Search on thier computers