Cnet Download.com Installer __LINK_

I have to admit that I'm not downloading many files from Cnet's download.com software portal. I usually prefer direct downloads from developer sites. Sometimes however developers link to the downloads on download.com instead of offering the downloads on their sites. This can make sense from a business perspective, but removes some of the controls they have over the user experience.

I first thought that the developers of CureIt had provided the installer, turned out I was wrong. Cnet, at least for this download and probably for all downloads on the site, is not offering direct links to those setup files anymore. Instead, a web downloader, called CNET Download.com installer, is provided.

Cnet Download.com Installer

Download Zip 🔥 https://urluso.com/2y3Kom 🔥

This in itself is problematic as it means that users need to run the download.com installer first to download the setup file of the software that they initially wanted to download. That's additional work for the user.

The real problem here however is that the web installer is pushing the Babylon toolbar. Users who do not pay attention to the download process will install the Babylon Toolbar, make Babylon their default search engine and homepage of their browsers.

Cnet is without doubt generating lots of revenue from the web installer, considering that the toolbar installation options are enabled by default, and that most users click Next Next Next when it comes to installation processes.

The CNET Download.com Installer is clearly adware. It might make sense to use a different download portal in the future, especially if you do not want to download the 400 Kilobyte web installer every time you download a file from the download site. Good alternatives are Softpedia and Major Geeks.

I normally skip CNET altogether due to the cnet launcher, but even before this became known for CNET practice, I learned years ago to check the specs page and to compare the file size against those of downloads from other websites. Have your file manager display full details and compare the sizes of downloads of the same application from different websites. Eliminate all those that have a size different from the author website, if the website offers a direct download link. Etc.

I just wasted 30 minutes removing a firewall app they installed. I was very careful about not accepting their toolbar when I ran the installer, but they installed it and a bunch of other crap anyway. Cnet used to be a reputable site. Not I see it as just another sleazy place to avoid.

I had a problem with a download of KMPlayer from softpedia, and it took me some hours to completely determine what the problem was. It was first downloaded from softpedia, but the installation installed some adware that I finally found out is from some other South Korean company and does not conform with what is said at the kmplayer.com forums about what adware is officially authorized by the company. KMPlayer authorizes the optional Yahoo! toolbar, or some other silly toolbar, but makes it optional for installation, or not installing it. Anyway, after the hours of problems determining what the source of the problem was with the download from softpedia, I decided to head over to the kmplayer forums to do the download from there, and also downloaded from cnet. The latter two were identical and 2MB or more smaller than the DL from softpedia.

I just downloaded Auslogics Disk Defrag from Cnet, and the Cnet download installer also installed without warning Photojoy and Photojoy Toolbar which also tried to change my search provider to Photojoy. BOYCOTT Cnet!!!

I will not be using CNET anymore to download my software. THis CNET installer they are using makes most of their software unusable and I AM BOYCOTTING IT UNTIL THEY CHANGE IT. YOU NOT GETTING MY CLICKS ANYMORE CNET!!!!

After contacting the Download.com team about the installer, they have removed the web installer for our software Autorun Eater. Now when you click on the download button, the actual software installer is downloaded, not the web installer. As mentioned by Seth, you can email your requests to cnet-installer@cbsinteractive.com. It will take about 2-3 days to reply. Hope this helps. :)

You are all more than welcome to continue sending your complaints and concerns to me, and I can forward them on. I can be reached at seth.rosenblatt@cnet.com. You can also send them to cnet-installer@cbsinteractive.com.

While the web installer provided by cnet download was downloading the main installer of Microsoft 2007 trial version, the net had a problem and the download was canceled. The problem is, the downloaded part of the installer was not deleted and is still consuming space on my hard disk.

An update on my rant about cnet posted August 20 @ 1:30 am. I sent my supplier this web site talking about cnet and obviously it was researched and I received a reply. I was told that they have removed all cnet download links. They were not aware cnet had started bundling their download manager. They did it without informing my film library supplier. They advised they will not use cnet anymore unless cnet stops bundling the tool bar. At least I can no download updates directly with ease of mind.

They have probably made a calculation and came to the conclusion that even though they might lose some traffic in the long run due to disgruntled users, they will be making a nice buck from the rest. And since Google and Bing loves the site (I noticed that download.com is often the first place on Bing right before the developer site), they have no shortage of traffic coming their way.

Thank you for this article. I have a fairly extensive film library which has updates that are downloaded. In the past all these updates were done from the supplier, except this last one that went through cnet. It was in a nano that this Babylon program was downloaded and installed. Of course the first thing I thought was a malware program was in my computer. I asked the supplier of the updates about Babylon and was told they had never heard of it, although I was told that they are using cnet. After some research and reading this article I feel confident that I do not have malware and can use the computer using a creddit card.

Yes, their download manager is TERRIBLE at actually installing the desired software. It is good at slapping the toolbar of the month on your PC, but from there it drops a ZIP file of the app you wanted and opens an explorer window to that folder. Then you have to open the dropped ZIP file and run the installer. Needless to say, confusing for newbies, and why I saw one commenter who said it appeared the install just stopped. God only knows how much business I lost from this.

CNET Download (originally Download.com) is an Internet download directory website launched in 1996 as a part of CNET. Initially it resided on the domain download.com, and then download.com.com for a while, and is now download.cnet.com. The domain download.com attracted at least 113 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.[2]

Up until 2015 CNet used Spigot Inc to monetize the traffic to download.com. According to Sean Murphy, then a General Manager at CNet , "Spigot continues to be a great partner to Download.com, sharing our desire to balance customer experience with revenue."[3]

In August 2011, Download.com introduced an installation manager called CNET TechTracker for delivering many of the software titles from its catalog.[4] This installer included trojans and bloatware, such as toolbars.[5][6][7] CNET admitted in their download FAQ that "a small number of security publishers have flagged the Installer as adware or a potentially unwanted application".[8]

In 2014, The Register and US-CERT warned that via download.com's "foistware", an "attacker may be able to download and execute arbitrary code".[11] In 2015, research by Emsisoft suggested that all free download portals bundled their downloads with potentially unwanted software, and that Download.com was the worst offender.[12]

A study done by How-To Geek in 2015 revealed that Download.com was packaging malware inside their installers. The test was done in a virtual machine where the testers downloaded the Top 10 apps. These all contained crapware/malware; one example was the KMPlayer installer, which installed a rogue antivirus named 'Pro PC Cleaner' and attempted to execute WajamPage.exe. Some downloads, specifically YTD, were completely blocked by Avast.[13]

Another study done by How-To Geek in 2015 revealed that Download.com was installing fake SSL certificates inside their installers, similar to the Lenovo Superfish certificate. These fake certificates can completely compromise SSL encryption and allow man-in-the-middle attacks.[14]

But annoying thing is CNET installer shows software recommendations and special offers for CNET users while file is downloading with their downloader. Direct link for file download is only provided for registered CNET users to prevent abuse on the service they provide as noted by CNET in their blog post.

However their installer shows only single third-party software offer during the file download, which you can decline or accept and then continue to file download. So only registered users in Download.com can able to login and download files directly onto their Computers without the need of their installer.

While the the adware installer includes a way for the user to opt-out, the toolbar is set to be installed by default. Additionally, the installation is presented in such a way that it could confuse users who think they are installing the app they attempted to download. After the adware has been installed and browser settings changed, the installer retrieves the original software that the user intended to download, and presents it to the user.

I have been using cnet since 2008 as it was the most trusted download website until I found some craps, like nations toolbar. I have stopped downloading from that. And cnet claimed the downloader is safe. bullshit.

cnet needs to be shut down, speedbit is malware and crashing op.sytems they are responsible for the damage and cost of reinstaling windows and any other expencesses. i see complaints on other sites going back to 2012 and still cnet is distributing this crap, 2351a5e196