An interesting little con I just found.. "Freeware" that loads your computer up with malware

[Fumesucker]

A software that used to be very useful and that I've used myself has now become a deceptive installer of malware.

If you are accustomed to using a particular software you may not notice that changes can sometimes be for the worse or the much worse.

Click on the blue "See all reviews" link to read a ton of negative comments like these typical ones. I'm glad I looked before I leaped.

http://download.cnet.com/Super-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-10277613.html

Pros

None, anymore.

Cons

Used to be great, now it's another dishonest product from greedy dishonest people which will install TONS of malicious crap on your computer, slow down your browser, and who knows what else?

BAN THEM!

..................................................

Pros

Does what it always did. Super fast conversion of video files. A gazillion options as always. Every possible parameter can be changed.

Cons

Addware in massive amounts during installation. Just click CANCEL / QUIT to the gree installer button. The SUPER will install anyway, no matter what you are told.

Notice that the software adds metadata in your video that is hard to remove. You can not control this. Will display "Created with SUPER".

So very very obtrusive software, to the extend that makes it almost useless.

Summary

There are other players out there which behave as they should. AviDemux etc. Can do same conversion. Some of them even by command line.

This software was put on a pedistal for too long. It has sold it's soul to the devil. Should be avoided as I see it. Find a portable / old version.

Summary

If you are a complete noob who has to ask others to "fix" your computer now and then, this is just about the worst thing you can install.

Reply to this review

[hobbit709]

1. I don't download anything from cnet.

ALL their downloads now come bundled with crapware and spyware.
If I want to download something, I go straight to the original website.

[Fumesucker]

3. I don't download from cnet either, it just happened to be the site I first looked at with reviews

My memory is bad enough If I go a few months without using a particular program there's a good chance I won't remember the name of it for sure so I end up searching for a lot of things. I happened to be setting up another computer last night and was doing a quick search for a video converter and wound up looking at that page.

Like both of the reviews I posted say, SUPER used to be a great and handy program, now it will screw up your computer. I've cleaned up these kinds of messes for friends often enough, don't want to do it to my own box.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. Yup, extreme caution needs to be exercised when d/l-ing.

Safe software download sites – Beware of deceptive download links & PUPs
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/safe-software-download-sites

Why have things come to this stage?

Over a period of time, something somewhere changed. Reputed download sites started getting a lot of traffic. Search Engines rank these sites well, so many visit them to download software. People trusted them. Then came a day when such sites decided to encash that trust – and betrayed their users. It was all about money...


CNET is one such site. So are BrotherSoft, Softonic, FreewareFiles and Tucows. The open-source download site Sourceforge is yet another example. I am sure there are many more. So what are these Installers or Downloaders? They are nothing but setup files that try and first push third-party offers on to your computer before giving you access to the file you want.

Recently even FileHippo (who I used and trusted... to a point...for years) has begun "offering" downloads via Installers:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/filehippo-starts-offering-downloads-via-installers

[hobbit709]

4. Majorgeeks is still fairly decent.

That's where I usually go when I want to check if there's newer versions of my basic install packages.