4 ms·

What is the software that gets installed and what does it do? Do they actually show ads?

by acchow 5y ago

jamesy0ung 5y ago
All of that junk like Norton/MCafee/Cyberlink/Shortcuts to websites. The Norton/MCafee crap gives you a 1 year 'complimentary' subscription. Many uneducated users will then go and resubscribe to that garbage AV.
WhyCause 5y ago
Not generally, no. Most of the time, it's software that goads you into a subscription after your 30-day trial, like anti-virus packages or HP's ink subscription.
- yellowapple 5y ago
  Or, for that matter, Microsoft Office.
dpark 5y ago
I think it’s mostly junk like mcafee antivirus. Not strictly an ad but it’ll eventually nag you for money at some point.
dmajor2 5y ago
Norton 360, which if memory serves has been a stalwart of the preinstall game now installs an opt-in Cryptominer. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/norton-360-now-comes-with-a-cryptominer/comment-page-1/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/norton-360-now-comes-wit...
- pavlov 5y ago
  Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software.
  - znpy 5y ago
    > Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software. you might want to correct "crypto" with "cryptocurrency", at least
    - pavlov 5y ago
      Realistically that ship has sailed. It's like "GNU/Linux".
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    > truly a cancer on software. Possibly crypto, definitely a lot of AV software.
  - panarky 5y ago
    Further evidence that free antivirus tools are malware.
  - mrb 5y ago
    If Norton 360 installed Folding@home, would you call F@H a "cancer"? No, you wouldn't. The true cancer here is pre-installed antivirus software such as Norton.
    - Hamuko 5y ago
      In this scenario, would Norton be taking a 15% cut?
      - mrb 5y ago
        Yes, what if they did? In fact what if they resold 100% of the F@H compute power to buyers? That argument doesn't lead where you want it to go. It's the antivirus companies that are rubbish.
        drekk 5y ago
        Then it wouldn't be F@H, you'd be part of Norton's botnet. It's not just the AV companies, uTorrent had a controversy around the same thing. All about making a quick buck and crypto is enabling it by getting people to buy in to what is essentially a botnet
MattGaiser 5y ago
Everything from antivirus to cloud backups to photo editors. Basically just trial editions of various software.
Hamuko 5y ago
Lenovo actually used to ship adware/malware that actually broke TLS in order to inject ads onto webpages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_inci...
- PostThisTooFast 5y ago
- acchow 5y ago
  Ouch. For a "just works out of the box" experience, this is why I never went back to Windows after switching to Mac. I did actually wipe a Windows pre-install once to install Ubuntu, but that took forever to setup and fix drivers regularly.
rhizome 5y ago
A quick search for a default Dell/Windows desktop shows Spotify, Netflix, PicsArt, and there's a couplefew more in the tray, not to mention the start menu, which certainly has more who probably got a bit of a discount on their placement fees. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC00361.jpeg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC00... https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22894952/twarren__windows11_sharper.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22894952/t...
avianlyric 5y ago
The pre-installed software is the ad. The software manufacturer hopes that consumers will buy their subscription or full priced software. After all, people believe they need antivirus software to stay safe (the fact antivirus software can be worse than the virus doesn’t change people beliefs) so why not buy the one that’s already installed on their PC? Or another way of looking at it, Google pays Apple billions each year to make Google the default search engine on iOS, because Google recognises the power of defaults i.e. people are lazy and will use/buy whatever’s in front of them to avoid doing any work looking for alternatives.
- danudey 5y ago
  I once set up a new Dell system, and it took something like 30 minutes to actually start and get to the desktop, and then a huge amount of time afterwards answering "yes I for really really real don't want your stupid demo" to a dozen pop-ups, and then another hour of uninstalling all the crap it had. I cannot imagine anyone non-technical having to go through that and deal with BS like daily pop-ups "reminding" you to renew your subscription because "your PC is not protected" and so on. It's honestly asinine, but hey, just buy a Mac or a Linux Dell I guess.
  - Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
    When I bought a laptop in 2012, the first thing I did was wipe the drive and install Windows from scratch. If I were to do that today, I'd do the same thing.

What is the software that gets installed and what does it do? Do they actually show ads?

by acchow 5y ago

What is the software that gets installed and what does it do? Do they actually show ads?

All of that junk like Norton/MCafee/Cyberlink/Shortcuts to websites. The Norton/MCafee crap gives you a 1 year 'complimentary' subscription. Many uneducated users will then go and resubscribe to that garbage AV.

WhyCause 5y ago

Not generally, no. Most of the time, it's software that goads you into a subscription after your 30-day trial, like anti-virus packages or HP's ink subscription.

yellowapple 5y ago
Or, for that matter, Microsoft Office.

dpark 5y ago

I think it’s mostly junk like mcafee antivirus. Not strictly an ad but it’ll eventually nag you for money at some point.

dmajor2 5y ago

Norton 360, which if memory serves has been a stalwart of the preinstall game now installs an opt-in Cryptominer. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/norton-360-now-comes-with-a-cryptominer/comment-page-1/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/norton-360-now-comes-wit...

pavlov 5y ago
Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software.
- znpy 5y ago
  > Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software. you might want to correct "crypto" with "cryptocurrency", at least
  - pavlov 5y ago
    Realistically that ship has sailed. It's like "GNU/Linux".
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  > truly a cancer on software. Possibly crypto, definitely a lot of AV software.
- panarky 5y ago
  Further evidence that free antivirus tools are malware.
- mrb 5y ago
  If Norton 360 installed Folding@home, would you call F@H a "cancer"? No, you wouldn't. The true cancer here is pre-installed antivirus software such as Norton.
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    In this scenario, would Norton be taking a 15% cut?
    - mrb 5y ago
      Yes, what if they did? In fact what if they resold 100% of the F@H compute power to buyers? That argument doesn't lead where you want it to go. It's the antivirus companies that are rubbish.
      - drekk 5y ago
        Then it wouldn't be F@H, you'd be part of Norton's botnet. It's not just the AV companies, uTorrent had a controversy around the same thing. All about making a quick buck and crypto is enabling it by getting people to buy in to what is essentially a botnet

MattGaiser 5y ago

Everything from antivirus to cloud backups to photo editors. Basically just trial editions of various software.

Hamuko 5y ago

Lenovo actually used to ship adware/malware that actually broke TLS in order to inject ads onto webpages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_inci...

PostThisTooFast 5y ago
acchow 5y ago
Ouch. For a "just works out of the box" experience, this is why I never went back to Windows after switching to Mac. I did actually wipe a Windows pre-install once to install Ubuntu, but that took forever to setup and fix drivers regularly.

rhizome 5y ago

A quick search for a default Dell/Windows desktop shows Spotify, Netflix, PicsArt, and there's a couplefew more in the tray, not to mention the start menu, which certainly has more who probably got a bit of a discount on their placement fees. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC00361.jpeg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC00... https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22894952/twarren__windows11_sharper.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22894952/t...

avianlyric 5y ago

The pre-installed software is the ad. The software manufacturer hopes that consumers will buy their subscription or full priced software. After all, people believe they need antivirus software to stay safe (the fact antivirus software can be worse than the virus doesn’t change people beliefs) so why not buy the one that’s already installed on their PC? Or another way of looking at it, Google pays Apple billions each year to make Google the default search engine on iOS, because Google recognises the power of defaults i.e. people are lazy and will use/buy whatever’s in front of them to avoid doing any work looking for alternatives.

danudey 5y ago
I once set up a new Dell system, and it took something like 30 minutes to actually start and get to the desktop, and then a huge amount of time afterwards answering "yes I for really really real don't want your stupid demo" to a dozen pop-ups, and then another hour of uninstalling all the crap it had. I cannot imagine anyone non-technical having to go through that and deal with BS like daily pop-ups "reminding" you to renew your subscription because "your PC is not protected" and so on. It's honestly asinine, but hey, just buy a Mac or a Linux Dell I guess.
- Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
  When I bought a laptop in 2012, the first thing I did was wipe the drive and install Windows from scratch. If I were to do that today, I'd do the same thing.