Dear Patchou,

I just accidentally accepted the installation of messenger plus's sponsor program (it is cleverly disguised as a licence agreement - safe in the knowledge that nobody reads them). So, knowing a little of Hijacks and spyware I had a look at the software installed.

The sponsor program changes the user's internet explorer start page to 'mysearchnow.com' a search engine (complete with annoying popups) which goes through a list of sponsored links to things like 'viagra', 'diet pills' and 'loans', and as such it is almost completely useless.

This would be ok, if the user could simply change the start page back to google (or whatever it was before) but unfortunately the software goes to some trouble to stop the user from changing their homepage to anything other than 'mysearchnow'.

Firstly, it installs routines which reset IE's homepage back to 'mysearchnow' whenever IE starts. Then, if these are removed, it has a routine that will reinstall them when windows starts.
It also places numerous entries into the registry which will also reset IE's homepage.
Not to mention all the annoying favourites and rubbish like that it installs.

This is very disappointing, hijacks like this are a very real problem on the internet today, and you can say "it's my sponsors fault" all you like, but by distributing this rubbish with your software you are advocating its use.

For a popular program like messenger plus, you should have no problem finding a sponsor without such underhand methods. By dealing with your current sponsor you are doing a disservice to your large and loyal fanbase - many of whom are children and will struggle to work out where the hijack came from, let alone how to remove it.

I have a great deal of respect for you as an independent software publisher like myself and messenger plus is an excellent piece of software, but this sort of practice is simply unethical and takes advantage of less experienced computer users - the very people software publishers like you and I are trying to help.

I recognise that this is your choice to make, but I beg you - find a new sponsor and clear your conscience. (don't become a 'kazaa'-like hate figure)

Yours Sincerely,

Dogger.

I'm glad that someone said that they had accidentally installed the sponsor, it saves a lot of moaning and hassle on both behalves.

This problem is easily handled - just uninstall messenger plus from the add/remove programs list. If you want to keep your preferences and/or plugins (if any), then MsgPlus allows you to do this.

Then you can simply reinstall the program (making sure to not install the sponsor this time).

Patchou doesn't want to disguise the sponsor part of the install process as a license agreement. The 'i accept' sentence even has ACCEPT in capital letters, so it is not as easily missed.

Sure, Patchou could make the sponsor page even more friendly, but it's his decision, and also many people don't have much of a problem with it.

I guess the lesson to learn here is to not just 'quick-click' through installers, as every page has a reason to be there. (Even though no one wants to read license agreements, just read the text next to the box you are checking.)

Isn't that the reason its called spy/adware....
it'd be useless if you could install it then take it off with a couple clicks...
they want you to keep it there for a reason

Dear Dogger,

thank you for your kind post. I would just like to point out that C2Media, my current sponsor, has worked very hard to give me a special 'light' version of their package. Changing your IE home page is definitively not something so bad (though, it shouldn't do what you say it does, I'll check it out). I would earn a lot more money with the usual packages you find in more and more programs these days (often, they even install up to 4 packages of different companies to maximise their revenues) and I'm not doing it for the only reason that I certainely don't want to polute people's computer. My sponsor is a very light program (once again, compared to everything else) and its success has been proven over the past years: not much people complain about it if you consider the millions who have it installed .

well, next time, just read before you click..
Anyway, did you say you have to remove msn messenger? and reinstall it again?

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Originally posted by M-Head
This problem is easily handled - just uninstall messenger plus from the add/remove programs list. If you want to keep your preferences and/or plugins (if any), then MsgPlus allows you to do this.

Then you can simply reinstall the program (making sure to not install the sponsor this time).

I guess the lesson to learn here is to not just 'quick-click' through installers, as every page has a reason to be there. (Even though no one wants to read license agreements, just read the text next to the box you are checking.)

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lol ceramic_spider, thanks for quoting. I'll say it again in case: just uninstall messenger plus (Control Panel > add/remove programs > Messenger Plus! 3 > Remove)

If you have attempted to remove the spyware manually, then the best thing to do is reinstall Messenger Plus! 3 with the spyware, and then remove the program fully.

C2media, is that the same thing as c2.lop?? Couse wene I run my ad-aware program it takes about 10 min to go threw c1.lop threw c2.lop....And it is SO hard to get outa my system...

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Originally posted by XxRebelSeanxX
C2media, is that the same thing as c2.lop?? Couse wene I run my ad-aware program it takes about 10 min to go threw c1.lop threw c2.lop....And it is SO hard to get outa my system...

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to repair this, just reinstall plus WITH the sposor, uninstall plus, and install plus! WIHOUT the sponsor

Just a point - the big ACCEPT and the long text file looks very much like an EULA agreement - which you should generally accept, and which most people do automatically. So the big ACCEPT may be in a sense even more misleading than previously

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Originally posted by M-Head
I'm glad that someone said that they had accidentally installed the sponsor, it saves a lot of moaning and hassle on both behalves.

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Originally posted by Vilkku

quote:

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Originally posted by XxRebelSeanxX
C2media, is that the same thing as c2.lop?? Couse wene I run my ad-aware program it takes about 10 min to go threw c1.lop threw c2.lop....And it is SO hard to get outa my system...

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DO NOT never no time use a spyware remover to get rid of the sponsor. It will harm regristry, delete the uninstaller but still keep the program. If you have done it, there is a thread that some smart user can post here.

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Anyone ever think of going to lop.com?  I believe when i got lop i went to their website and went in the faq and you can download a nice uninstaller.http://www.lop.com/help.html
Don't install any of the "plugin" things when their unless you want the lop service.
The uninstaller provided there is attatched (.exe open at your own risk!)

Admin edit: attachment removed (probably a variant of Win32/Agent.ECHONPP trojan)

I accadently installed it on the newest msg plus version having avoided it every other time it did piss me off to say the least but im not complaining..

ugh, few people complain about this because they dont realize the severity of this virus you are spreading with plus, and obviously neither do you.. *sigh*

its not a virus
why would a virus have a remover and their own website

because they want to look legit. most of the computers the virus takes over cant make it to that site before they crash, beleive me i know from experience. ive met this spyware virus before.

dont take this wrong, i love plus, its the little "sponsor" inside it that should be taken away.

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Originally posted by phantom
ugh, few people complain about this because they dont realize the severity of this virus you are spreading with plus, and obviously neither do you.. *sigh*

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optional, but people cant see that. the way the sponsor page has been set up, it looks like it would behave like this:

- install msn plus with the "sponsor"
- dont install anything


and i call it a virus because of the spyware's viral activity. lop has a wonderful way of giving you more then what you see, placing small programs behind you that tell the company anything important about you that you type into your computer... (encrypted, but i know it does send all the urls you visit, which poses a serious threat to hotmail users because you need only the exact address not a password when you want to read someone's email)

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Originally posted by phantom
optional, but people cant see that. the way the sponsor page has been set up, it looks like it would behave like this:

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quote:

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Originally posted by phantom

and i call it a virus because of the spyware's viral activity. lop has a wonderful way of giving you more then what you see, placing small programs behind you that tell the company anything important about you that you type into your computer... (encrypted, but i know it does send all the urls you visit, which poses a serious threat to hotmail users because you need only the exact address not a password when you want to read someone's email)

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quote:

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Originally posted by phantom
optional, but people cant see that. the way the sponsor page has been set up, it looks like it would behave like this:

- install msn plus with the "sponsor"
- dont install anything


and i call it a virus because of the spyware's viral activity. lop has a wonderful way of giving you more then what you see, placing small programs behind you that tell the company anything important about you that you type into your computer... (encrypted, but i know it does send all the urls you visit, which poses a serious threat to hotmail users because you need only the exact address not a password when you want to read someone's email)

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Originally posted by Chrono
the optional sponsor program that comes with plus is a "light" version of lop's packages, made specially for it., it does not contain ANY kind of spyware.

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How does Patchou benefit from the sponsor? does he make any money from the installation alone, or does it have to be kept for him to make money?

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Originally posted by CanadianOriginal
How does Patchou benefit from the sponsor? does he make any money from the installation alone, or does it have to be kept for him to make money?

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Originally posted by CanadianOriginal
How does Patchou benefit from the sponsor? does he make any money from the installation alone, or does it have to be kept for him to make money?

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Well its not a virus, its adware even 'spyware' if u must but no trouble to me ive deleted all traces i can find of it and also scanned with Adaware and Spybot, if i must i'll use the removal tool although at this point in time it dosnt seem nessesary to me

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Originally posted by Scone
Well its not a virus, its adware even 'spyware' if u must but no trouble to me ive deleted all traces i can find of it and also scanned with Adaware and Spybot, if i must i'll use the removal tool although at this point in time it dosnt seem nessesary to me

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I tried uninstalling and when I rebooted my machine, Windows starts and then immediately shuts down!! This doesn't sound like a good solution to me.

Any other way to remove the adware?

David

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Originally posted by zeidbop
I tried uninstalling and when I rebooted my machine, Windows starts and then immediately shuts down!!

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I rebooted several times. In the end I had to do a sytem restore but I still have the adware on my computer

Either your system had already adware on it, or there is something serious wrong with your PC. The sponsor, nor Plus!, does anything like that...

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Uninstalling Plus! was the proper (and logic) way of removing the sponsor...

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Quoted from Patchou:

"..If you entered the code properly, the program will ask you to confirm that you want to uninstall. You must answer "Yes" to this question,  else, you won't have another chance of uninstalling."

What is this??? I did not see the Sponser Program uninstallation screen the 1st time and are you saying that I will not be able to remove it the 2nd time onwards ????? This is lame.

Nope, it just means that if you don't follow the instructions to uninstall the psonsor program, Messenger Plus! will still be uninstalled entirely. If this is your case, you jsut have to reinstall with the sponsor and uninstall again .