Shoutbox

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Originally posted by tarqeq
I still have the same problem, Plus! Network keeps changing my search engine in Firefox serarchbar and address bar. And the last time this happened was today.
I change them back to google and delete Plus! network as an search engine option, but still Plus Network! changes it back and adds it to the list.

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Then you have _not_ uninstalled the Plus! Network and searchbar sponsor programs. Only simply changing those settings in your browser is of no use. You need to properly uninstall the Searchbar and Network sponsors first, using the proper way (add/remove programs etc).

Note: You do not need to uninstall Messenger Plus! itself for any of this. The Searchbar and Network sponsors are completely seperate things.


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I kindly ask to first read and follow the instructions in my post before posting that you can't uninstall and all...

Note that this is also a general rule of the forums (and all existing forums on the internet for that matter): read first, then post if you're answer isn't given...


I don't want to request this thread to be locked, but if people are going to keep simply posting without reading I will... (refering to the "can't uninstall" comments, not to the other comments)

edit: Anagoogle, with all respect but you're just repeating my posts and links.

If you've uninstalled everything Plus-related, follow the Firefox/Chrome instructions I've already posted.

Funny Story...Same exact thing is happening to me.

Several weeks ago, I installed Messenger Plus, directly from this fine site...I don't know which mirror, but which ever one it was must have laced the software with malware, trojans, viruses, whatever, it was not good.

I install a lot of software, and a lot of free software at that.  I know that if you do not untick boxes, bad things can and will happen.  So I always make sure I untick boxes when I see a toolbar, and read what I am agreeing to when I install, especially when extra software is requested.

So I go about installing and after install, weirdest thing happened.  Software was not working one bit.  So I try it again, no luck.  So I try to open firefox, and low and behold, the software has this plus network site, and my script blocker is going crazy blocking things (Much like it is on this site, so I will keep everything blocked because, I don't trust a damn thing from this site) and I can barely control my browser without it nearly coming to a halt (I mean my system is pretty nice...AMD Athlon x6 3.2GHz 16GB of RAM...not a bad system) and really, I was angered by this so I did what any person would do...Uninstalled it, went back to original messenger and, guess what, THE WORLD WAS GOOD AGAIN!

Almost good...there was sill a problem.  The problem lied in the fact that messenger plus still managed to install their stupid toolbar software, and their malware, and other crap.  I am usually able to get rid of malicious software with ease being a computer technician, but my full arsenal even had some problems, so I had to use my government powered eraser, to try and get rid of unwanted stuff.  It took me several scans, and several deletes to get rid of it, but I did...in a day, I had things back to normal...Or did I

Today, I registered on this forum to share my experience, as it is back.  I am running more scans, and finding more traces to this problem.  I present to you my findings.

Open Task Manager
>Bchelper.exe (Broswer Companion) It is no good, Kill it immediately.  It can be easily infected causing you grief.

Sadly that is the only trace I have.  I am still trying to get rid of this.  Sadly I wonder if the intent of installing Malicious software, even if you decline is considered legal, because if it were not legal, there would be a lawsuit.

Of course Yuna Software is not going to respond to this because they are the rectums that are the cause of this terrible software incident.  Oh well...Thanks for the help here, As I try to fix this, I will post my progress.

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Open Task Manager
>Bchelper.exe (Broswer Companion) It is no good, Kill it immediately.  It can be easily infected causing you grief.

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You may delete this but it does not affect the Plus! Network search engine or home page.  You also can continue to enjoy the Messenger Plus! software itself.  As Cookie Revised wrote, Note: You do not need to uninstall Messenger Plus! itself for any of this. The Searchbar and Network sponsors are completely separate things.

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Of course Yuna Software is not going to respond to this

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I am one of the representatives of Yuna Software. Since October 2011, uninstalling the Messenger Plus! Community Smartbar rolls back both the Homepage and Default search settings to their default values. However, if these settings remain after the Smartbar has been removed and searches are still sent to Plus! Network, we will soon update the help page with further instructions.


Thanks for your input

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You may delete this but it does not affect the Plus! Network search engine or home page.  You also can continue to enjoy the Messenger Plus! software itself.  As Cookie Revised wrote, Note: You do not need to uninstall Messenger Plus! itself for any of this. The Searchbar and Network sponsors are completely separate things.

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I uninstalled Messenger plus because it did not work.  Problem: I installed it, rebooted, opened MSN, and it would not log in at all, it went back to the login screen and did its whole loop again.  Uninstalled it and everything worked again. Everything, including toolbar and Plus Network page were still there loading.  I even uninstalled the sponsor program from the control panel, and deleted it further making sure it was gone, and several weeks later, as in Last night, it showed up again.  What kind of invasive software is linked to Messenger Plus?

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Since October 2011, uninstalling the Messenger Plus! Community Smartbar rolls back both the Homepage and Default search settings to their default values. However, if these settings remain after the Smartbar has been removed and searches are still sent to Plus! Network, we will soon update the help page with further instructions.

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Since October?  Really, because...this Was late November Early December...Nothing rolled back and problems showed up again last night, so I think you best talk to, I don't know, you must have sponsors hosting mirrors to download from, and each one is random, but you may want to make sure they got the memo.

I don't appreciate malware, and since this is malicious, that is what I will call it.

Anyway, I had to completely uninstall firefox, deleting profile in the hidden appdata folders as well, and had to start with a fresh install just to get things back to normal.  You may want to look into that or have fun explaining to people in the help section, that seems to be the only way to get their settings back to normal.

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Originally posted by Sirby
Anyway, I had to completely uninstall firefox, deleting profile in the hidden appdata folders as well, and had to start with a fresh install just to get things back to normal.  You may want to look into that or have fun explaining to people in the help section, that seems to be the only way to get their settings back to normal.

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With all respect, and no matter how much I dislike malware too, but I have posted some instructions on how to completely remove the browser searchbar, homepage and word search in browsers. Nothing complicated and it is in fact very logical (it is just the same as if you would add another search engine of your choice, but then the other way around of course). Nothing involves completely uninstalling the browser since the offending stuff are just one or two browser settings you need to change, nothing more nothing less.

PS: Completely formatting your computer would have worked too in that regards, or even buying a new computer.

To be honest, as a computer technician having access to "government powered erasers" (whatever that is), this is something I'd expect you to know. Also the sentence "I even uninstalled the sponsor program from the control panel" puzzles me a bit because you let it seem like you are a knowledgable computer technician but at the same time it's like you're saying you're very surprised that in order to uninstall a program you need to go to the control panel>add/remove programs. Thus, no matter how bad your experience might have been or still is, some stuff you say doesn't quite add up though. (note: I'm not saying you haven't experienced all what you said though)

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Anyways,

I strongly ask to those who have installed Plus!, have unchecked the sponsor boxes and finding that sponsor stuff is still installed, to:

1. Install or use a network sniffer, or install something like LiveHTTPHeaders plugin for Firefox, or HTTPWatch or something similar.
   (important: it must be run from your location though, thus from your computer, thus no internet based http header viewers).
   
2. clear your browser cache completely
   
3. re-download the Messenger Plus! setup file (<-- use this link) and check in the HTTP response code viewer of your choice where the link http://www.msgplus.net/DownloadMsgPlus.aspx is finally redirected to (= the 'Location' field in the code 200-response) and tell us this link so we can check it further.

(note you do not need to install Plus! for this, just start the download; you can even cancel it once it is downloading if you want)

thanks

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
With all respect, and no matter how much I dislike malware too, but I have posted some instructions on how to completely remove the browser searchbar, homepage and word search in browsers. Nothing complicated and it is in fact very logical (it is just the same as if you would add another search engine of your choice, but then the other way around of course). Nothing involves completely uninstalling the browser since the offending stuff are just one or two browser settings you need to change, nothing more nothing less.

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I have followed instructions on how to remove it, and it came back again after reboots.  I know all about the about:config trick, and it worked, until the next reboot, when Plus! Network took over again.  That's where I got a little angry, which being a logical person you are, you can understand that.  Your instructions were the same exact thing I did though and still the problem persisted.  That is where I get angry, and when I get angry, I post things, and barely remember it until the next day, such as now

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
PS: Completely formatting your computer would have worked too in that regards, or even buying a new computer.

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Reformatting is a last resort.  I don't like doing that, takes me weeks to get my computer back to the way I like it, and with all the audio software and their settings, I would rather not do that, because they don't copy over easily.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
To be honest, as a computer technician having access to "government powered erasers" (whatever that is), this is something I'd expect you to know.

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I do know quite a bit...

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Also the sentence "I even uninstalled the sponsor program from the control panel" puzzles me a bit because you let it seem like you are a knowledgable computer technician but at the same time it's like you're saying you're very surprised that in order to uninstall a program you need to go to the control panel>add/remove programs.

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...but this whole thing puzzled me.  Some programs come with uninstallers, this one didn't seem to have one.  Not saying it did or did not, but I could not find it easily.  Also, the government powered part, I have no idea where that came from (It is government "quality" deletion program.  The program rewrites the data that is deleted 8-12 times to overwrite it completely)

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Thus, no matter how bad your experience might have been or still is, some stuff you say doesn't quite add up though. (note: I'm not saying you haven't experienced all what you said though)

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Again my experience:
>I installed Plus (Unticked Check boxes...I have experience with those, I don't like add-on software like that)
>Rebooted (Normally do, it's a good practice)
>MSN Started up, but could not log in for some odd reason (I hear MSN blocks Plus from time to time.  Is this true?)
>I go to Firefox to look up my problem and homepage was changed and so was search bar.
>I figure I will deal with it later, and I look up my problem, got fed up, uninstalled it, that was that.
>After uninstalling it, Plus! was still taking over Firefox and IE
>about:Config and the world is good after changing a few settings
>Uninstalled; Rebooted; Plus is back in firefox
>Uninstall sponsor program as recommended by friend using the control panel Program and Feature menu
>Change settings, scan computer, Spybot finds PUPS, Reboot, all is well
--Several Weeks Later--
Back to Plus Taking over firefox and IE

AND HOW!?

Also, I don't get offended, as you can probably tell.  I Just have a compTIA A+ certification for Hardware and Software.  Nothing special, Just a stepping stone to better things if I want to get further certifications.  If National Guard members allow me to work on their computers with confidential documents, I must be ok!  Things like this though baffle me and this is the whole point of why I am confused and why I am angry

If I uninstalled Messenger Plus, and that sponsor toolbar program, and deleted all the folders from Yuna, and the toolbar, then WHY is it still bothering me weeks later?  That is what my problem is, and why I consider this malware!

I appreciate your input CookieRevised and I appreciate your criticism towards my knowledge, but this is why I am confused.  This is why I reinstalled my browser, is to get rid of any trace of Plus network because all the other instructions did not work!

That is all!

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Originally posted by Sirby
This is why I reinstalled my browser, is to get rid of any trace of Plus network because all the other instructions did not work!

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Reinstalling would have no affect as Plus! would surely have continued to change your settings after it was reinstalled, right?

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Originally posted by Sirby
Reformatting is a last resort.

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I think Cookie was just demonstrating that you don't need to go to such extreme lengths to remove the software

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Originally posted by Sirby
Some programs come with uninstallers, this one didn't seem to have one.

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If a program doesn't have an uninstaller .exe file, Add/Remove Programs is the correct way to uninstall it (In fact, it's the preferred way even if the programs does have an uninstaller

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Originally posted by Sirby
The program rewrites the data that is deleted 8-12 times to overwrite it completely

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Such programs are widely available, but are only useful if the data being erased is what is causing the problem. As stated several times, the problem is a couple of settings in Firefox, not with Plus! changing settings (It is not uncommon for Firefox profiles to become corrupt. This would explain why settings were not being saved in the browser)

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Originally posted by Sirby
I Just have a compTIA A+ certification for Hardware and Software

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Qualifications mean nothing if you do not know how to do something. I have a many qualifications, yet wouldn't say I know how to create 3D graphics for example.

As I said, this is more likely due to the fact Firefox either was not saving the settings correctly.

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Originally posted by Sirby
(I hear MSN blocks Plus from time to time.  Is this true?)

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No, whilst Messenger Plus is not exactly and official add-on/extension, Microsoft for the most part allow it. Patchou (the creator) was even an MVP and worked closely with the Windows Live Messenger Team I understand.

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Originally posted by Sirby
Spybot finds PUPS

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Potentials Unwanted Programs (PUPS) are unfortunately how Plus sometimes gets flagged. Plus is not adware, spyware or any other sort of malware (it's freeware). Unfortunately, the sponsor programs sometimes get flagged as unwanted for the very reason they are sponsor programs. Whilst the past sponsor was widely considered to be malware by many antivirus programs, it was in fact a very stripped down version of the sponsor software that followed strict rules. The new sponsor was supposed to alleviate the criticism over the sponsor and be more manageable and also related to the product.

I can't speak for Nathalie, but I haven't seen the sponsor revert settings. I think it all calls for some more testing. Sirby, if you could provide us with the download link to the installer you used like Cookie has mentioned, we could possibly track the issue down. It may be a simple error in the installer and we could then report it on your behalf to be fixed.

I can see how you may think the program is potentially harmful from your point of view, but remember we are long-time users and have had to disprove rumours of malware repeatedly. Thats why some of the things we say may seem a but rude. So send in the installer link and I'll take a look myself first and ask others to do so

Thanks for responding and being so understanding, Sirby. Hang on for a big ass reply post though

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Originally posted by Sirby
I have followed instructions on how to remove it, and it came back again after reboots.  I know all about the about:config trick, and it worked, until the next reboot, when Plus! Network took over again.

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It is also stated to first uninstall the Plus! Network sponsor (or browser companion), otherwise it will of course overwrite your undoings again, after that you can manually set the browsers settings back to what they were.

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Originally posted by Sirby
...but this whole thing puzzled me.  Some programs come with uninstallers, this one didn't seem to have one.  Not saying it did or did not, but I could not find it easily.

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It does/should have an uninstaller listed in the add/remove programs. But I can understand that you migt miss it if you don't know what to look for (the name I mean) in a long list of programs.

[OFF TOPIC]

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Originally posted by Sirby
Also, the government powered part, I have no idea where that came from (It is government "quality" deletion program.  The program rewrites the data that is deleted 8-12 times to overwrite it completely)

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Ah, ok. Though I don't know of any existing govermental "quality" erase method that uses 8 to 14 passes. The ones I know all use at max 7 passes or something, in a very specific way. But even using only a few passes with simple random bytes is virtually already more than enough on modern HDDs, even according to the infamous Mr. Gutmann. All those other methods were valid decades ago when the HDDs didn't had such a huge data-density per platter. And on SSDs the principal of overwriting with data doesn't work at all - those require a completely different technique. Either way, you don't need any of those to remove something from your HDD to get rid of mal/software. Simply use the uninstaller and/or delete the offending files and they're gone; they wont revive by magic.

Anyways, using such an eraser is like using a hammer to remove a piece of software; it will work (lol), but it is seriously overkill (like buying a new PC, like formatting, and even like reinstalling the browser). But anyways, I'm going seriously off topic here
PS: just fyi, and you probably already use it, but imho the best quality eraser program there is, is eraser; as a bonus it is also completely free. It does contain several (if not all) known official govermental erasing algorithms.

[/OFF TOPIC]

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Originally posted by Sirby
Again my experience:
1>I installed Plus (Unticked Check boxes...I have experience with those, I don't like add-on software like that)
2>Rebooted (Normally do, it's a good practice)
3>MSN Started up, but could not log in for some odd reason (I hear MSN blocks Plus from time to time.  Is this true?)
4>I go to Firefox to look up my problem and homepage was changed and so was search bar.
5>I figure I will deal with it later, and I look up my problem, got fed up, uninstalled it, that was that.
6>After uninstalling it, Plus! was still taking over Firefox and IE
7>about:Config and the world is good after changing a few settings
8>Uninstalled; Rebooted; Plus is back in firefox
9>Uninstall sponsor program as recommended by friend using the control panel Program and Feature menu
10>Change settings, scan computer, Spybot finds PUPS, Reboot, all is well
--Several Weeks Later--
11>Back to Plus Taking over firefox and IE

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Thanks for the very clear list. Though, a few comments to set things in perspective and maybe explain a bit what might have happened:
3: Messenger does not block Plus! in any way. In fact, there is a silent agreement to allow it. What can be blocking Plus! are programs like SweetIM, Smiley Central and such things (which are, believe me, a far bigger annoyance than the current Plus! sponsors). See a couple of those sticky threads on the forums.
5: I presume you mean you uninstalled Messenger Plus!?
6: Messenger Plus! does not hijack your browser in any way. It's the optional sponsors which might change your search preferences. There is a massive big difference there. Messenger Plus! and its sponsors (in the form of the browser companion, and/or search engines) are completely different programs. So, by uninstalling Messenger Plus! you haven't removed/uninstalled anything related to the browser search engines or toolbar.
7: Will not work if you don't uninstall the browser companion first.
8: Again, Messenger Plus! has got nothing to do with the search engine changes; those come from the sponsor and/or toolbar.

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Originally posted by Sirby
If I uninstalled Messenger Plus, and that sponsor toolbar program, and deleted all the folders from Yuna, and the toolbar, then WHY is it still bothering me weeks later?  That is what my problem is, and why I consider this malware!

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There might be other causes too though. I hate to say it, but maybe you did not completely uninstalled the sponsor program properly?... And another possible cause, which a friend of mine got: it's stupid but for some reason 'something' decided to put back old files on his computer, which included his 'old' FireFox profile settings, which of course contained the browser search changes. Maybe it was a backup, Windows own history system thingie (forgot what it is called), even maybe FireFox itself, or whatever. Either way, that was the real reason, not Messenger Plus! taking things over by magic again after everything, including the sponsors, were removed (but of course he claimed it was).

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Originally posted by Sirby
I appreciate your input CookieRevised and I appreciate your criticism towards my knowledge, but this is why I am confused.  This is why I reinstalled my browser, is to get rid of any trace of Plus network because all the other instructions did not work!

That is all!

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I see, well much thanks for the input though!
I assume asking to reinstall Plus! again with its browser companion stuff and redo all the steps would be a bit too much?

Though, may I ask you try my instructions in my previous post: the one which asks to track down the HTTP response headers in order to see which exact setup file it was you have downloaded? You don't need to install anything Plus! related for that, just re-download it.

Thanks

Thanks CookieRevised,  I have a bit of a post for Spunky, here, so, please standby!
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Originally posted by Spunky
Reinstalling would have no affect as Plus! would surely have continued to change your settings after it was reinstalled, right?

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Actually, Reinstalling would have a positive effect! It would delete my profile, the profile in %appdata%, would be clear, so plus would not exist there! It would be a clean profile!

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Originally posted by Spunky
I think Cookie was just demonstrating that you don't need to go to such extreme lengths to remove the software

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I understood that after a while...thanks!

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Originally posted by Spunky
If a program doesn't have an uninstaller .exe file, Add/Remove Programs is the correct way to uninstall it (In fact, it's the preferred way even if the programs does have an uninstaller

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Right...And I was letting cookie know that is how I uninstalled the sponsor toolbar and software!

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Originally posted by Spunky
Qualifications mean nothing if you do not know how to do something. I have a many qualifications, yet wouldn't say I know how to create 3D graphics for example.

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Right...I know what I am doing.  I didn't intend to rub in anything, I was just mentioning, I have that... That is me saying I do not know everything, because, guess what, I don't and I know you don't!  Learn from experience!  I worked in an IT Department for a couple years as an apprentice, so yes qualifications mean nothing, but I do happen to know what I am doing!

Rude much?

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Originally posted by Spunky
No, whilst Messenger Plus is not exactly and official add-on/extension, Microsoft for the most part allow it. Patchou (the creator) was even an MVP and worked closely with the Windows Live Messenger Team I understand.

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Thank you for that informative feedback.  My friend from Netherlands says Microsoft does, so I thank you for this piece of information!

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Originally posted by Spunky
Thats why some of the things we say may seem a but rude.

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No it is totally alright, but you totally sounded very rude toward me personally.  You are all defending your software, and I understand that!  I would Defend Linux Mint all day long if I could, but since it does not run games, people dislike it.  Oh well~

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Now, Thank you so very much CookieRevised!  You are very informative, and may have answered my question!

This is what I did when I downloaded it!

That was the same link I clicked several weeks ago.  So I may be leading you in circles, which I am good at.

I ran the Installer And unchecked those two boxes that popped up!


Then the software did it's download, Now, something else happened last time I installed it, and downloaded it...

Another box popped up showing a toolbar for Plus! Network.  it had 3 check boxes, and I unchecked them both, and I had to click another agreement window, and I did, because it was a messenger plus agreement (I read it carefully, after all, good practice) And It proceeded to download.

It was installed, Would not let me in and all hell broke loose.

This time...well...now I have Plus, and no sign of the Plus! network showing up.

So it's possible I got a bad installer the last time?  Maybe?

quote:

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
There might be other causes too though. I hate to say it, but maybe you did not completely uninstalled the sponsor program properly?... And another possible cause, which a friend of mine got: it's stupid but for some reason 'something' decided to put back old files on his computer, which included his 'old' FireFox profile settings, which of course contained the browser search changes. Maybe it was a backup, Windows own history system thingie (forgot what it is called), even maybe FireFox itself, or whatever. Either way, that was the real reason, not Messenger Plus! taking things over by magic again after everything, including the sponsors, were removed (but of course he claimed it was).

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Could have been windows reverting things.  I noticed Windows is capable of doing things like that, But this is my first time witnessing it, doing it on its own.  Normally I request to revert back to working state, not let Windows do what it wants.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
I see, well much thanks for the input though!
I assume asking to reinstall Plus! again with its browser companion stuff and redo all the steps would be a bit too much?

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I did reinstall it, but if you want me to install with the checkboxes off, I can do that again, but not tonight.  I have work in the morning and I am already up later than I wanted to be.

Also, scans did bring up traces of SweetIM...Could that have been laced into the messenger plus I previously downloaded?  I got it from the same link, and the same site as I just did now?

OFF TOPIC...well...sort of
I apologize for coming off so rude.  On Xmas eve, morning before work, which was non stop busy, My Internet Radio broadcast computers drive died (heard the thud sound and nothing worked) So Most of that evening, and Xmas day was spent trying to fix that, and then I hop on my computer again after all was well to see Plus! Network taking over my computer.  No sleep, after being up at 6 on Xmas eve, I was, to say, a little pissed off, and took my anger out here.  No excuse, just what I did.  I am sure you all have had your share of bad days, I am just like a shaken up bottle, and I explode when it gets too much.

I am normally not that rude, I can take criticism thanks to Graphic Design classes I had.

Anyway, I will do things based as you said again, because I trust you know what you are doing, having the largest experience of installing plus, and I certainly appreciate your responses much.

PS. I do have eraser, and another one for linux...works well!