dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
27

catseyenu
Ack Pfft
Premium Member
join:2001-11-17
Fix East

2 edits

catseyenu to Libra

Premium Member

to Libra

Re: Dell rejects spyware charge

Click for full size
Had a new Dell delivered to me today to configure for a customer..
"My Way" all over it. Tried Add/Remove/reboot and it's still showing.
Registry Search shows an installation key after searching "My Way" :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\7D449D87B79A4004BAA05BDA60389904
Notice the "No Edit", "No Modify" & "No Remove" strings.
Isn't the name ironic..
Libra
Premium Member
join:2003-08-06
USA

Libra

Premium Member

said by catseyenu:

Registry Search shows an installation key after searching "My Way" :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\7D449D87B79A4004BAA05BDA60389904
Notice the "No Edit", "No Modify" & "No Remove" strings.
I thought I removed it by the procedure I described in my other post, but when I followed your path in the registry I have that too

The Dell 8400 I purchased in September did not have MyWay in add/remove. The replacement I received in December had it. So it looks like I removed it from add/remove, but that registry item with "no remove" etc. remains.

Sincerely, Libra

catseyenu
Ack Pfft
Premium Member
join:2001-11-17
Fix East

catseyenu

Premium Member

said by Libra:

I thought I removed it by the procedure I described in my other post, but when I followed your path in the registry I have that too
The Dell 8400 I purchased in September did not have MyWay in add/remove. The replacement I received in December had it. So it looks like I removed it from add/remove, but that registry item with "no remove" etc. remains.
After backing the entry up I deleted it along with any other Registry entries, ran Hijack This and removed several instances of it there.
It now seems to be gone.
This is a screenshot of the removed Registry entries.

gracie7
Geek Goddess
Premium Member
join:2003-07-15
confusion

gracie7

Premium Member

said by catseyenu:

ran Hijack This and removed several instances of it there.
ah yes, i'd forgotten i also did hijack this (and autoruns). i'll be interested to see what's on the replacement dell coming today, because they reformatted and reinstalled everything manually, not from a image, after they unRAIDed it, and he promised to leave My Way and Wild Tangent OFF.

to my mind after reading this long thread, the best thing to do with any new machine from one of these vendors is probably just reformat and reinstall everything you want, but in these days of having to fight for an xp cd and software on disk rather than a recovery image (which includes crap) that option is not so easy.
Libra
Premium Member
join:2003-08-06
USA

Libra to catseyenu

Premium Member

to catseyenu
Hi catseyenu,
After reading your post I did a "find" in the registry for myway and came up with about 8 or so items. One of them was located in Internet Explorer>Zones, so that may be from IESpyAds or SpywareBlaster.
The Dell is my daughter's computer, she has some programs running and isn't home, but when I can get her to sign off, I think I will run a HiJackThis log and make a separate post for help to remove this.
How bad is this? Is it actually tracking all surfing on the computer? (Dell isn't the home page on any of the users' browsers.)
Thank you.
Sincerely, Libra

catseyenu
Ack Pfft
Premium Member
join:2001-11-17
Fix East

1 recommendation

catseyenu

Premium Member

Libra,
"How bad is it" depends on how you define bad I suppose.
They claim to collect no personally identifiable information if you want to believe their claims.
The fact that it's geared like a trojan to resist removal is all I need to know. Anything less than a simple uninstall from the Add/Remove puts it squarely in the malware category in my opinion.
In a business environment (and I did purchase mine through their business branch) you can't have an outside program tracking your moves.
At home it is more of a personal issue on how you feel about your privacy and the use of your resources by an outside party.
The sad deal is most users will be unaware of the blood sucking crapware slowing their system and tracking their browsing.

GadgetsRme
RIP lilhurricane and CJ
Premium Member
join:2002-01-30
Canon City, CO

1 edit

GadgetsRme to gracie7

Premium Member

to gracie7
said by gracie7:

to my mind after reading this long thread, the best thing to do with any new machine from one of these vendors is probably just reformat and reinstall everything you want, but in these days of having to fight for an xp cd and software on disk rather than a recovery image (which includes crap) that option is not so easy.
Or you could build your own. Or buy a custom built from a local shop.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20

Premium Member

But the local shops have pretty much been run out of business by the likes of Dell and HP.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

Maybe in Hawaii trhey have but not most other cities of any size.

jmorlan
Hmm... That's funny.
MVM
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
ARRIS BGW210-700
Obihai OBi200

jmorlan

MVM

said by CylonRed:

Maybe in Hawaii trhey have but not most other cities of any size.
Here in San Francisco Bay Area, there are still a few surviving independent clone dealers, but not nearly as many as there used to be. In their heyday, there were many small shops and huge Computer shows where you could sample from many independent dealers offering deep discounts. That business is just a shadow of its former self now.

I prefer to deal with local businesses, but the people who built my main machine a few years ago went out of business last year. Recently, another dealer I've used in the past could not come close to matching the price on a comparably equipped Dell on a new desktop for my kids. The difference was more than $150 after Dell applied a 20% discount and free shipping.

I bought the Dell and so far it has been great.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

I can count 4-5 shops (one with 2 stores so the # could be 6) that build PC's for personal and business and this is a pretty small market in the US - about the 5th largest in Ohio.