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Unregistered(d)	Spyware	Lead	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/18/02 19:22:50) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None I do run Ad-Aware which pickes up on those nasty peeping toms. But, recently, one has been identified several times by Ad-Aware which really bothered me. I have done no downloads but this one apparently was on some old Broderbund data cds that I have. Can you believe it? The offender is identified as "DSS Agent software/Broderbund/software/dss". Is there no shame? It's enough to make one paranoid -- for those who want a free program to identify any spyware on your computer go to: www.lavasoft.de.
Unregistered(d)	Re: Spyware	#1	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/18/02 20:38:05) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Not only that, but it reloads a new Registry key and DSS agent every time you use the Broderbund CDs. There is apparently no way to get rid of it for good short of uninstalling the viewer or not using the CDs?
Unregistered(d)	Spyware	#2	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/19/02 06:48:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I can't wait to see Paul's response to this. It should make for a fine thread. As for the CDs, they make good coasters. Any worthy use beyond that is not really debatable.
Unregistered(d)	Spyware again..	#3	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/20/02 00:50:09) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It appears the spyare issue is somehwat old news, but that would probably have been more of an issue with people who use newer Broderbund software. I hadn't installed any until a need arose to view some of the census index CDs. (yes, the "tree" ones make nice coasters) There are several articles about it on the Web (having failed to take the medicine I was prescribing for and not checked): www.jsonline.com/bym/tech.../12550.asp And a removal tool is located here: support.broderbund.com/brodcastpatch.asp ...In any case, I doubt Paul will be too excited about this revelation, as it was noticed about 2 years ago. I don't know if the remover works or not, yet. Some say FTM ver. 9.0 (new one) has similar issues. Some say it doesn't. Let the buyer beware.
Unregistered(d)	Brodcast	#4	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/20/02 11:42:46) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	As always a good place to start when looking for information about Family Tree Maker and its products if our Online Help Center at www.genealogy.com/help/ In the Family Tree Maker knowledge base there is an article that you can find about this at: genealogy.custhelp.com/cg..._faqid=491 Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support www.genealogy.com/help/
Unregistered(d)	Brodcast	#5	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/20/02 12:11:05) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Do you think implanting spyware on a customer's system is the way to ingratiate yourselves? I installed 6.0 and immediately removed it because it printed a large orange border around everything. Since I got rid of it, how come that the DSS Agent keeps cropping up? How about a little honesty from a large company? Or is that an oxymoron?
Unregistered(d)	nuisance!	#6	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/20/02 17:43:23) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Welp, I downloaded and installed the alleged Brodcast remover, and all it told me was that the DSS agent was not installed on the computer (and therefore didn't remove anything). However, when I opened Family Archive Viewer ver. 7.0 and closed it immediately, Ad-Aware found that it had loaded another Registry key, etc. Re-ran the removal tool, with the same result "not installed on computer". Ad-aware does not remove it permanently, it seems, but has to be run every time one uses the FAV. Downloaded FAV ver. 8.0 to see if it would do the same thing as ver. 7.0, and Windows doesn't even recognize the file type (fav80, with no extension). WinZip doesn't recognize this as a compressed archive, either. Attempts to follow the directions to "Start > Run" from the originating website led to a "file not found"... so how about Paul or somebody putting up a viewer for download that isn't spyware, instead of telling people how to fix the one that is ?? Doigghhh...getting a headache here.
Unregistered(d)	To Hellion re: spyware	#7	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/21/02 22:28:54) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	To be classified as spyware, the software in question should be gathering some sort information about you, your computer system or computing habits and then sending it in somewhere to be used for some purpose or other. That was never the intent or purpose of Brodcast. It's only goal was to be able to dynamically update your "splash" screen which is the initial screen you see when you first start a program. Brodcast checked with some Broderbund computer to see if there was a replacement image for the splash screen. If there was it would have been downloaded and that image used for the splash screen. While the Brodcast technology was enabled in a couple of versions of Family Tree Maker, we never used it to replace any of our splash screens. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support Online Help Center - www.genealogy.com/help/index.html
Unregistered(d)	Brodcast remover	#8	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/21/02 22:32:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Virg, The removal tool that Broderbund created is one that I know nothing about other than that it is available and what its intended purpose is. Have you tried contacting Broderbund directly for help? They'd be the only ones who may be able to give you some advice. I don't know what version of Windows you are using but most have a utility like MSCONFIG that allow you to control the programs that typically start with Windows. You can find Brodcast (maybe it's called DSSAgent) and choose not to allow it to start. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support Online Help Center - www.genealogy.com/help/index.html
Unregistered(d)	d'oh?	#9	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/21/02 23:28:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Paul Let me see - Banner Blue is not Broderbund which is not technically the same as Family Tree Maker which is technically not the same as Genealogy.com? I guess when I saw FTM 9.0 being distributed from Genealogy.com I must have gotten the wrong idea and assumed they were the same. I can't imagine why a company would include a "behind the scenes" applet to possibly update a splash screen, but the fact (?) that it was supposed to do that makes it sound less like spyware, I guess, though I am not jumping up and down about the idea that such an applet could upload a new splash screen (or presumably anything) to my computer. The very idea that it has transactions with an outside server without notifying the user is suspicious, imho. Can you answer any of the following questions, or is this another company's problem? Is there a plan to make available for download a Family Archive Viewer that does not exhibit this behavior? Why is fav80 not an executable file, and is there any point to downloading it if a) it won't run and b) possibly contains the DSS agent? If certain CDs require a FAV version 7.0 or higher to view, what is anybody to use? (not that the 7.0 doesn't work, I just don't care for the surreptitious behavior) So if any of this has to do with genealogy.com, please consider making a fresh viewer download available. Perhaps offer new splash screens as a separate download, if people are getting bored with the old ones. If not, we just won't buy any more CDs from Bantreebundilyology.com because of the um...Curious-behavior-ware. Smiles all 'round
Unregistered(d)	Family Archive Viewer	#10	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/24/02 17:06:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't know what the status of an updated Family Archive Viewer is. It is something I hear about from time to time. From what I know about the Brodcast technology, the purpose of being able to send you new splash screens was to allow the company to alert you of new things (programs, special offers and the like). As I said, we never used Brodcast to do that. I don't know if any other product did either. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support www.genealogy.com/help/
Unregistered(d)	Family Archive Viewer	#11	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/29/02 11:03:08) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The so called "patch" offered by Broderbund does not work. I run FAV 3.0 (because I did not like the new versions) and everytime it is run, my computer is re-infected. When is someone going to do something about this?
Unregistered(d)	Broderbund	#12	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/29/02 14:53:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Since the patch is something Broderbund created, it is something you should talk to them about. Also depending on the version of Windows you have, you can simply tell it not to start dssagent.exe when Windows starts. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support www.genealogy.com/help/
Unregistered(d)	Tickers and wipes, guv..	#13	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/29/02 22:28:01) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The Artful Dodger strikes again... Notice the craftily worded answers that evade the issue - mainly, that the DSS agent is included with the FAV software. Nobody knows of any reason for it to be there; and yet, there it is. Nobody knows when a viewer without the said DSS agent will be posted for download. Nobody is very sure that any such viewer exists, although there have been rumors that it does... therefore, nobody knows of any reason to be concerned about the curious behavior of said software - as if this were all some kind of minor oversight, and not serious in the end. Please. If you're smart enough to write software, you should be smart enough to know what the heck you're putting in it. BTW, the DSS agent is not loaded with Windows, it loads from the Registry when you click on the icon for the Viewer. Delete the Registry key, and it writes another one next time. Seems to me that if I cared if I sold any more CDs or not, I would make a viewer available that suited people's tastes. The disadvantages have to outweigh any possible benefits the DSS agent could provide... unless the DSS agent does a little more than advertised...? You have to wonder about all those people saying that FTM = Spyware, don't you? Why not be a hero and do something about it?
Unregistered(d)	DSS Agent	#14	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/30/02 02:33:15) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	As a non-techy, I inquire: What is a DSS Agent? Is this a part of my normal Windows ME system or is this part of some junk I unknowingly loaded when using FTM? When I look in my computer, it IS running (along with Explorer, Systray and all the other stuff). Thx YW
Unregistered(d)	Virg	#15	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/30/02 11:59:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Dodging? It should be easy to recognize that the Family Archive Viewer is simply a slightly modified version of Family Tree Maker where we have restricted the amount of data that can be entered and printed. Otherwise, it's features are the same as the version of Family Tree Maker upon which it is based. As far as the dssagent goes. I don't know about you, but it starts automatically with Windows on my XP box at work. If I happen to need to use the Task Manager I kill the process since I know it's not going to do anything and is just taking up a bit of memory. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support www.genealogy.com/help/
Unregistered(d)	DSSAgent	#16	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/30/02 12:01:50) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	That's the executable file that Brodcast uses. I believe that the DSS stands for Dynamic Splash Screen which was the whole point of Brodcast. It was designed to run and check with a Broderbund machine whether any Broderbund-branded program you had installed that used the Brodcast technology had a new splash screen available. And if so it would download the new one. Sincerely, Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support www.genealogy.com/help/
Unregistered(d)	DSS Agent	#17	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/30/02 12:02:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This program was created by FTM and is implanted on their cds. I run Windows 98 and everytime one of FTM cds is used, this crops up again. Go to www.lavasoft.de and d/l a free spyware program and you will be amazed at how many people are watching you. Apparently, there is no way to get rid of this thing -- you just have to run AdAware (from lavasoft) each time to clean your computer.
Unregistered(d)	Re: Virg	#18	[-]
Posts: 0 (05/31/02 02:26:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Dodging. As surmised, it loads from the Registry. If you don't delete the key, it loads with Windows (umm). If you do delete the key, it writes another one on next use. Amazed to hear you click it off as a solution. Though it bothers even you, there appears to be no ambition to post a new download without the useless, memory-sucking, extra-click creating junk. Doubt we'll ever get a straight answer, though you tacitly admit it was designed to upload to the user. If anything should be obvious, it's that - and it says a couple of things about FTM in the process. Denial is a way of life, and your genealogy software is doing something underhanded. You certainly spend enough time explaining it all away, but it won't go away, and that's what the complaints are about. Now we need a firewall to defeat something that shouldn't be there at all. Spare no expense, as long it's the user's. Bah, humbug! A humbug, I say. You win this time, but no more CDs from bantreebundilyology.com until it gets fixed!
Unregistered(d)	DSS Agent	#19	[-]
Posts: 0 (06/05/02 18:23:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	There is a free update to AdAware and in reading about the program (which I have run for almost a year and am very happy), they state: "Parasites\Scumware systems detected by Ad-aware: All versions of Adware, Alexa, Aureate, Comet Cursor, Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, eZula, Expedioware, Flyswat, OfferCompanion, Hotbar, OnFlow, TimeSink, Web3000, Webhancer, Transponder, Wnad, ZapSpot, SurfPlus, AdvertBar, NetPal, CashBar, WurldMediaBHO, MessageMates, EWA, Ezsearchbar, CommonName, GoHip, DownloadWare, NetworkEssentials, ImiServerIEPlugin, TopMoxie, Lop.Com, BDE Projector, UCmore, OpenMe, JaypeeSysBHo, FlashTrack, NetRadar, NetZany, many BrowserHijackers and more... (updated frequently)" Somehow, the "splash screen" theory does not hold up -- Brodcast/Broderbund wished to track you. AdAware is located at www.lavasoft.com and is free.
CrystalJ	Spider Bite Gets Hidden Files Gone!	#20	[-]
Posts: 10 (07/13/02 15:58:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	www.fsm.nl/ward/ I have used Spider Bite for a couple years and it does get rid of hidden files very well. Best of all? It is a free program. I use Windows 98 and it works well for hidden cache files, index, cookies, etc. Crystal

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