jmorlan
Hmm... That's funny.
Premium
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to JTM1051
Re: SBC Yahoo Online Protection
I was curious, so I downloaded the Yahoo Anti-Spy. I had to use IE and allow an ActiveX control in order to get it to download, but I did not have to use the Yahoo browser.
An applet runs in the system try, but mine is a triangle with and "!" indicating that there are things that need attention. The things needing attention are that the anti-virus and popup blocker are not installed.
My SBC Yahoo mail protection is enabled, but that just seems to be the spam blocker at Yahoo mail.
Parental controls are also not installed and show a gray icon with a bar across. I'm guessing that the popup blocker and parental controls work only with the Yahoo browser, but that's just a guess.
Yes, there are other inexpensive or free utilities to protect you computer, but I think this seems to be a reasonable package for the market that SBC is targeting at this time, mostly new DSL users who may not be particularly computer literate. |
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tonydi
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-11
San Jose, CA
| I'm not sure why you're getting those "Not Installed" entries. I downloaded and installed the whole package on a virgin XP SP2 installation in Virtual PC. This setup had no anti-virus or pop-up blocker installed.
When I went to download the package it had check marks next to each of the pieces but if I wanted to I could uncheck any of them and presumably stop them from being downloaded and installed.
It appears as though they all work without the need for the SBC-Yahoo broswer as the browser is nowhere to be found and I have all of the components installed and activated. You do have to go to the Parental Controls page and set it up before that grey/bar icon will turn to a green checkmark.
And you're right, the mail protection is simply what we now get through SBC-Yahoo email. |
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jmorlan
Hmm... That's funny.
Premium
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| It's not a problem with the product. They are listed "not installed" because I chose not to install them when I downloaded it for testing. I already have an anti-virus and pop-up blocker and didn't want the SBC version, nor did I have need for parental controls.
The Pop-up Blocker does require either the Yahoo browser or the Yahoo toolbar and I assume is identical to what was included in the toolbar. I use neither the toolbar nor the browser.
The anti-virus requires that you uninstall any existing anti-virus software before it will allow you to install the Yahoo branded version. I opted not to do that for now. Incidentally it looked like the AV may be really free with no subscription charge. At least I could find no mention of any charges. Seems like a good deal for anybody without a current AV product.
I have since removed yop.exe /autostart from startup, so I no longer have the annoying icon and am basically left with a free version of Pest Patrol which I can use stand-alone.
I'm pretty sure earlier versions of Yahoo Anti-spy were part of the the Yahoo browser. At least that was the case the last time I looked into it. |
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