How To Crap Up Your Computer

my-searchdial-permission

Ever get a toolbar, pop-up ads, or search engine change on your computer and wonder how that happened? It’s easier than you think if you click too quickly!

I’m typing on my recently reloaded laptop, Resetting a computer to its day one state solves a variety of problems. This machine is breezing along.

Unfortunately, reformatting removed the good with the bad. One-by-one I’m reinstalling needed software. I just installed Filezilla.

Filezilla is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. It’s used to move files to my web servers. It’s 100% free, licensed under the GPL. However, if you’re not careful, what Filezilla brings makes changes to your computer!

Filezilla comes with a few add-on programs. They’re not part of what I’m trying to download. They’re attached to make some money for the developers and to pay for bandwidth to get the files to me.

You don’t have to install these ancillary programs. In fact, if you think about it, you probably don’t want to install them.

Most people just click through. Too late. Here’s what they’ve agreed to.

“Set MySearchDial as my home page, default search, and as my default new tab.”

The Google entry for “remove MySearchDial from my computer” is long. It’s a question that’s been asked a lot. The MySearch Dial removal process isn’t simple.

Reading the comments from the afflicted is sad. They sound like victims of a drive-by crime.

Of the friends and family tech support calls I get, removing programs like this is the most common request.

Most people think they were hacked. Nope. You gave them permission!

9 thoughts on “How To Crap Up Your Computer”

  1. That’s precisely what happened to me only weeks ago. MySearchDial is one of the worst culprits for bringing pop ups and unwanted advertising. And believe me, that wasn’t the only junk file I allowed in. When downloading programs these days, read everything and uncheck those boxes they so helpfully check for you.

    1. I was wondering also if a “system restore” would get rid of the problem. Although I’ve seen some of this junk delete the restore points.

      1. A system restore should work, but some of these programs don’t follow the procedure that would allow them to be rolled back. I have had mixed results personally.

  2. I pride myself on carefully choosing and installing software, but in the past year I’ve installed browser hijackers like the one you installed at least twice. It’s getting to the point where I’m tempted to intall just the bare number of necessary programs on machine proper, and install everything else in a VM, to make the inevitable cleanup easier.

    1. Norton will not protect you from yourself. In the case Geoff is speaking of, permission to install was granted by the user.

  3. I’ve gotten in the habit of going to uninstall in Control Panel as soon as I install any new software. I click on the date column, resort it, and check to see what has been installed. If I didn’t want it installed, I delete it. I do this before I restart. It may not get everything, but you’d be surprised what it catches.
    John

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