Blomstermann 0 Posted October 6, 2002 Found this on the forums of http://www.opflashpoint.org/ : *************************** Hello all, My internet connection has been very sluggish! My friends and I all get together nightly and play Operation Flashpoint, and although I have a cable connection along with their cable and dsl modems... We would ping sometimes in excess of 300-400+.... Well I thought to myself.... Maybe its time to take out the trash... So I reformated my computer.... I reinstalled OFP w/Gold Upgrade.. Did a windows checkup (I always run checkup after I reformat and install drivers and software incase a program tries to put the "old" file back on to my system.) Well, after I rebooted my machine I noticed a quick box that poped up like an install and then went away.... ?? What was that!!! All I could see was WH something...... So.. I loaded up my browser, went to yahoo and typed 'WH Install'.... Sure enough.. Many web sites came back talking about a "Spyware" program called "Webhancer" and after a quick check of my system .... YEP there it is.... Here is what I found out: Webhancer is bundled with the Gamespy Installation on the OFP CD. (I do not know if newer versions of Gamespy install WH.) There is NO NO NO option to disable the install no matter what people may tell you.... Maybe some versions have that option but mine sure as heck doesn't... Technical information below posted from: http://www.safersite.com/PestInfo/W/Webhancer_Adware.asp Summary: WebHancer provides a traffic measurement service that uses a client agent that is installed on user machines, gathering detailed data about sites visited, their performance and, most important, what the user actually does while there. WebHancer is reportedly on ten million user desktops in 192 countries, placed there by partners such as companies that provide free software on the Web. Download an MP3 player, and you may be offered a chance to play in the measurement game by also loading the WebHancer agent. This model is opt-in, with an explicit license agreement. WebHancer claims that its agent doesn't gather any personal information about end users. Installation is transparent, but incorrect removal procedures will destroy your Internet connection. ------- AHHHH Yes!! Deleting this thing improperly will DISABLE / DESTROY your internet connection!! Do NOT NOT NOT think that ADD/Remove Programs will do the trick.... I downloaded Ad-Aware... (www.Ad-Aware.com) It seemed to do the trick but I had to scan about 5 times and reboot a couple of times to get everything off my system... but guess what??? Now I cant close my MSN Messanger.... Now when I try to shut messanger down it tells me "other applications" are using messanger and I need to close them before I can close ... So guess what I will be doing tonight?? Reformating my Drive.... /sigh oh well you live and you learn... Just thought I would inform you guys.... because I don't know about you but I don't want people "gathering" information about me wheter its private or not... Take Care, Anjari ****************** So if you installed Gamespy using your OFP CD, download Ad-aware to remove this fraud-ware. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iNeo 0 Posted October 6, 2002 Even if you never have installed Gamespy, get Ad-Aware anyway, you probably have more spywares/adwares than you think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tex -USMC- 0 Posted October 6, 2002 Absolutely. Don't bother whining about it to the suppliers and distributors of the spyware (*cough*Gamespy*cough*), because when you agree to that user license, you are agreeing to allow them to put that spyware on your computer. So, don't get too bent out of shape because people are money grubbing bastards- instead, just run Ad-Aware a few times a week, and you ought to be fine. You will be amazed at the stuff that gets into your computer and clogs up your bandwidth. Ad-Aware can be found here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chronicles 0 Posted October 6, 2002 I confirm about Ad-Aware : it is a very very usefull program , iNeo is right : there a a lot of spyware in a lot of programs , some games  (the first DF:BHD demo by example have a big spyware : EZ-Pad ) and some non-videogames programs (sharewares like regedit/gozilla, gamespy etc) are infested with this spy programs. I played a lot OFP online , but i had to stop near that 3 months ago (dont have the time now, real life taking too much time ) , and for my online games i used All Seeing Eye , this alternative to Gamespy had no spyware in it (it was true 3 months ago, and i suppose it is always true, try it) . But i dont know if ASE support Resistance version now For people who dont know what is Ad-Aware (actual version 5.83) or where to find it , get it from their developers website : http://www.lavasoftusa.com A good mirror for the download http://www.majorgeeks.com/getfile....ile=yes And , get the most recent references files (similar to the most recent virus definitions for an antivirus program, but these are for known spywares) A good mirror for the reffiles download http://www.majorgeeks.com/getfile....ile=yes To use the new ref files (these are from 24-09-2002 ) , just unzip it into your Ad-aware , and say YES for the file it will replace (the older ref file) and restart the program. Now scan your registry/memory and drive, you will be surprised to find one or two spywares *Edit* by the time i spend finding the good url for the download mirror, i didnt see that Tex [uSMC] already mentionned http://www.lavasoftusa.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Frag 0 Posted October 6, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Blomstermann @ Oct. 06 2002,09:53)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><Snip> I downloaded Ad-Aware... (www.Ad-Aware.com) It seemed to do the trick but I had to scan about 5 times and reboot a couple of times to get everything off my system... but guess what??? Now I cant close my MSN Messanger.... Now when I try to shut messanger down it tells me "other applications" are using messanger and I need to close them before I can close ... So guess what I will be doing tonight?? Reformating my Drive.... /sigh oh well you live and you learn... </Snip><span id='postcolor'> That other application is Internet Explorer. Once you sign out using MSN Messenger and close Internet Explorer, it will shut down without that message. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kermit 0 Posted October 7, 2002 You are correct. The All-Seeing Eye does not support Resistance. Codemasters (or whoever is responsible for the screw up this time) strikes again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tex -USMC- 0 Posted October 7, 2002 Resistance DOES support ASE now. Didnt before, does now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SKULLS_Viper 0 Posted October 7, 2002 I dont have Gamespy on my computer, or laptop.I perfer All seeing eye.Or in game browser. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
