catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East |
"webcybercoach" Cleaning Dell Installed OSI'm cleaning up a new Dell of the preinstalled spy/bloat/trialware that comes with the XP Home OS and ran into a new one I'm unfamiliar with. In "Add/Remove" it's listed as "webcybercoach 3.2 Dell". A search (here, Google and the Dell forum) turns up little to nothing on this program. Anyone have a clue as to what it is? |
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Rxdoxx
join:2000-11-03 Middle River, MD
1 recommendation |
Cybercoach is a referring web site that has a relationship with Dell, so maybe it is related to that, That would be my guess, Dell gets some $$benefit$$ by stuffing it on people's systems. But I'm guessing. BTW- I found a program (a little pricey) that backs up and restores drivers. » www.zhangduo.com/driverb ··· kup.html"My Drivers enables easy and fast detection, backup and restore of all hardware device drivers currently on your system. Also, you can even find the latest drivers for your hardware and install them onto your computer. With just one or two mouse button clicks, you will have all your hardware devices extracted and backed-up to any folder you want. When you reinstall or upgrade your system, you can restore all drivers by clicking a button. Once after a reboot, all the drivers will be re-installed and will function well. You may also choose to backup a particular driver or all the drivers with an EXE automatic installer. If you have a particular item of hardware that is troublesome, just remove the driver with this software. It is especially useful to those who have lost their Driver Disk or Driver CD. My Drivers is able to clone the original driver installation." The disk that Dell included with my system had stuff buried, and it took a bunch of looking to find the drivers. I got a "Dell disk" with everything crammed on, not individual driver disks. From the screenshot, you can see the benefit of being able to back up either all, or individual driver sets. Just something to consider as you clean your Dell. |
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fegul Premium Member join:2004-08-23 united state
1 recommendation |
to catseyenu
Please wipe all computers when you get them. I'm a Geeksquad agent so I deal with new PCs all the time, and they are so bogged down with crap they run as if they had spyware on them (which probably isnt far from the truth!) Seriously, reformat, install drivers, then use. |
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catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East |
catseyenu
Premium Member
2005-Jul-29 10:06 pm
said by fegul:Please wipe all computers when you get them. I'm a Geeksquad agent so I deal with new PCs all the time, and they are so bogged down with crap they run as if they had spyware on them (which probably isnt far from the truth!) Seriously, reformat, install drivers, then use. Dell no longer gives out clean install disks.. and there's no doubt they need a good cleaning before they are usable. » Re: Dell rejects spyware charge |
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catseyenu |
to Rxdoxx
Thanks rxdoxx, I'm sure you're right on the pay to play arrangement. Since he already has Ghost and no installation disk we'll probably image the drive when I'm through and use that for backup. |
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Shootist Premium Member join:2003-02-10 Decatur, GA |
Shootist
Premium Member
2005-Jul-30 6:53 am
There is a utility included to MAKE the OS disk from the restore partition. Look on the start menu for it. It's probably under Dell or Dell utilities on the start menu. |
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Doctor FourMy other vehicle is a TARDIS Premium Member join:2000-09-05 Dallas, TX 1 edit |
to catseyenu
It sounds an awful lot like what Bill Webb of Counterexploi- tation calls Foistware. Someone is paying (Dell & webcyber- coach in this case) a company to bundle their products with their hardware or software for marketing purposes.
This is the biggest reason why I will never buy another OEM PC again, preferring to build my own. That way I know what is going on there, and don't have the system bogged down with useless offers and other stuff I don't need (but which the vendor thinks I need.) |
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catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East |
I usually do, this was a rush job on a downed work box and Dell had a "good deal" on the hardware... Maybe why it was loaded with the other goodies. |
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AMDUSER Premium Member join:2003-05-28 Earth, ARRIS CM8200 ARRIS SB6183
4 recommendations |
to Rxdoxx
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Otherwise WinDriversBackup 1.09 will allow you backup installed device drivers. » pricelessware.org/thelis ··· /sys.htm- First selection for this program. Download link on page with description. This program is freeware, and works quite well to backup drivers. |
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Rxdoxx
join:2000-11-03 Middle River, MD |
Nice, and to now find out that there was a freeware one Oh well, there are some features on the other one, like finding updates, but I have d/l and bookmarked the site for WinDriversBackup, thanks, looks real useful for others. |
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Indy SabreSabre Rider From Indianapolis join:2003-10-02 |
to AMDUSER
said by AMDUSER:Otherwise WinDriversBackup 1.09 will allow you backup installed device drivers. » pricelessware.org/thelis ··· /sys.htm- First selection for this program. Download link on page with description. This program is freeware, and works quite well to backup drivers. Thanks for posting this! I am trying it now and it seems like this will become one of my favorite new finds. This will greatly simplify doing a clean install on a PC. |
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fegul Premium Member join:2004-08-23 united state |
to catseyenu
That program looks great too, thanks! |
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elias Premium Member join:2000-07-24 Miami, FL |
to catseyenu
You should try ordering them from Dell Small Business. Those come bare.
-- Elias |
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catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East
1 recommendation |
It was ordered from Dell Small Business. |
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elias Premium Member join:2000-07-24 Miami, FL |
elias
Premium Member
2005-Aug-1 5:20 pm
How strange. I just received two new machines, I'll check tomorrow when I open them.
-- Elias |
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Mele20 Premium Member join:2001-06-05 Hilo, HI
1 recommendation |
Mele20
Premium Member
2005-Aug-2 3:09 am
The Small Business ones are infested now too. My 8300 didn't have spyware but I bought it from Small Business before Dell started putting MyWay and other spyware on all the boxes. It did come though with junk. It had a 30 day trial of PaintShop Pro and AOL 9.0 was installed! A bunch of promotional crap. I had expressly asked that AOL not be installed and that no AV be installed. I was informed that Dell could not sell me a computer, even from Small Business, that did not have AV installed. My choice was horrible since I already had a license for two different products and intended to remove Dell's AV install immediately. I could choose between McAfee or Norton...both very difficult to fully remove. I could not believe the number of applications Dell installed which immediately started phoning home. |
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elias Premium Member join:2000-07-24 Miami, FL |
elias
Premium Member
2005-Aug-2 9:25 am
They're either lying to you, or you're ordering from a different Dell Small Business than the one I order from. Here's a screenshot of a machine I just pulled out of the box to configure. iManage Desksite and RealVNC were installed by me, but not that there's no AV, or anything inappropriate. -- Elias |
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catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East 1 edit |
said by elias:They're either lying to you, or you're ordering from a different Dell Small Business than the one I order from. How do you mean "lying". Here are the confirmation email and headers. (private information sanitized) Return-Path: Received: from mx12.lax.untd.com (mx12.lax.untd.com [10.130.24.72]) by maildeliver02.nyc.untd.com with SMTP id AABBP8EDSAKCGFHJ for (sender ); Wed, 20 Jul 2005 20:03:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ausa60pc101high.us.dell.com (ausa60pc101high.us.dell.com [143.166.85.227]) by mx12.lax.untd.com with SMTP id AABBP8EDRAHHS4BA for (sender ); Wed, 20 Jul 2005 20:03:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from dell.com (143.166.6.224) by ausa60pc101high.us.dell.com with SMTP; 20 Jul 2005 22:03:11 -0500 To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Dell Order Confirmation - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From: "Dell Inc." Message-ID: Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 22:02:14 -0600 Reply-To: "Dell Inc." Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="______BoundaryOfDocument______" |
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elias Premium Member join:2000-07-24 Miami, FL |
elias
Premium Member
2005-Aug-2 6:41 pm
Do you order online or through a rep?
-- Elias |
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Mele20 Premium Member join:2001-06-05 Hilo, HI |
to elias
said by elias:They're either lying to you, or you're ordering from a different Dell Small Business than the one I order from. Here's a screenshot of a machine I just pulled out of the box to configure. iManage Desksite and RealVNC were installed by me, but not that there's no AV, or anything inappropriate. -- Elias I realize you were probably addressing Catseyenu, but there may be a difference if you order from a rep by phone instead of online. Perhaps the price one pays to get a better deal online is more crap installed. I tried to order from a rep after I saw online that it was going to charge me full price for shipping (it is 50% of the full price to Hawaii during the times Dell offers free shipping at their website) so I didn't want to have to get a refund later from Customer Service. So, I picked up the phone and called Sales and explained the problem and was told no big deal, we will give you the 50% off the full shipping charge to Hawaii and actually send by overnight using FedX (which is the only shipper that can get something here overnight). So, the sales rep had me read off what I wanted and then we got to the coupons I had. The rep tried to put both in but couldn't. He ended up telling me that obviously I should order online since both coupons would be accepted and deal with Dell about the shipping (and some other things) after the fact. I wonder if the much cheaper prices online are compensated for by Dell installing tons of crap. As for you not getting an AV installed, Dell has history of going back and forth on whether or not they insist an AV has to be installed. I asked the Sales rep and was told that Dell could not sell me a box without an AV. After I purchased the computer, I complained repeatedly to Dell about this policy. At one point, a Small Business Supervisor told me that Dell had changed their policy for Small Business yet again based on all the complaints. So, Dell periodically, I think, tries to force an AV on Small Business customers and then when they get a bunch of complaints they back off for awhile but eventually try again. Plus, they know that you will accept it if ordering online and you can save a lot more that way so it's a "gotcha" or, more positively, a trade-off for the $ savings of ordering on line. |
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catseyenuAck Pfft Premium Member join:2001-11-17 Fix East |
to elias
Online. |
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elias Premium Member join:2000-07-24 Miami, FL |
elias
Premium Member
2005-Aug-2 8:01 pm
The firm has a dedicated sales rep, and we order everything through him. Whenever I need something, I just pick-up the phone or shoot him an e-mail, and he takes care of everything.
I suppose maybe it's different if you're just ordering things online here and there. The e-mail confirmation I get is different from the one you posted.
Mine comes with the sale rep's e-mail as the return address, etc. We also have charge accounts with Dell, and get some sort of special pricing. We have 4 offices throughout Florida, and all of our equipment is Dell (except servers and some printers).
-- Elias |
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