Spyware Warrior

Daveski17

When I bought my laptop in April one of the first things that I wanted to do was upload some 3gp files of my recently deceased father. I found that for some reason this couldn't be done without downloading a plug in called RealPlayer. As a relative newcomer to the world of downloading I went ahead & did just that. It was freeware & seemed to work fine.

I recently upgraded to Firefox 3 & as a consequence of that browser crashing when I clicked out of it I had to update the RealPlayer add-on/plug in to RealPlayer 11. I have since discovered that RealPlayer has some dodgy spyware associated with it. I don't actually use it that much & I find it quite good.

However I was told on another site that RealPlayer at one time was almost impossible to uninstall (a bit like Norton). Is this still true? I have no plans to uninstall it at present but I am starting to regret downloading it now.

I wish I had known about this site in April!

suzi · Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject:

Real has instructions for uninstalling RealPlayer.

http://service.real.com/realplayer/support.html?section=uninstallRP

I haven't tried them, though, I refuse to install Real Player. There's also Total Uninstall, which has a free 30 day fully functional trial that reportedly will uninstall things that don't uninstall easily. I haven't used it myself.

http://www.martau.com/tu_buy_now.php

3gp files play just fine with QuickTime, the free version. You don't need RealPlayer for them. Info about 3gp here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GP
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Former Microsoft MVP 2005-2009, Consumer Security
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Crap Wear Worrier · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:00 am Post subject:

Daveski, if you've got the BBC version (as you're in the sunny UK), it's *reportedly* different from the standard version, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032500470.html

Or there's the RealAlternative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Alternative

Daveski17 · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:44 am Post subject: A Real Royal Pain ...

Thanks Suzi & crap wear worrier, I didn't get QuickTime until later, I wish I had known about ReaPlayer when I downloaded it. I was comparatively new to the net then. I think if I had had QuickTime I would never have downloaded RP. I am a bit ambivalent about uninstalling it as I have heard it can damage my system. I know about the BBC version, but that's quite recent.

Crap Wear Worrier · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:58 am Post subject:

You probably know this, Daveski, but Apple QuickTime, Adobe Flash Player, Java, *etc*, aren't invulnerable to malicious exploits so it's pretty important to keep them up-to-date. Secunia PSI is pretty useful for this: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

Daveski17 · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: More problems ...

Thanks, I will have a look at that. I uninstalled RealPlayer 11 & downloaded the BBC one in its place. It looks a bit different. I have some files (from Nasa TV) that I am having difficulty playing in the new BBC RP version (although the radio works fine). Could you give me a good link to Real Alternative? I am a bit wary of downloading from mirrors. Incidently RealPlayer 11 has left something on my computer but I am not sure what. I don't know if it was worth uninstalling the damn thing now!

Daveski17 · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:50 am Post subject: Alternatives?

I downloaded Real Alternative primarily to have a look at it & see if it would play any of my Nasa TV files which the BBC RPlayer doesn't want to do. They aren't that important to me anyway as I can play files I didn't record from RP in the first place on other things. As I was installing Real Alternative I was advised by a pop up to uninstall RealPlayer first. I didn't. Do you think this will have damaged my computer in any way?

roger_m · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: Alternatives?

Daveski17 · Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject: A Real Pain

OK cheers for that info. I have actually uninstalled Real Alternative. I have downloaded the BBC version of RealPlayer so I can listen to the radio, which I do quite a bit. I have noticed that Firefox (3.0.3) crashed a couple of times on exit, which it was doing with my old version of RealPlayer before I updated to RP 11. I was wondering if the BBC version is not up to date. I have disabled the RealPlayer in 'Tools/add-ons/plug ins' to see if that will remedy that. Although it doesn't do it very often (twice since I have installed the BBC RealPlayer).

I have now uninstalled RealPlayer completely. I am finding that Firefox crashes occasionally on exit & I can't seem to get some sites to let me play the radio there on Windows Media Player. Particularly RTE (Radio Ireland). Is there any way to remove any left over vestiges from my original RealPlayer installation?

Daveski17 · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:50 am Post subject: More realpain

I discovered a folder in 'common' files called 'Real'. It was created the day that I downloaded RealPlayer (5th April this year) & modified the day I decided to uninstall RealPlayer for good. I have sent them all to the recycle bin as I am convinced they were the files that the uninstaller claimed were still left on my C drive. I have noticed that Firefox 3 crashes on exit sometimes. This was happening with my original RealPlayer & I had to update to RealPlayer 11. If I have removed all of the plug ins & add ons (I can't see them in Firefox) why is this still happening? I have a feeling it doesn't actually have anything to do with the fact I don't have RealPlayer anymore. It doesn't happen a lot, but I am thinking I may have other plug ins that are not up to date. I may try & disable the Mozilla brake pad if I can.