{"id":432,"date":"2012-12-26T10:27:38","date_gmt":"2012-12-26T15:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=432"},"modified":"2012-12-26T10:27:38","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T15:27:38","slug":"why-isnt-a-program-malware-if-it-installs-additional-unwanted-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2012\/12\/26\/why-isnt-a-program-malware-if-it-installs-additional-unwanted-software\/","title":{"rendered":"Why isn't a program malware if it installs additional, unwanted software?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of programs–especially free ones–install additional software on your PC. They do this as a form of advertising, and they may make some money off of it. Of course, it can backfire and alienate users.
\nThis practice gives you, the user, an additional responsibility. If you’re not careful about how you install freeware, you can end up with a lot of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs).
\n(Frankly, giving what we’re talking about, I find that acronym way too cute and cuddly. The acronym would have been far more descriptive if everyone had agreed on the term “potentially unwanted software.” On the other hand, these programs leave messes all over your PC, so perhaps PUP is appropriate.)
\nBut why don’t antivirus programs block PUP-carrying installers? Because they’re legal, and because, annoying as they are, they’re not anywhere near as bad as real malware. True, installing one program and getting two or three more feels like a violation, but these unwanted programs don’t hide their existence. Nor do they, as far as I know, do anything illegal. And they can all be uninstalled.
\nWhat’s more, in almost every case, you can install the program you want and bypass the PUPs. You just have to pay attention while installing .
\nFirst of all, never, ever select the “Typical” or “Automated” installation–which will almost certainly be the default. Select the Custom installation or a similar option.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

iLivid installation. Select the settings that the arrows point to.
\nThen, study every page of the installation wizard, and uncheck every option to install another program (unless, of course, you want that program).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More of the iLivid installation. Select the settings that the arrows point to.
\nYou can’t really blame the developers for wanting a little money for their labor. But you don’t have to install software that you don’t want.
\nvia Why isn’t a program malware if it installs additional, unwanted software? | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lot of programs–especially free ones–install additional software on your PC. They do this as a form of advertising, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,7,9,10,11],"tags":[48,655,866],"class_list":["post-432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-security","category-software","category-technology","category-windows","tag-adware","tag-malware","tag-pups"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-6Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7648,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/02\/26\/chrome-security-update-warns-against-sneaky-software-downloads-as-well-as-malware\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":0},"title":"Chrome security update warns against sneaky software downloads as well as malware","author":"NCCT","date":"February 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Google is adding a new warning to Chrome in its continuing efforts to protect users from harmful actors on the web. The new red flag for Google\u2019s browser warns you when you\u2019re about to visit a site that encourages users to download harmful and unwanted software. Chrome isn\u2019t the only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7608,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/02\/12\/virustotal-tackles-the-tricky-false-positives-problem-plaguing-antivirus-software\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":1},"title":"VirusTotal tackles the tricky false positives problem plaguing antivirus software","author":"NCCT","date":"February 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"VirusTotal, a Google-owned online malware scanning service, is creating a whitelist of products from large software vendors to reduce bad detections by antivirus programs. False positive detections are common in the antivirus industry. They occur when a benign program is wrongfully flagged as malicious due to an overly broad detection\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8920,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/05\/17\/8920\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":2},"title":"Tech support scammers now utilizing ransomware-like lock screens to threaten people","author":"NCCT","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Justin Luna | Neowin Some of us may be very well aware of the classic tech support scam stories, where a man randomly calls people, and informs them that they are from \"Windows company\" and that the call recipient's computer has been detected full of viruses. These cold callers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9655,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2021\/03\/09\/fuquay-varina-and-holly-springs-computer-repair\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":3},"title":"Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs Computer Repair","author":"NCCT","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our blog. NC Computer Tech services Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, and surrounding NC areas. We offer prompt, professional, courteous service with over twenty years of experience dealing with residential and small business clients offering them solutions and fixing their computer and network issues at reasonable rates. Our services\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6294,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/08\/27\/research-team-creates-undetectable-malware-bound-to-legitimate-software-downloads\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":4},"title":"Research team creates undetectable malware bound to legitimate software downloads","author":"NCCT","date":"August 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Most cyber attacks from your typical home hacker, come by way of techniques used 10 years ago or more like phishing scams, poor password management, and things of that nature. But now it seems as though a research team from Germany has developed on all new strain of malware. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7570,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/02\/05\/malicious-advertisements-on-major-sites-compromised-many-many-pcs\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":5},"title":"Malicious advertisements on major sites compromised many, many PCs","author":"NCCT","date":"February 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Attackers who have slipped malicious advertisements onto major websites over the last month have potentially compromised large numbers of computers. Several security vendors have documented attacks involving malicious advertisements, which automatically redirect victims to other websites or pages that silently attack their computer and install malware. \u201cWe certainly see malvertising\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}