PlusService.exe (and "Plus World")

PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") - Printable Version

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+---- Forum: WLM Plus! Help (/forumdisplay.php?fid=12)
+----- Thread: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") (/showthread.php?tid=97735)

PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by pollolibredegrasa on 06-02-2011 at 06:48 PM

What is this and why is it running on system startup? Found it after installing Plus using this setup.

A shortcut is also created on the desktop called "Plus World" which points to a "PlusDesktop.exe" in the same folder.

Messenger Plus! 5.02.0.712, sponsor not installed.

RE: PlusService.exe by matty on 06-02-2011 at 06:58 PM

Did you accept the sponsor when you installed it?

RE: RE: PlusService.exe by pollolibredegrasa on 06-02-2011 at 07:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matty
Did you accept the sponsor when you installed it?

No, forgot to make that clear in first post. Unchecked all 3 checkboxes on the "install toolbar" page before clicking next. Also just noticed a "Plus World" icon on my desktop too (which points to PlusDesktop.exe). Completely uninstalled and went through the setup again to make sure and the same thing happened again.

RE: PlusService.exe by Menthix on 06-02-2011 at 07:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matty
Did you accept the sponsor when you installed it?

Nope, running without and sponsor install too. Tried it in a VM. PlusService.exe runs all the time even without WLM running. And "Plus World" (PlusDesktop.exe) added to desktop. Both without asking or informing. No update on http://www.msgplus.net/News or http://www.msgplus.net/About-Us/Changelog

RE: PlusService.exe by matty on 06-02-2011 at 07:14 PM

PlusService.exe appears to check if Plus! has been removed and then informs the user that it happened without their knowledge and redownloads Plus! for installation.

[Image: attachment.php?pid=1014450]

xml code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>

<Interfaces xmlns="urn:msgplus:interface" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:msgplus:interface ../Schemas/PlusInterface.xsd" Name="Setup">
<GlobalColors>
<GlobalColor Id="title">
<BaseColor>
<Saturation>0.4</Saturation>
<Brightness>0.60</Brightness>
<Transparency>250</Transparency>
</BaseColor>
</GlobalColor>
<GlobalColor Id="ref">
<BaseColor>
<Saturation>0.4</Saturation>
<Brightness>0.60</Brightness>
<Transparency>220</Transparency>
</BaseColor>
</GlobalColor>
</GlobalColors>

<Window Id="PlusMissing" Version="1">
<Attributes>
<Caption>Reinstall - Messenger Plus!</Caption>
</Attributes>
<TitleBar>
<Title>
<Text>Warning</Text>
</Title>
</TitleBar>
<Position ClientWidth="296" ClientHeight="112"/>
<DialogTmpl>
<BottomBar Style="Default">
<RightControls>
<Control xsi:type="ButtonControl" Id="BtnDownload">
<Position Top="0" Width="130" Left="0"/>
<Attributes>
<IsDefault>true</IsDefault>
</Attributes>
<StandardLook Template="Blue"/>
<Caption>&Reinstall && Repair</Caption>
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="ButtonControl" Id="BtnCancel">
<Position Top="0" Width="50" Left="0"/>
<Caption>&Cancel</Caption>
</Control>
</RightControls>
</BottomBar>
</DialogTmpl>
<Elements>
<Element xsi:type="FigureElement" Id="FigRectInfo">
<Position Top="29" Left="9" Height="56" Width="279"/>
<Figure>
<RoundRect>
<Radius>4</Radius>
</RoundRect>
</Figure>
<Border>
<Color>
<GlobalColor>bg</GlobalColor>
</Color>
</Border>
<Fill>
<PlainColor>
<Red>255</Red>
<Green>255</Green>
<Blue>255</Blue>
<Alpha>120</Alpha>
</PlainColor>
</Fill>
</Element>
<Element xsi:type="ImageElement" Id="ImgUpdate">
<Position Top="34" Left="14"/>
<Image>
<Name>icon-update</Name>
</Image>
</Element>
</Elements>
<Controls>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblTitle">
<Position Top="4" Width="278" Left="10" Height="12"/>
<Color>
<GlobalColor>title</GlobalColor>
</Color>
<Font>
<Bold>true</Bold>
<Size>8</Size>
</Font>
>>> <Caption>Important Note from the official Messenger Plus! software.</Caption><<<
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblText1">
<Position Top="15" Width="277" Left="10"/>
>>> <Caption>Your Messenger Plus! is missing!</Caption><<<
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblText2">
<Position Top="33" Width="241" Left="45" Height="30"/>
<Transparency>180</Transparency>
>>> <Caption>It seems like Messenger Plus! has been removed from your PC without your authorization.</Caption><<<
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblText3">
<Position Top="63" Width="241" Left="45" Height="20"/>
<Transparency>180</Transparency>
>>> <Caption>Clicking on the button below will reinstall and repair Messenger Plus!.</Caption><<<
</Control>
</Controls>
</Window>
<Window Id="UpdateDownload" Version="2">
<Attributes>
<ShowInTaskbar>false</ShowInTaskbar>
</Attributes>
<TitleBar>
<AllowMinimize>false</AllowMinimize>
<Title>
<Prefix>Full</Prefix>
>>> <Text>Downloading Update</Text><<<
</Title>
</TitleBar>
<Position ClientWidth="220" ClientHeight="59"/>
<DialogTmpl>
<BottomBar Style="Default">
<RightControls>
<Control xsi:type="ButtonControl" Id="BtnCancel">
<Position Top="0" Width="50" Left="0"/>
<Caption>&Cancel</Caption>
</Control>
</RightControls>
</BottomBar>
</DialogTmpl>
<Controls>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblTop">
<Position Top="4" Width="204" Left="7"/>
<Transparency>190</Transparency>
>>> <Caption>Please wait while the update is being downloaded...</Caption><<<
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="ProgressControl" Id="PrgDownload">
<Position Top="17" Width="206" Left="7"/>
</Control>
<Control xsi:type="StaticControl" Id="LblStatus">
<Position Top="34" Width="150" Left="7"/>
<Transparency>190</Transparency>
>>> <Caption>(update %1!d! of %2!d!)</Caption><<<
</Control>
</Controls>
</Window>
</Interfaces>

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by matty on 06-02-2011 at 07:19 PM

PlusDesktop appears to be the app to display the PlusWorld(?) website maybe?

[Image: attachment.php?pid=1014451]

quote:
Originally posted by PlusDesktop resources
129 DIALOGEX 0, 0, 279, 247, 0
STYLE DS_SETFONT | DS_3DLOOK | DS_FIXEDSYS | WS_CAPTION | WS_CLIPSIBLINGS | WS_CLIPCHILDREN | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "Messenger Plus! World"
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"
{
CONTROL "", 1000, "{8856F961-340A-11D0-A96B-00C04FD705A2}", WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 0, 0, 279, 247
}

{8856F961-340A-11D0-A96B-00C04FD705A2} : Webbrowser control

Will load this page here: http://pages.msgplus.net/5/plus_world/

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Menthix on 06-02-2011 at 07:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matty
PlusService.exe appears to check if Plus! has been removed and then informs the user that it happened without their knowledge and redownloads Plus! for installation.

WTF!? Why? Was this ever even a problem for anyone? Frankly adding dodgy things like this only ensures malware removal tools will remove Plus!

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by matty on 06-02-2011 at 07:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Menthix

quote:
Originally posted by matty
PlusService.exe appears to check if Plus! has been removed and then informs the user that it happened without their knowledge and redownloads Plus! for installation.
WTF!? Why? Was this ever even a problem for anyone? Frankly adding dodgy things like this only ensures malware removal tools will remove Plus!

Well talk to Jieff and have him talk to his boss and tell them to stop this bullshit.

On top of it all look at the lovely EULA's included in the setup...

[Image: attachment.php?pid=1014453]

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by pollolibredegrasa on 06-02-2011 at 09:01 PM

Ah thanks for investigating.

Does seem a very dodgy move tbh, the last thing Plus! needs is for stupid little things like this to creep their way into the software and regain it some of its former reputation.

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Chrono on 06-02-2011 at 09:29 PM

Stop the bullshit yuna/kimhari

When will you learn to show these things to the testers first? THen you'd avoid the shame...

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Hank on 06-02-2011 at 11:00 PM

easy solution, REMOVE THE BLOAT,

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by blessedguy on 06-03-2011 at 01:54 AM

lolwhat?

Alexander/Jieff: you're doing it wrong :/

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Hank on 06-03-2011 at 01:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by blessedguy
lolwhat?

Alexander/Jieff: you're doing it wrong :/

did you just figure that out? im afraid MsgPlus is Bloated since 5.0 and probably below.

i know this post maybe deleted but its time yuna learn the truth

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Jieff on 06-03-2011 at 11:06 AM

Someone was trigger happy and release the version before we had time to do a small beta. Usually we also put the change log and the press release out.

The beta was not for Plus! 5.02 since it is just an update, but for Plus! service and Plus! World and an updated web installer.

While Kimahri only work on Plus! itself, I liked the concept of Plus! world since it compliment something we are working on for version 5.1. Even the new toolbar is promising since the company that developed it is not very far from Kimahri office and we will be able get them to make something useful out of it (for once).

I am not very happy about the way this was done, trust me.

I'll sort it out, I always do

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by blessedguy on 06-03-2011 at 11:21 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
Someone was trigger happy and release the version before we had time to do a small beta.

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Hank on 06-04-2011 at 12:23 AM

a New toolbar? ohh goody i bet the users cant wait to get more bloat

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
I am not very happy about the way this was done, trust me.

I'll sort it out, I always do

big words coming from a " Team Leader " your supposed to check or give the final approval before this crap gets out.

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Kafman on 06-04-2011 at 06:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matty
PlusService.exe appears to check if Plus! has been removed and then informs the user that it happened without their knowledge and redownloads Plus! for installation.

rofl gotta love this malware-kinda behaviour.

Way to go (Y)

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by King Of Chaos on 06-04-2011 at 09:33 PM

I deleted PlusDesktop.exe and PlusService.exe... problem solved.

If these questionable decisions by Yuna continue, I'll be uninstalling Plus and not looking back. Seriously, Yuna, you really should make it optional for PlusWorld to be installed along with PlusService running at runtime - those alone nearly tempts me to remove Plus.

RE: RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Jieff on 06-05-2011 at 01:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Hank
a New toolbar? ohh goody i bet the users cant wait to get more bloat
quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
I am not very happy about the way this was done, trust me.

I'll sort it out, I always do

big words coming from a " Team Leader " your supposed to check or give the final approval before this crap gets out.

I'm in charge of Plus! itself and nothing else for the moment. What is packaged with it (toolbar, promotion, ...) and the web installer is not actually done by my team. But I did ask Yuna to let me approve future packaged version before they are released. This should prevent the funny thing that just happened.

quote:
Originally posted by Kafman

rofl gotta love this malware-kinda behaviour.

Plus! service can be disable from the preference menu like it was before. If it does not behave as so then it is a bug. The goal is to detect when a Plus! setup is broken by another software. This detection was done within Plus! in the past. But it was rendered useless if Plus! setup was broken. It makes more sense to make an external check. This is why the service was created.

As for Plus! world (or desktop), I would prefer if there was an option to install it or not instead of the current behavior.

RE: RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by CookieRevised on 06-05-2011 at 06:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
Someone was trigger happy and release the version before we had time to do a small beta.

Not the first time...
I wish and can only hope they will also be equaly trigger happy to press the you're-fired button.
(aimed at he/she/they who released it too soonish)

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
The beta was not for Plus! 5.02 since it is just an update, but for Plus! service and Plus! World and an updated web installer.

I probably misunderstand you here, but even with a very small update, beta testers were always contacted first in Patchou's era.

Nevertheless, this and neither previous builds were 'small', in the sense that nothing needed to be tested and (especially) nothing needed to be translated. Even in previous builds stuff was added which required translation. And now it happened yet again....

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
I'll sort it out, I always do

must be frustrating...
Can't you do anything more? As in, force them to do the proper thing?

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
Plus! service can be disable from the preference menu like it was before. If it does not behave as so then it is a bug.

PlusService.exe is correctly removed when you disable "Notify me when an update is available". But wouldn't it be better to split that option now that there is an external app running, and put the update-check back into Plus! itself (where it belongs)?

I do want to be informed of new updates, but I do not want yet another app running in the background all the time, and this to simply check if my Plus! installation is ok.

Checking for updates can be done from within Plus!, like it always has been, and like any other program does.

quote:
Originally posted by matty
On top of it all look at the lovely EULA's included in the setup...

Yes, but your point is?
Those EULAs were included since Plus! 4.x.
see some (older) threads in the Translation forum in regards to that.

quote:
Originally posted by King Of Chaos
I deleted PlusDesktop.exe and PlusService.exe... problem solved.

Not quite (as in completely removing it)...
You also need to remove some stuff in your registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\PlusService

RE: RE: RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Jieff on 06-05-2011 at 07:06 PM

quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised

I probably misunderstand you here, but even with a very small update, beta testers were always contacted first in Patchou's era.

...

Can't you do anything more? As in, force them to do the proper thing?

There cannot be any release without the Beta testers knowing about it in advance. But correct me if I'm wrong, even during Patchou era, not all patches were beta tested.

I have been told that this incident will not happen again. I asked that every version (every variations) has to be signed by me before it is released.

I cannot be accountable for something I cannot control.

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by CookieRevised on 06-05-2011 at 07:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
There cannot be any release without the Beta testers knowing about it in advance. But correct me if I'm wrong, even during Patchou era, not all patches were beta tested.

Yup, correct; not all patches were tested. But those were _only_ patches which didn't involve translating and didn't involve changes in features/options.

All (?) previous builds of Plus! 5, thus since 5.00, included at least one of those (translation jobs and/or added option and/or behaviour of an option which got changed and/or change in UI)

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Chrono on 06-05-2011 at 11:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
There cannot be any release without the Beta testers knowing about it in advance. But correct me if I'm wrong, even during Patchou era, not all patches were beta tested.

The thing is that with Patchou we didnt have to worry. There were NEVER such threads like this one. If you people implement something new or change the behavior of something, it should be tested (not only because it could cause trouble, also to see if the changes are well accepted. If your testers dont like what they're seeing, you should worry).

Pretty much wanted to confirm what cookie said, This whole thing is driving me mad, i can't believe it's been over a year and we're still dealing with the same problems :sad:

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by temp4746 on 06-23-2011 at 04:56 PM

This is really bad, this reminds me of the Skype easy bits go crapware incident.

A desktop icon for plus world should obviously be an option, you should never add shortcuts to stuff without the user's consent.

Plus Service should be optional an I personally like I guess most users will prefer plus to only check for updates when it is running, there is no need for a service that wastes system resources.

I downgraded to 5.01 (This sort of BS is why I keep old installers around 8-) )

Yuna/kimahri should really get their act together, this is going further downhill with each new version released. (N)

EDIT: I uninstalled 5.02 without choosing to delete settings or scripts and such, and then after a reboot that it requested, installed 5.01.
When I do /checkupdates, it reports no new version, can it be the updater stores the version in the registry separetly and still thinks I have 5.02?
I just hope that when a new version is released (hopefully) with this BS fixed, it will notify me.

Personally this really warrants a quick release that fixes only this.

RE: RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by CookieRevised on 06-23-2011 at 09:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by temp4746
EDIT: I uninstalled 5.02 without choosing to delete settings or scripts and such, and then after a reboot that it requested, installed 5.01. When I do /checkupdates, it reports no new version, can it be the updater stores the version in the registry separetly and still thinks I have 5.02?

No.
The installed version number is stored and read correctly from and to the registry.

But the update system also relies on data read from their webserver (to compare the installed version number to). And this data is:
1) Not always accurate (current flaw in the system since Plus! 5.0)
2) Not always enabled as soon as a new version is released, it can take weeks (this is by design, to spread the load on the server and to minimize to spreading when a severe bug is found after releasing).
3) The manual check (the /checkupdates command) and the build-in automatic check get their data from two different locations. Both locations have their own lifetime and 'rules' so to speak and are not in sync right away after a release (this is also by design and it has also to do with point 1 and 2).

The most accurate, at this time of writing, is the build-in automatic check. (the manual check reports 5.00.702 as latest version)

quote:
Originally posted by temp4746
I just hope that when a new version is released (hopefully) with this BS fixed, it will notify me.

Simply check the website for the latest version and its number.

quote:
Originally posted by temp4746
Personally this really warrants a quick release that fixes only this.

Although I (and others) completely share your concearns and opinions, something like this is not quickly fixed. The reason is that it also involves third parties and sponsors and what not. The reality is that stuff like this is unfortunatly not easily fixed like that (without braking contracts and stuff). This isn't a 'simple bug' which can be fixed in-house in an instant so to speak.

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by rafaelluik on 07-30-2011 at 09:48 PM

Remove PlusService.exe!

RE: RE: RE: RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by Alexo on 09-21-2011 at 08:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jieff
I have been told that this incident will not happen again. I asked that every version (every variations) has to be signed by me before it is released.

I cannot be accountable for something I cannot control.

The current update (5.10.0.748) installed PlusService.exe without as much as by your leave.

I seem to remember something about a promise that this will not happen again. Was I hallucinating at the time?

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by CookieRevised on 09-22-2011 at 07:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Alexo
I seem to remember something about a promise that this will not happen again. Was I hallucinating at the time?

Errr... I think you were hallucinating...
It was never promissed that they will remove PlusServices.exe (unfortunatly).

What you're referring to (the promise from Jieff that 'it' should not happen again) is the fact that a new version was released with some new things in it without going thru the proper channels like testing, translating, etc... nothing to do with PlusServices.exe...

RE: PlusService.exe (and "Plus World") by rafaelluik on 09-22-2011 at 07:47 PM

It should have been promised if you get what I mean!