Page 197 of my manual recommended a program called mediainfo. If you go to the site listed and install the software it installs an AVG toolbar without permission. This toolbar changes the search and home page settings of your browsers, including Chrome also without permission. Even after uninstalling it you have to manually hunt down all the changes to undo them. There are worse toolbars in the world but this one causes plenty of make work.
Many people on this board have been using and recommending MediaInfo. Whenever anyone has a problem playing a file, one of the first things that a member here will do is to ask the person to post the output of the MediaInfo program.
When I installed it on my new computer a couple of months ago, the installation software always asked first before installing any additional software. I think that you may have missed that when you installed it. I downloaded it directly from the sourceforge site, is that where you got your copy? If it was from the sourceforge site, they promise not to install anything without your permission.
MEDIAINFO installer is now bundled with a onetime ad. They even tell you about it here… http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en/Bundled
Well you’re kind of right. It defaults to “Standard” which installs the adware. You have to select “Custom” and uncheck the the AVG boxes to prevent it from installing the “bundle” (as they call it in the license). I usually catch these but I must have missed this one.
BTW. Anything that redoes all my major browser settings is not a “onetime ad”.
johnelle wrote:
BTW. Anything that redoes all my major browser settings is not a “onetime ad”.
The mediainfo installed didn’t change anything. AVG did.
The Mediainfo installer offered AVG, which you accepted.
And not everyone is going to see AVG. It’ll be somewhat random as to which product or service the installer will link.
Yes its AVG that did the damage (and its always AVG every time I download/ run) but AVG would never be have been something I chose to install and suspect most folks have the same reaction. It requires multiple deselects (with the options intially grayed out) to avoid it and I happened to miss it the first time.
Mediainfo receives compensation for trying to trick users into installing adware that they don’t want. That is sleazy not to mention not in the spirit of open source. Just because Java and others do it doesn’t make it right.
Perhaps from now on we should put up a warning when we say to use mediainfo, even though it does say very plainly that the standard installation will install these items and you can see on the same screen that a custom installation will allow you to untick the installation boxes.
