OK.. I've downloaded ATF cleaner and Super anti spyware. Hope these will find something..
Rune I've already googled all the sites you had linked to.
Robert, I've printed out the link you sent with step by step instructions, thank you both.
I think I have a sneaky suspicion on where it came from.. it mentioned peer to peer! My 18 year old grandson (of all people) told me about LimeWire a couple weeks ago. Bingo! That's now off my machine after I did download about 3 items which ALL turned out to have viruses! My virus program and Window's Defender caught those, thankfully, but I guess I blew it!
Spent the majority of today running System Mechanic Pro, Registry Mechanic, Spybot S&D, Hijack this, and a few others! They all found a few things but NOT that stinking Adssite!!

CAUTION!
Beware sites claiming to have a way to delete Adssite (or other troublesome crap on your PC) by installing their "anti-spyware" because in many cases, these claims are redherrings. The software you install will cause more trouble. Robert's 411-software site has been reported to be such a company, a front for Enigma Software and a false cure called Spyhunter. It was added to certain BLOCK LISTS, such as Spybot. Interesting egg-throwing contest over at this trusted site. The alleged owner of Enigma sure uses "buddies" a lot. Makes him sound like a petulant kid.

copmon

Look what I found here about removing addsite:
how to delete Adssite Installer files?

Apparently, you're not the only one having problems, copmom. Hope you can find a solution here - http://tinyurl.com/29jktx

Considering how the broadcasters are polluting shows start to finish by layering increasingly larger station ID logos in the corners, not to mention "pop ups" touting upcoming shows DURING programs, we don't even have 15 minutes of uninterrupted entertainment. They treat the airwaves as if they own them rather than just license them, sorta like politicians treat taxpayers as cash cows. "Voluntary taxation" my white arse. (uh oh, BubbyCo, there I go Op Ed-ing, again! Gee, gosh, hope I don't offend anyone. cough cough)

Rune.. hubby keeps his finger on the mute button too! Strange how a 30 minute TV show has now become 15 minutes of commercials! Grrrrrrrr

And one that's been bugging me is a pop up called Adssite. Every time I open my browser, there's an ad when I close it! Tried removing it several times, and it's still there. I deleted the uninstall for it, in Winsys32, DUH! Am presently running System Mechanic Pro to see if that will help. Already tried S&D, Ad-ware, and several others I have on here to no avail!

Hmmm, been dragging my feet about creating a thread to cover the lexicon. Noticed y'all done scooped my tongue-in-cheek plan.

Wish more people understood that just because an application phones home during installation does NOT make it spyware. There are legitimate reasons for it making a connection to the developer's servers. Too bad some people just yell fire in Stupid Comments Theatre and (incorrectly) use "-ware" words interchangeably or blame GAOTD for false positive error messages. Granted, there is overlap such as when adware is used as a vehicle to deliver the bad stuff (hah, a techie term if ever I've seen one) to exploit vulnerabilities.

BuBByCo, I agree wholeheartedly with your oily sentiments! There's a third component, destructive hacks called Malware. Basically speaking:
ADware seeks to separate you from your money, often with too-good-to-be-true offers only technically legal via fine print disclaimer;
SPYware as its name implies, seeks to surreptitiously plunder private data to be used for a criminal purpose;
MALware seeks to disrupt/damage computers, software, data and/or Internet and telco efficiency or even access. Recently read an estimate that 40% of computers are now unwitting bots for hacker chicanery. Wonder if that estimate was based on a Gallup survey using a PC to PC diagnostic on 2000 random machines?

My beef with adware is that it’s headed in the same direction as other forms in commercial broadcasts. Ad agencies automatically assume that the best way to capture eyeballs is to raise the intrusiveness bar. With radio and TV, that meant hiking the number of commercial breaks, shortening commercials to uninformative soundbites, and the truly OFFENSIVE stunt - cranking up the gain so that the transition from soft dialogue to commercial break wakes the dead. That can backfire. Caused me to stop listening to radio altogether, and HOLD my finger over the TV mute button. With the Internet, they've gone from simple ad banners to crafting java and flash code that adds motion, unwanted sound effects, expands ad size to hide content and pop up all over the screen from incidental mouseovers. I recognize and appreciate the need for ad-based web models, but when it INTRUDES on my tranquil space, it crosses a line. (like an inconsiderate neighbor's obnoxious barking dog) I now aggressively embrace all sorts of countermeasures (against ads... unfortunately, the gubmetn frowns on shooting neighbors even though it's an effective solution), but the intrusiveness trend is as relentless as the hackers’ attempts to break into PCs.

So will this program straight up copy and then burn DVD's?
I'm looking for a good freeware program that will do that....

You sure can explain things eloquently,BuBBy.
I also liked the peeling part.:D

Still I believe there is a very thin line between adware and spyware.
But for some reason I seem to tolerate adware when using gmail.YMMV.

I wonder why the update.exe is considered as adware.Probably because it updates the toolbar too(or connects to rabio).Or it may even be a false positive.

As we won't be able to update anyway , no harm in deleting the updater..and still use this nice XVID/DIVX converter...

thanks for the lovely image, bubby.

:D

When installing FUW - there is a checkbox to remove the toolbar/adware from the final install.

Adware isn't the same as spyware - people usually dislike Adware for very different reasons to spyware. Adware can slow down a connection dragging advertisements down from the internet that you never wanted to see in the first place. They are obtrusive, disruptive and many users feel the Adverts get in the way of the task at hand. However with Adware the advertiser typically only has aggregate information of trends and totals - things that likely don't infringe on individuals privacy.

Spyware is tracking individual information specific to each user. Sometimes across browsing sessions, sometimes traceable back to the individual. It can be interested in linking trends and specific transactions together to build a profile of an individual user - at it's worst bordering on trojans, keyloggers, phishing sites, stealing passwords, even banking information (usually through social engineering).

Most people choose to block both Adware and Spyware. Everyone should block (and remove) spyware (at the least). Most of the Internet security tools distinguish between Adware and Spyware - and it is because true Adware isn't always a nasty - but usually (in the eyes of the user) it is an unwanted and unappreciated nuisance (who likes ads anyway?).

Spyware, like spam is the scourge of the internet and people who create or propagate spyware and it's variants, should have the skin peeled from their bodies and cooked in boiling oil.

But that's just how I feel about it. YMMV. ;)

Thank you for the info Robert. I'll be keeping the program as it has a definite and immediate use for me. (as indicated above). I don't have too much of a problem with unobtrusive adware, especially if it can taylor it to my preferences. We shall see if I have to eat my words at a later date though, lol

Well I ended up just deleting it. And forgive the Zuma Deluxe, it's not one I got on here.. but I deleted that one too.

Well I suppose I was wrong in recalling then..(?)

In this case you could simply delete (temporarily) "fairuse.wizardupdate.exe" in c:\program files\fair use wizard2\fairuse.wizardupdate.exe
The program still seems to function without it.

Zumadeluxe a high risk worm?Playing it online you mean?

It doesn't seem to be a search 'enhancer'... the exact file is:
c:\program files\fair use wizard2\fairuse.wizardupdate.exe

And I went to the NY Times link you sent and caught this one sentence:
These companies often connect consumer data to unique codes identifying their computers, rather than their names.

Isn't that sorta like Big Brother? It's none of their beeswax what we prefer .. if they want information let them do a survey and if folks want to participate they will!

And another one I wanted to mention .. Zuma Deluxe is showing as a high risk worm.

Copmom

Hi (look what found)

But IR there *was* an option not to install this Search enhancer.

Quote
As the CEO of Rabio Corporation, I can assure you it is neither a virus nor spyware. It is a software download that is the building block of a user-directed advertising network.

The software, available from our website, http://www.rabio.com, or via a distribution partner, makes every attempt to be transparent. "Search Enhancer" has been certified by TRUSTe's trusted download program and deleting by the "add/delete" program in Windows is complete.

If you keep it, though, you get to set your own preferences for the kinds of advertising you want to see. We don't track, trace or behaviorally target our members so we don't have to guess at your interests. Then we work with advertisers to deliver more of that kind of advertising and less of the rest.

Take a look at the article in today's NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/technology/10privacy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin) to see how intrusive this stuff can be. Our goal is to broker a practical peace in the war between advertisers who want to know ever more and consumers who want to maintain some control. We figure the best way is to just ask.

John Berard
Rabio Corporation

Unquote

@BuBBy
Your opinion please?

I'm just now running a-squared on my machine and it's picking up that Fair Use Wizard as a medium risk adware:
Name: Adware.Win32.Rabio.g

Risklevel: Elevated Risk

Company: Rabio Corporation

Description:

Rabio is an adware that can displays advertisements that are based off of user preferences and settings. It may also gather information anonymously or in aggregate only.

The link worked today. So I've managed to download the program. :) I've got a pile of stuff that I want to convert so that it'll play on my 9" DVD portable. I spent a fortune last time we went on holiday buying enough DVD films to keep me entertained because I didn't have a program such as this. (I never thought to buy one instead of all the films, lol.

Thanks for the link BuBBy and also thanks for the thought Goodgotd :)

20,000 copies...
PS Right now Fair Use Wizard is available.

well, ts at imagecompressor let slip the let out that it was 20,000 copies..

if it was allowed I would host the copy I have (program, docs and source) on sendspace and post the link to it, but IIRC that's not permitted.

I would really like to know how many "WE" are in the GAOTD community.
Think if they all would come into the forums ...

I guess all gaotd visitors are trying to get a piece of that cake at the same time..
:)

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

Every time I try to go to their site I get "Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache Server at http://www.fairusewizard.com Port 80"

Any one else having any better luck?

Thanks for the link Lee. I never knew they did stuff like that.

not alternative- additive. promo cds that came in hardbounds (1st 250k printed) or downloadable iso when you got the book at ws. free distro though either way.

I've been getting an alternative computer up for the wife, finally got it on the lan/wan.

np, I read a *lot*.

Yeah, that would be brilliant. I'd appreciate that.

I've got a little behind with reading despite having two days off from review writing. Instead I've been engrossed in my latest acquisitions, as well as devoting a little extra time with my children. I bought a copy of Lemmings Revolution ($8) which me and my daughter had an enjoyable afternoon playing, then I've been fighting in the resistance trying to rid New York of the Nazi's lol.

It's just clicked what you meant ina post you made yesterday or the day before about the alternative library. I'm gong to check that out in a few moments. Thank you very much. :)

hey, whiterabbit! if you want I can figure a way to get a copy to you.

I looked and found zip for clues on that.

here's that post you need to read.
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2868?replies=14#post-21659

Seem's like I've missed the boat on this one. The bandwidth has been exceeded :(. I'll check back another day. Did anyone happen to note when the offer was going to close? Thanks in advance.

Stephen

isn't that the definition of program? at least the second half.

and *I* found the source download link n the faq- and did. fu-src.zip 2.4 megs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the Light Edition and the Full Edition of FairUse Wizard ?
Light Edition has the folowing limitations :
- no iPod Video encoding
- encoding target file size limited to 700 MB
- no range selection
- no quality based encoding

Furthermore, the full edition is optimised to fully exploit Dual-Core, SMP, and Hyper-Threading CPU architectures, resulting in much faster(1) encoding and has an auto-update feature not available in the light edition.

Is FairUse compatible with Windows Vista ?
FairUse is compatible with Windows Vista. If you have trouble running FU under Vista, right-click on the FairUse Wizard shortcut and check the "Run in administrator mode" box.

Is FairUse compatible with Linux ?
FairUse works just fine with Wine. If the DVD drive is not detected, you may have to enable the ide-scsi mode for the DVD drive.

FairUse comes up with a psikey.dll missing error whenever I run it. Furthermore, I can't use the DivX encoding, only XviD is available.
The psykey.dll error comes from the DivX codec itself when FairUse tries to load it. This happens because you installed the ad-sponsored version of the codec, then used some spyware removal tool like Ad-Aware that removed the "ad-support" software.
To take care of this isue, you can choose to uninstall the DivX codec, or install a fully functional version of it. With a "hacked" version of the codec you won't be able to encode with DivX since the codec won't load.

Robert - best to ask Here

I think it's a case of - "It will run on almost any system - but it will always run faster on a system that is better than the one you currently have". :)