Smiley Central Is it spyware?

[saxsux 0]

Since these message boards are full of adverts for it, I thought we could have a discussion about Smiley Central.I know that say that thier software is 100% spyware free, but everyone says it is full of it. Microsoft Anti Spyware picks up loads from it. Why else would they spend so much money advertising it and so much time making it?

[VJgamer1405241488 0]

I know what you mean...

 

Most programs that package their software with spyware claim to be spyware free. They try to pass them off as "useful" programs, like a clock synchronizer???

 

Why would you need a clock synchronizer when Windows XP has one built in?

 

These clever ways of passing spyware off as programs that are useful is very depressing especially when they affect the lives of hundreds of people. I try to help my friends avoid these schemes as best I can. The other day I had to completely reformat my friends hard drive just because of the amount of spyware on it. His processor was maxed the whole time his computer was on.

 

I would suggest carefully reading about a program before you download it, and take user opinions into serious consideration.

[iGuest 3]

i think that people should not use smilly and would strongly recamend not using it.peace outyimmj

[iGuest 3]

Trend Micro blocks Smiley Central very strongly as a dangerous website with spy ware. Is there other websites with emotions regarded as being free of virus and spyware and reasonably safe?-Terry

[tansqrx 0]

I’ve never run Smiley Central myself so I can not give you a definite answer. (I was never quite that stupid.) I do know that they have been around for a very long time and they have a long history of deceiving customers and loading spyware. When a company has such a reputation I would believe it is wise to steer clear.On the issue of advertising, I don’t know which company Xisto uses but I am sure they run advertisements independently of content. Much like a radio station, the advertiser buys so many impressions and then the station randomly runs the ads. I listen to Dave Ramsey (http://www.daveramsey.com/home/) all the time and occasionally you will hear a credit card ad. Dave is a die hard pay off all your debts and cut up your credit cards philosophy so it is not a good spot for credit ads. Same thing for web advertisers. You could get a Smiley Central ad on http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/.

[Chesso 0]

I would never run it myself either.Heard nothing but bad things about, I am really surprised it is still going......

[trinifawk 0]

While Smiley Central advertises itself not to be spyware, I think that they are definitely up to something. I think that someone using my computer installed it by mistake and it was a pain in the butt to remove.There were several programs that got installed together with the smiley central app and some of them had to be manually removed. Then I swept my computer with lavasoft adaware, antivir antivirus, hijackthis, and spybot search and destroy to make sure nothing was left on it. But I'd say stay away from heavily marketed programs that are geared toward luring in teens and pre-teens who are non the wiser, or even adults.... lol

[jbitkill 0]

Aye, Smiley Central and CursorMania and stuff like that are viruses. They say it is Spyware-Free and they're reviews are great, but they are not. They are fake reviews and spyware with the software.xxxx-jozh-xxxx

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Smiley central is the most annoying thing I've seen in ages. I have a handful of friends that use it seemingly problem free, but they are too computer illiterate to know where their problems come from so it doesn't surprise me. The advertising is annoying, having people try to get you to get it is annoying, knowing its full of spyware is annoying, and yet people download it and they probably rake in a mint with it. Sometimes the internet makes me cry

[turbopowerdmaxsteel 0]

I remember giving it a try some 16 months back. I didn't use it for long, neither did I realize that it was some kind of spyware and definitely took their word for it. Its surprising to know that something deemed 100% spyware free is full of it. The prospect of using so many cool smileys with Yahoo! seemed rather exciting. But, it was rather slow and did have all the symptoms of a spyware. Then again, I wasn't much aware of all these spyware stuff back then.

[.:Brian:. 0]

I remember finding this installed on a computer once, and it was used by the person, and they refused to get rid of it.Yet they were complaining their computer was running really slowly, and everything. And one of the issues was smiley central with all of its junk that it puts on the computer....i mean honestly...if it is just the smileys....you shouldn't need 10,000 other applications to go with it.Once I got the person to finally see that that was the issue, I was never able to remove it completely....with all the junk it put on the computer. (between that and a number of other things, a reformat was the only choice)

[SmilerX 0]

Hi all

 

I've had a liking for smileys so developed my own little freeware program to make using them in messageboards and emails a simple process. It's called SmileyPic and you can see more about it at the guide page

 

http://www.smileypic.com/guide/

 

this program is basically an imagemanagement tool rather than just a smiley tool as it will allow you to use pictures you want show others. There is a small collection of smileys to use at the moment but the collection will grow in time the more people use it and tell us about smileys they'd like. As this is still an early version you can add/remove packages of smileys to your collection. This way you can share your collections with others . In future versions users will be able to add/remove individual smileys

 

p.s. it contains no spyware or any other crap at all , just a simple tool to select smileys

 

p.p.s. I hope this isn't seen as spamming as I'm just giving a solution to those who don't want to take any risk installing software

Edited November 11, 2007 by SmilerX (see edit history)

[iGuest 3]

Replying to 7JJohnsonI just got smileycentral but now I'm concerned about my computer. Can I delete smiley central from my hard drive? How do I do it?-reply by Tori

[jimmy89 0]

http://www.pchell.com/support/smileycentral.shtml
This looks like a good way to try and get rid of it. A friend had this problem, he did finally get rid of it, but it was some hard work! Good Luck

[iGuest 3]

Replying to trinifawkI tried to install Smiley Central. First thing it does is try to override your default webpage. Second it tries to install its own websearch, from an ActiveX add on. Zone Alarm goes berserk at the first attempt to download smiley central. I tried to decline installing the add on in Internet Explorer, and then it lets you download the program manually. But when you try to install it, it comes with an attached search bar you MUST install in order to get smiley central. It will override your IE defaults and take over.Again, Zone Alarm goes apes**t if I try to install it. They claim to have no spyware. But Zone alarm disagrees strongly. I would not recommend anyone install this.-reply by Rich in QLD