Invasive Software – It isn’t Just Malware

One of the hallmarks of malware is that it blocks your ability to uninstall it through normal methods. It often blocks your ability to remove it through other ways also. It seems that major software and hardware vendors are now using invasive methods to stop you from removing THEIR software. We had experiences with two programs recently that made what should have been a simple flip of a switch, turn into a fairly involved nightmarish experience.

I love Dell computers. I regularly order them online – I build my own. This lets me choose what I want, and what I do not want. I like Dells because they build business laptops. They are built to be TOOLS, not TOYS, and their understanding of what is needed for a business laptop is evident in where they put the performance. We recently purchased one off the shelf from a local store. We needed one more quickly than we could get from Dell directly. I don’t think I’ll do that ever again. It came with options installed that I would have de-selected had we bought it online.

First, it had Dell Datasafe installed. This program is supposed to backup your computer regularly. Dell also sells a subscription for online backups. Fine… if I had wanted it. I didn’t. And the way it worked made it so annoying that we simply could NOT leave it on the computer and expect to get anything productive done!

Every minute or so, a screen would pop up, then disappear. The flash of that screen was annoying, and interrupted work.

So I tried to uninstall it. It would not uninstall, it stalled out every time.

I clicked the icon in the toolbar – it offered the choice of opening the program. This produced nothing more than  a repeat of the flashed screen. No option to turn it off. Mistake number one – NEVER pre-install a program like that which you cannot turn off!

Next, I opened the Task Manager and force quit the program. It promptly reloaded itself and continued it’s obnoxious behavior.

Then, I went into msconfig, to attempt to start the computer with only the things loaded that I chose. I restarted – Datasafe had OVERRIDDEN my choices, and loaded itself anyway!

I was finally able to boot in safe mode and remove the offending program. I had also searched online, and found that many people had been required to jump through more hoops than that to remove the thing.

This is UNACCEPTABLE for a software or hardware vendor!  It is not ok for them to install ANYTHING that requires more than flipping a switch to turn it off, or going through standard software removal procedures.

Our next experience was with Norton – the trial Security Suite that came with the laptop. We tried to uninstall it, and it stalled out – more than one time, so we knew it wasn’t an exception. Again, we were forced to boot in safe mode just to uninstall the program.

I am not sure if this is a growing trend, or not. I have noticed increasing numbers of “piggyback” programs – where more than one thing is installed at a time, without your permission. This has been my first experience with trusted vendors creating programs that were impossible to remove using accepted methods of removing them. It was not a pleasant experience, it cost me about an hour of time that it should not have taken.

I want to own my own computer. I don’t want a software vendor to decide that THEIR way of doing things is so important that I will want them to protect me from myself. I’d rather be treated like a thinking human being. If I want to turn something off, I should be able to do so. Warn me if you must, so you are sure I understand what I’m doing, but don’t prevent me from doing it just because you like your way of doing it!

UPDATE NOTE: I’m wondering whether I was able to uninstall Datasafe through Safe Mode (when other people have not been able to), because we were running from the hidden Administrator account? The first thing we do when we get a new computer, is to activate the hidden Administrator account, and run the computer from it – this has eliminated countless problems and hassles. That is how I uninstalled Dell Datasafe, by running in Safe Mode in that account.