Cheat Engine

[rhobherto]

Installed CE 6.4 yesterday and with it some lousy adware program. Showed up in "Programs and Features" (Win. 8.1 Pro) as "DuckQuotes." Infected my Steam client with random text highlights linked to bubble ads [see pic].

Also, when Steam opened a separate internet window, instead of following the intended link, it opened a bs "UPDATES RECOMMENDED!" warning [lost that screen grab in editing] with "OK" button, opening a link to "Open Software Updater" [see pic].

[I have the url, but can't share it here as a first-time poster.]

When I attempted to close the window, a separate faux "JavaScript Confirm" pop-up appeared [see pic]. "We didn't fool you once, but maybe we can fool you twice!"

Ransomware? Not quite, but what a ridiculous and unnecessary pain.

Thank goodness for System Restore.

C'mon you guys! Knock this crap off.

[EDIT: NO IMAGE URLs ALLOWED EITHER - IMAGE LINKS DELETED]

[Dark Byte]

Make sure that during installation you just don't agree to install it. The advertisers should follow the rule that things are marked as an offer and you should be able to deny it.

Also, uninstall of those offers should work as well

[++METHOS]

[rhobherto]

I believe I was diligent during the install to decline any and all optional add ons. Is there an option to purchase a "clean" version of CE? CE is doing it's users wrong to underwrite its development doing deals with purveyors of malware.

Turns out, my computer has a BSoD issue today. I'm in the middle of sorting it out.

Is this an outcome of installing/uninstalling CE and the "we've got to pay the bills somehow" adware that comes with it? Maybe, maybe not.

Having adware installed on your computer is called an "infection" for good reason. For CE to pair it's software with with infectious malware is bad business and bad karma.

[++METHOS]

CE developer is very diligent about reporting and removing malicious offers that get cycled into those ad campaigns. He encourages all users to report any malicious offers immediately. It can be difficult, sometimes, because the ad provider does not always do a proper job of analyzing everything that sneaks through (I guess). I have never had a problem installing CE and refusing the bundled software. Be sure you are downloading your copy from a reliable source.

[Dark Byte]

the download page has an download link without advertising any offers

And make sure you uninstall these things using the accompanied uninstaller in the uninstall a program in the windows configuration screen. Just deleting random files with a so called cleaner can do a lot more damage (It has to have a proper uninstaller, if not I'll have to inform the advertisement provider that offers the product you installed)

[rhobherto]

For ++METHOS and Dark Byte

Many people use and genuinely value CE. In the wake of my recent use of version 6.4, I posted a note on a Steam game forum with a title that begins, 'Cheat Engine euphoria! Made it to the end!' 

CE helped me to reach the "Epilogue" of a game that I hadn't been able to complete up to that point. Subsequently, after discovering more of the games ins and outs while using CE, I achieved a complete play-through without it. Yay team! Thanks CE!

Count me then as someone who values and enjoyed what CE can do. 

But there's a flipside to this story. The complete title of my hallelujah note on Steam: 'CE euphoria! Made it to the end! Price: Adware infection.'

Dark Byte, I think you at least acknowledge that there is some risk of potential "damage" involved in uninstalling the adware currently bundled with CE. But who wants to install this stuff in the first place? I sure didn't want it. And I doubt that you or Methos would want this "stuff" ruining your web browsing experience (or possibly messing up you OS, like mine is), either.

A gift and a challenge

I'm hitting the "Donate" button and ponying up $10 to Cheat Engine (not finding a donate button -- tell me where to send it -- the CE site should have a donate button), not for the current version of CE, but for the future version of CE that is no longer, as it is now, a Trojan Horse.

The challenge, to the both of you: Download the adware that is currently bundled with CE onto your own personal computers. Share some screenshots here of how it invades your web browsing with text highlights and bubble ads, and I'll donate another $25 to CE for each of you that does this. 

CE is cool. I got some value out of it. Here's 10 bucks.

And here's another $50 on the table. You make it sound so totally cool and understandable that is CE is spreading adware to computers everywhere, piggybacked on its software. Show me how cool it is, and I'll send this $50 along, too.

Thanks for your replies and for listening.

[Dark Byte]

Can you tell me the size of the installer you downloaded? If i'm correct you had the crappy installer (200kb) because duckquotes isn't part of the default offer company.
If so, you had bad luck since that one has a chance of showing only 10%(now 9), and I agree completely with you that that one sucks (you need to click on the grey skip button on the left)


Also, as I stated, in the future, check the download page, it always has a link to an advertisement free version.
e.g in this case: http://cheatengine.org/download/cheatengine64_NoSetup.rar

As for donations, it's only to show you appreciate CE, but just can't be used to support CE itself.
There used to be big donation buttons, but at most that would make me $150 to $200 a year, and hosting cheatengine.org and it's mirror's alone already costs $150 a month (the downloads eats bandwidth and the forum eats cpu)


anyhow, here are some screenshots of installing some extras and then uninstalling them:
before:


after:


going to try and uninstall them:


afterwards:

[nicedude80]

I mean, I understand and appreciate CE, but I recently installed it, and if I weren't so tech savvy I wouldn't have caught a tricky one. You had to hit advanced options to uncheck an install. I would be fine with the devs throwing ads all over the place, just don't make them tricky like that.

I once installed a program that had those hidden ads on the installer and spent hours trying to remove it. I see why the OP is complaining. Anyways, just my input.

[++METHOS]

I may be wrong, but aren't the adware install screens/options driven by the advertisers?

Anyway, most free applications are bundled with this kind of thing, these days. The 'advanced install' option is very common.

[Gvaz]

Conduit breaks my company's software. Search protect is such a piece of shit to remove half the time, and other malware/adware plays off the software of search protect in that they make it a massive pain to remove (like scorpionsaver)

[aikoncwd]

[mgr.inz.Player]

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is good too. ( at least version 1.75 was)

[Gvaz]