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Sandy520

13 Posts

655360

August 23rd, 2005 22:00

Is Wild Tangent spyware?

Hi , Does anyone know if Wild Tangent is spyware?  They say it is used for game playing.  Their web site says that Dell installs it in some of their computers along with games.    If so, then it must be ok.  But, I have also heard that it is spyware.  Should I try to uninstall Wild Tangent?  I also have Shockwave and Shockmachine installed which use Wild Tangent.  Should I also remove both of these? 
 
I have spyware protection already.  I have Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE, SpywareBlaster, and Trend's Virus and Spyware protection.  Non of them have come up with Wild Tangent in the scans that I have done.                                   Thank you        Sandy

Midnight Star

4.8K Posts

August 24th, 2005 00:00

Sandy,

One thing you might want to do, is try using GOOGLE to lookup reference(s) to WildTangent, and see what others think about it, what it seems to do, and how it's being classified. We use GOOGLE almost exclusively for research on things like these. :)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=wildtangent&btnG=Google+Search

=====

Mike.

joe53

5.8K Posts

August 24th, 2005 00:00

Hi:

Wild Tangent was detected as spyware by Counterspy on my new Dell 9100. It was however
classified as a low risk I could ignore. It was installed as part of some pre-loaded games that 
I never used (otto, and Gem Star, I think they were called).

Despite its low risk rating, I chose to delete it, and the associated games. It's definitely not Ok
with me that Dell puts this junk on their new PC's. As spyware goes, WildTangent is fairly
benign, so if you really like the games you can ignore it.

Sandy520

13 Posts

August 24th, 2005 02:00

Joe53

Thank you for your help.   I guess Dell wouldn't have installed it if it could cause damage to the computer.  I guess I will let it go for now, unless I have more problems .         Sandy

Sandy520

13 Posts

August 24th, 2005 02:00

Midnight Star, Thank you for the information.  It is a good idea.  I will try it.       Sandy

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.3K Posts

August 24th, 2005 12:00

Wild Tangent is a video game software company specializing in online games.
 
It has a partnership with AOL to include itself as part of the AOL Instant Messenger for their AIM games section.
WildTangent is also bundled with some WinAmp plugins.
Some Internet Service providers such as Verizon and Bellsouth install the WildTangent software.
Some desktops from HP [and apparently DELL] comes with WildTangent [pre-]installed.
 
Note that removing WildTangent may cause the program that bundled it to not function as intended.

 
The WildTangent Web Driver is their technology that allows you to play 3D games over the Internet. Some choose to classify it as "spyware", on the basis that it has a built-in component that regularly updates itself and gathers configuration information about the computer system (such as processor type, or the presence or absence of graphics accelerators and the related software drivers), in order to identify your system's capability and to optimize the delivery of content to the Web Driver.  According to their privacy policy, their "software will not gather information from your computer about you, such as general application software you have installed or personal data that you store on your computer. "
 
Perhaps the main reason why WildTangent was originally considered spyware is that EARLY versions of AIM had WildTangent bundled into their installation withOUT any notice in the EULA... but this ommission has been corrected in later versions.

Message Edited by ky331 on 08-24-2005 10:24 AM

Sandy520

13 Posts

August 24th, 2005 18:00

ky331

Thank you for your information about Wild Tangent.  I think I will not do anything about it for now and try not to worry about it.

I just downloaded Spybot yesterday.  It came up with Wild Tangent (32 events), DSO Exploit (5) and Windows Security Center AntiVirus Overri- - -  (1).

 Because they are bright red, I feel the need to delete them all.  But, I guess I will not do anything.  The " DSO Exploit"  info said something about an Internet Explorer hole, and I don't know anything about "Windows Security Center AntiVirus Overri- - - "  It had no info. 

What good is the Spybot if I cannot delete any of the spyware or adware?  

Sandy

 

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.3K Posts

August 24th, 2005 22:00

Sandy,
 
I think you can safely put your mind at ease about ALL the particular "problems" you've just mentioned:
 
1) Wild Tangent, as we've explained, is only "debatably" spyware... and even if it is, then, as Joe indicated, it's rather "low risk", and "fairly benign".
 
2) DSO Exploit:  I think I could write a book about this one... Here are the key points:
a) there used to be a "hole" in Internet Explorer, which Microsoft issued a "patch" (fix) for in March 2002.  If you've been keeping Windows up to date, then ( after applying ANY of the subsequent 'cumulative' updates for Internet Explorer) this problem should not impact your system any more.
b) spybot 1. 3 [i.e., the PREVIOUS version of Spybot] started reporting finding DSO Exploit several months ago (could even have been over a year)... but it was UNable to fix things properly --- if you told spybot 1. 3 to fix it, it would try, but FAIL to do so.   SpyBot eventually issued a [optional] patch of its own, upgrading the program to 1.3. 1 TX , which was able to correctly fix things... and that was the last anyone heard of DSO Exploit... until last week.
c) Starting last week, spybot 1. 4 [i.e., the current version] starting reporting finding DSO Exploit.   Caught many people, including myself, by surprise to see this again.   As already indicated, if you've been keeping Windows up to date, you have nothing to be concerned about here.   Accordingly, you can do one of three things: 
1- wait another week or two, to see if Spybot continues to pick this up in its next updated reference file(s)... or if the author "reconsiders", and decides to remove DSO exploit from the detection scheme.
2- explicitly use the IGNORE feature, to tell spybot NOT to search for DSO exploit again.
3- FIX the problem, as (unlike 1. 3) spybot 1. 4 WILL correctly fix the problem.... and on subsequent scans, it won't keep coming back.
[ If you care to read more details about this, scroll down to the SECOND post by md usa spybot fan here     http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?showtopic=32787  ]
 
3) Windows security Center....
Another recent change implemented in Spybot.... Basically, they now are simply ADVISING you that some of the Windows Security Center settings have been changed from their expected/default values.   If EITHER you, OR your antivirus program, changed this setting, then you have nothing to worry about.
There has been much MISunderstanding about this....  many people believed this was a "false positive" being reported by SpyBot, and were hoping Spybot would remove this detection.  Instead, they tried to "clarify" things, by saying it was NEITHER a false-positive.... NOR an actual warning/problem... but rather, merely an "advisory" notification.
See
 
This brings us to your excellent question:  " What good is the Spybot if I cannot delete any of the spyware or adware?"   Unfortunately, the matter of adware/spyware removal has become overly complicated, especially for the average PC user.   Spybot and Ad-Aware are both excellent programs.   I've used them, in combination, to successfully "resuscitate" some machines that had previously become almost unusable.   But over time, I've learned that there CAN be false-positives.... and I've learned to question them.  Unfortunately, a sense of what is really spyware vs. false positives vs. "advisories"  can only come with experience.

Message Edited by ky331 on 08-25-2005 11:07 AM

Sandy520

13 Posts

August 25th, 2005 22:00

ky331

Thank you again for responding to my question about the items that  came up in Spybot.  You are a great help. 

 After studying it for a while, I decided to use the IGNORE feature in Spybot for both Wild Tangent and DSO Exploit, because they don't seem to be a serious problem and I don't want to see them everytime I run Spybot.  The Windows Security Center  thing didn't come up  when I ran Spybot again, so I guess it is gone.

Thanks again,   Sandy

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.3K Posts

August 25th, 2005 23:00

you're welcome.

AceDogg

2 Posts

December 6th, 2005 01:00

Is there anyway to recover Wild Tangent since I jumped the gun by deleting it?

ky331

3 Apprentice

 • 

15.3K Posts

December 6th, 2005 10:00

Ace:

first, a general bit of advice.... you replied to a thread that is several months old.   no guarantee that people even follow it anymore.  for future reference, it would be wiser to start a new thread --- which will then be placed at the very "top" of the forum, for more people to easily find.

while i can't speak definitively on this point, i would assume that, when you try to play an AOL game [or any other application] that needs wildtangent, presumably, it will realize that it's "missing", and will download it automatically.   if not, you can search the web, and perhaps find a direct/company download.

by the way, are you encountering a problem with something not running because you deleted W/T?  if no problems, i'd suggest you leave well-enough alone, until you actually reach the problem stage.

AceDogg

2 Posts

December 6th, 2005 17:00

Thanks for your reply.  I did find the Wild Tangent website and was able to download it again.  Zone Alarm still quarantines it but I'm OK with that unless I actually want to play the games (which I likely won't).  I was more concerned that it may have had other more significant applications since I just setup the new computer yesterday.  I'm sure it's not something I'll really need though.  Thanks again...

Message Edited by AceDogg on 12-06-2005 01:35 PM

ChrisRLG

3.9K Posts

December 6th, 2005 21:00

Wild tangent is now considered optional - users choice as far as most anti-malware fighters are concerned.

This copy post is taken from list of optional fixes we maintain.

=====

I see you are using Wild Tangent. It is not malware, but is sometimes thought to bring malware along. Unless you are an extremely avid games player, I recommend you fix this...

Wild Tangent is a video game software company specializing in online games. It has even made a partnership with AOL to include itself as part of the AOL Instant Messenger for their AIM games section. The WildTangent Web Driver is their technology that allows you to play 3D games over the Internet. Although it’s not technically considered spyware, it does have built in components to update itself and gather information about the computer system including

  1. Operating System Version
  2. CPU Type and Speed
  3. Memory Amount
    Video Card type and Driver Version
  4. Sound Card type and Driver Version
  5. DirectX Version
    Location that the Web Driver was installed from
  6. It is also a MAJOR resource hog.

linsm

1 Message

December 10th, 2017 03:00

I have a HP laptop with Windows 10 and preinstalled Wild Tangent Games.  Here it is 2017.  Every time I played Spider Solitaire, it would slow down and freeze.  I would get a ton of malware. I am so fed up with these games, I have uninstalled them.  It has only been maybe 12 hours, but I haven't gotten any more ding ding ding, warning from my virus protection and malware removal programs since I uninstalled Wild Tangent Games.

dalem29

2 Intern

 • 

2.2K Posts

December 12th, 2017 05:00

I notice that the term "Wild Tangent" shows up in scans to this day even though I don't believe I ever installed it, since I am not a gamer. I was more into stuff like "Myst" and "Flight Simulator". Whatever happened to Midnight Star?

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