AOL software gets 'badware' label
StopBadware.org, a consumer protection initiative backed by Google, Sun Microsystems and others, on Monday slapped a "badware" label on AOL 9.0, AOL's free client-software.
Some reasons the report cites for the decision are AOL's inclusion of bundled software applications and nondisclosure of additional installed components.
StopBadware.org is run by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute. It is one of several efforts to battle spyware.
"Clearly, AOL does not belong in the same category as the malicious badware providers we have previously identified, but the free version of AOL 9.0 that we tested, in our view, does not live up to the company's rich legacy," John Palfrey, co-director of StopBadware.org, said in a statement.
StopBadware.org has several recommendations for AOL, most of which deal with disclosing certain behavior.
"No company has done more to fight malware than AOL," company spokesman Andrew Weinstein said. "We're reviewing the suggestions made in the report, and we are taking steps to address them, as they mostly involve minor UI issues. "
I've uaed AOL for more than 20 year sand I can confirm that AOL 9.0 is a messed up version of AOL. Since I upgraded from version 7.0, I've had my Windows XP system in the shop twice to clean out the registry. Several contnuous running programs were secretly installed with the 9.0 upgrade. One that came with the installation was RealPlayer, which itself is a spyware program that continuously runs and stores cookies from the programs inatalled. The RealPlayer home center , wherever it is, continuously pings the computers that has the program installed and collects data-- for what purpose is not known, but my firewall detected the attempted intrusion and I blocked it.
Getting rid of RealPlayer is a problem itself, I un-installed it only to discover its spyware still running . I had to search the system for any file with "real" in the file name. Found several and deleted them. You have to to that the hard way. Then I had to do the same with control panel "Uninstall Programs", That didn't work, so I had to find them by name in C Drive and delete them. Then I used msconfig to look at starting programs, found another or two. My system might still be infected with insideous unknown functions of RealPlayer.. I dont know what the other anillary AOL programs are causing, but the spyware detector pops up coninuously saying that it is installing up-gades. I suspect it is for show, because they would need 50 programmers working 24/7 to design that many daily upgrades, so I suspect the spyware program just run, slows the computer, and does nothing useful. But, I'm just a user, not a programmer or technician.
Partial solution:
I discovered a 'Registry ' cleaner that searches, finds, and deletes registry errors. It is made by Uniblue . The program also de-frags the registry. After running AOL 9.0 every day for a week the Uniblue program will find up to 150 registry errors. Then a registry defrag will keep me operating for another week.
Right now I'm looking for a replacement for AOL, one that has a user friendly browser, word processor with spell checking and built in email send and receive functions. AOL has been the best for years, but is now in the self destruct mode. Bill Jones bjbill1317@aol.com