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Comments: 186 +- Your Rights Online: Lenovo Software Update Stealthily Installs Adware on Thursday June 25, @01:34PM
Posted
by
timothy
on Thursday June 25, @01:34PM
from the if-goodwill-means-absolutely-nothing-to-you dept.
from the if-goodwill-means-absolutely-nothing-to-you dept.
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hardware
An anonymous reader writes "A recent Lenovo automatic software update has the great feature of displaying annoying pop-up ads for Lenovo products. What's worse, it appears that many users are unable to turn the advertisement 'feature' off, subjecting them to pop-ups every couple of hours. Gee guys, a note about your 20% off sale in my e-mail wouldn't have bothered me that much, but you really had to pop up over top of my PowerPoint slides? I'm sure that all of my office colleagues will be running to order ThinkPads ..."
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Submission: Lenovo Software Update Stealthily Installs Adware by Anonymous Coward
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Wait... (Score:5, Funny)
It hid some guy's PowerPoint presentation? I'd consider that a feature not a bug.
Re:Wait... (Score:5, Insightful)
Somehow I think someone in management is busy whacking the undo button as furiously as possible as the media exposure rises.
Parent
Re:Wait... (Score:5, Interesting)
This does not take a serious whack at Lenovo's credibility, this completely destroys it. I was willing to overlook crappy drivers and twenty hotfixes to make their garbage laptops work. But this is the straw that broke the camel's back. If I need a new laptop for my users, I will be getting Toshiba. I will be looking for a new desktop manufacturer as well.
Parent
Re:Wait... (Score:5, Interesting)
Since you are looking for business desktops, take a look at the dc7900 and later from HP - they are pretty nice machines (we've been using HP for our desktops).
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Never a truer word spoken: in our case, it's Lenovo...!
Re:Wait... (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
That's gotta be a marketing suicide!
Hmmm. (Score:5, Funny)
No kidding! (Score:5, Interesting)
I ran into this problem the other day. It ask you if you do not want to show the ads anymore, but it doesn't accept your answer and shows them over and over. I finally figured out what app was causing it and disabled it in msconfig. I can't remember what it was right now, but when I get home I will reply to this with the name of the app to disable.
btw, I got the adware when I installed the Thinkpad Wireless software.
Re: (Score:2)
Please do elaborate on your remedy.
I, too, have seen the pop-up, and checked "don't show again", and haven't seen it since, but I should go and disable the offender properly.
Thanks.
Re:No kidding! (Score:5, Informative)
If you uninstall "message center plus" it fixes it.
Parent
Re:No kidding! (Score:5, Informative)
I finally figured out what app was causing it and disabled it in msconfig. I can't remember what it was right now, but when I get home I will reply to this with the name of the app to disable.
According to the article its called Message Center Plus. Here's uninstall instructions from the linked thread:
Just go to control panel and uninstall [Message Center] in add/remove programs.
Next time you use System Update when it tries to reinstall Message Center Plus, click on the plus sign and instead of selecting it in the enlarged menu choose hide the update. Then you won't see it next time you run System Update. Of course if Lenovo brings out new releases of Message Center Plus you will have to hide them too.
And here, also from the thread, instructions to disable it without uninstalling:
start-->runs-->type msconfig--->go to menue tab --> startup ---> in the list of startup items--->
unhook
[ ] MCPLaunch
&
[ ] Scheduler_proxy
-->apply--> ok then a restart is required--> system
after restart
-->set in the upcoming message a hook , so that it next time didnt comes up..
Parent
this is dumb (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder what it would cost to build computers without the annoying shit installed. Is that all that's making them profitable?
Re: (Score:3)
Where do you buy an empty or barebones laptop case and the components for it?
Re:this is dumb (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:this is dumb (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow, look at that. No TrackPoint? Check. Build aesthetics that make my phat NintendoDS look slim and elegant? Check. Right.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No TrackPoint?
Laptops still have those?
Build aesthetics that make my phat NintendoDS look slim and elegant?
Not all of us care how our machine actually looks.
Re:this is dumb (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, newegg users are paragons of intellect and their reviews are universally useful.
Another:
Wait, there's more (this one can't be serious):
One more, then, just to prove that a CPU is more important than your internet connection:
There's one more I really like that I can't seem to find now. It was regarding a new processor and went something like:
Of course, if someone makes a mistake, there's always someone willing to help you out:
The point of this is just to use a little common sense with the reviews. Most of them are fine.
Also, I just realized that this has run on pretty long. It this EVER shows up as one of those stupid email chains in my inbox, I'm personally going to hunt down and destroy everyone who forwarded it.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Looks like it is not where the serious barebone laptop builder does their shopping.
Not a single one of the three "barebones" notebooks Newegg offers is something I would base a system on. All have either Intel integrated graphics or ATI graphics, no NVidia-based options. Every time I've dealt with ATI's drivers (last was on my ex's Dell Inspiron 600M) it's been a nightmare.
Search for "Clevo" laptop shells. They have graphics from integrated to a 280M, meaning they span the entire range. Sager sells a lot of systems based on Clevo, for instance. Some places will prebuild for you at oddly good prices with a lot of customizability, like choosing which heatsink and thermal paste to use. The same places will give you the prebuilt system with no OS, if you'd like a clean start. Or you can just buy Clevo barebones laptops and put them together yourself.
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder what it would cost to build computers without the annoying shit installed.
Apparently, thirty bucks [chron.com]
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It is frequently speculated that the OEMS get paid more for the adware than the Windows license costs them. So they can actually offer the PC with crapware cheaper.
For those with decent computer skills this means buying the PC as it is and reformatting the disk. Of course, when we are talking desktops some of us have very specific ideas of which components they want. In that case, build from components. :-)
Re:this is dumb (Score:4, Informative)
I just bought my brother a little lenovo and was shocked at the amount and general crapiness of the lenovo apps it came with. One of them was crashing at bootup. Its amazing how bad the situation is with OEM crapware nowadays.
I spent 30 minutes doing uninstalls. Err no thanks Lenovo, I dont need your unstable wireless manager when the MS one is just fine.
Once I cleared it all it ran like a top. I wish MS would step in and stop them from ruining otherwise decent laptops.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
How new is it? If it's very new and nothing is on it yet, then reinstall the OS without the installed software. This doesn't work on all systems, but most lenovo systems have this option.
It's different depending on Type. If it's Thinkpad, it's the blue Thinkvantage button at startup. On Ideapads it's usually F11 or enter. anyway, You want to boot into Thinkvantage rescue and recovery.
Once your in there, switch to advanced mode, select "Restore your system", from there, select if you want to back up files an
Lenovo has officially jumped the shark (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
The thing is, they had the easy restore that made it easy to do a fresh install with all crapware removed.
I was a big supporter, as it was way better than running PC Decrappifier, now this is totally the suck.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I realize it shouldn't be required, but it's not difficult to go through the Add/Remove list and get it all out. They're nice enough to have similar-looking icons for all the crap that does nothing except hang. One of their helpful applications refused to close, so every time I shut down my computer and walked away I came back to be greeted by a box asking if I really wanted to end this one process that refused to die. That's what triggered the mass uninstall.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I got a Thinkpad last Summer and I've been really happy with it. However, it was a rough start --had to remove crapware that crashed Vista frequently. But Lenovo made it easy enough to get a fresh install with no extras. (see this comment: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1282033&cid=28470885 [slashdot.org] ) Since that re-install it's worked flawlessly. Customer service seemed good too. I thought I had a bad DVD burner and they happily sent a replacement (in retrospect I think it was just some bad disks,
Two problems, hard to say which more serious (Score:5, Insightful)
From reading the discussion forums, there are two problems:
1) System is not obeying checkbox to not show specific message again.
2) System is presenting ads through software installed by the vendor, not by email or browser.
At first #1 seems to be the bigger problem, as if you could check a box not to see the message again you'll only be bothered once... until you read the bit about "specific" again. Checking that box by design is supposed to only block that EXACT ad, not others that may come later...
That was indeed an insane choice to include by a vendor. As noted, these could pop up at the most inconvenient time. Even if you dismiss one and it worked, you never know when you may get another.
I'm sure they'll get rid of this soon, but it has to go down in history as one of the bigger WTF moments in vendor specific software installs.
Obligatory Snark (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Obligatory Snark (Score:4, Funny)
...or, really, just the people who leave on the vendor-installed operating system and actually use the Lenovo software updates.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Its over (Score:4, Insightful)
Thats it folks, thinkpads are officially dethroned as the king of business laptops.
Re:Its over (Score:4, Informative)
My T61 will probably be my last. I waited about 2 months for repair to be done on plastic pieces that wouldn't latch close properly. One location was never fixed, even though I clearly labeled it.
Recently extended my warranty only to look it up the other day and see that it shows as expired.
My model doesn't show up on their support site when trying to download drivers/software, but does when I enter the serial.
Plus the aluminum cage made it thicker, heavier, and less elegant. And now that they're in the hands of Lenovo, I wouldn't be expecting any improvements.
If anything, they'll ruin the line by adding their own touches. When will purple backlighting on buttons make its appearance? The T400s is sporting lights on volume buttons and the caps lock key. The thing must look like a Christmas tree in the dark. And don't get me started on the Esc key that's TWO ROWS HIGH. Walk away, folks.
Parent
Re:Its over (Score:5, Interesting)
They were already on their way out the moment they were purchased by a foreign company with some degree of state control.
(Yeah, even the "domestic" companies foreign-source most of their parts but at least the system design is domestically controlled.)
I work for a defense contractor, the moment the Lenovo buyout happened we stopped buying Thinkpads and went to Dell. It was pretty much mandated by the customer. (If I recall correctly, there were a lot of news articles about the government banning further Thinkpad purchases post-Lenovo across the board around that time.)
Now, Lenovo has effectively done just what the US government feared they might do - try to sneak stuff onto customers' machines for their own gain.
Who knows what else in addition to this adware is getting slipped to customers?
Parent
compatibility (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder if it's compatible with the rootkit that Sony so kindly installed for me?
Just wait, it'll get even better (Score:3, Interesting)
Just think how wonderful it will be once the red chinese government puts their own stealthy spyware right into the microcode!
Are you having paranoid thought now?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
What makes you think they haven't already?
Re: (Score:2)
Good thing you have a choice where you can buy a laptop (or a desktop) from...
I guess my Dell was made in Malaysia now that I look at it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah. I know I got down voted for mentioning "red chinese," but that the way it is. When you lose control of your nation's manufacturing capability you'd better hope there is never another world war.
The primary reason that the allies won WWII, besides the obvious efforts of all involved, was the US's incredible manufacturing capability.
That won't happen next time. We have little heavy industrial manufacturing left, and less technology producing companies than we started with.
Chinese Economic Warfare (Score:2, Funny)
You do realize that this is just another salvo in the Chinese effort to cripple American business productivity and efficiency, don't you? What little there is left of it, that is?
What the hell were they thinking? (Score:5, Interesting)
What idiot in marketing (marketing majors have no souls) convinced an even bigger idiot in management that this would be a good idea?
People LOVE popups, right, everyone knows this, right?
A stunt like this isn't going to increase sales, it's going to DECREASE them. And, this is yet another example why I DO NOT run any sort of automatic update. I update software/drivers, etc, when I feel a NEED to do so, if it's working, leave it alone. Updates only usually end up in adding more bloat to a system anyway, look at how Acrobat reader is 10 times the size it was a couple years ago yet doesn't do anything significantly different.
Re:What the hell were they thinking? (Score:5, Insightful)
The worst virus/malware cleanup I've done in the last year installed itself via an Acrobat reader security vulnerability. "Don't update Acrobat" isn't really a viable solution to their bloat problem because of that class of issue. More useful ones are "Install Foxit Reader" and "Use Evince on Linux".
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
look at how Acrobat reader
Well, there's your first problem.
Change of Plans (Score:5, Interesting)
What would make it even better... (Score:4, Insightful)
The only thing that would make this better is if Lenovo sold ad space. Imagine explaining the pr0n popups during your next big presentation. This seems so inevitable that I'm astonished that they haven't already done it.
LENOVO!! (Score:3, Insightful)
You should be the best of the best for business.
Stop adding all this extra Adware, crap software on new systems
I am ashamed to be a IBM fan right now.. Ashamed.
I have a great idea (Score:3, Informative)
Wait till they install (Score:4, Interesting)
Personally Deploying Lenovo Hardware (Score:3, Informative)
I personally deploy Lenovo hardware for clients and I do so from a custom made Windows image that I created by first formatting a computer and installing Windows from scratch, then adding necessary drivers. There is NO NEED for any of the Lenovo software.
The Lenovo brand hardware is actually pretty nice. We roll out T400 ThinkPad systems and so far they seem to be very rugged and perform quite well. You just have to get the Think(disad)Vantage shit off the system first.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Kind of like vampires, doesn't matter what the holy symbol is as long as it does the job. I personally prefer my ubuntu CD but what ever banishes the evil is good enough.