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MALWARE WARNING!!!! - iolo System Mechanic download webpage. - as offered by Dell drivers webpage
Why is the DELL support webpage promoting a product's webpage that contains malware,
I went to the Dell Support Webpage to download Drivers for my XPS laptop.
When I got there.... there were two buttons to perform system's test's. One was a performance test
and the other a hardware test.
I clicked on the performance test, which led me to download a utility to check the performance. I checked the performance
and was presented with a list of fixes. To fix the issues... I purchased the iolo System Mechanic software to do so. (wrong choice)
I was sent an email, which contained the link to download my purchase. When I clicked on the link, it immediately brought up my
Sophos virus software and detected a specific strain of MALWARE on the site and blocked the website.
Why does DELL have an active button on their website to promote a MALWARE product?????
BE FOREWARDED!!!!!!
wilks7
96 Posts
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September 29th, 2012 18:00
I have used programs like that in the past and i have found out over some time they are best to not even bother with. when they start messin with the registry you are only asking for trouble
Bugbatter
20.5K Posts
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September 29th, 2012 18:00
Hi TBKS,
That description is rather vague. Perhaps we need to find out exactly what Sophos found before Dell is accused of promoting "a malware product". I have a suspicion that it may have been a false positive, so I would be glad to contact SOPHOS to have them check into this if you can give me more details.
I am not a fan of System Mechanic, or other products that claim to clean the registry because they can aggravate a situation and take steps we are many times not manually aware of.
It is better not to resort to such programs if you don't know what is happening with the proposed fix and the registry.
Otherwise, a change to the registry can make a system unbootable by one mistake.
Here are some good discussions:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Are-registry-cleaners-necessary
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099
http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/02/registry-junk-a-windows-fact-of-life.aspx
http://www.whatthetech.com/2007/11/25/do-i-need-a-registry-cleaner/
http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2007/04/do-i-need-registry-cleaner.html
If you absolutely must use a registry cleaner, always backup the registry first:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Back-up-the-registry
I think you are better off participating in Dell Community or at sites such as SpywareHammer that can help you address problems and manually clean your computer.