iGuest 3 Report post Posted September 15, 2008 Smileys Smiley Central As I tried to download Smiley Central I was warned of viruses by my installed Norman Security Central. Norman gave me your link (URL) to confirm Their warning not to have anthing to do with Smiley Central, and I have read the above comments from persons with bad experiences of them. Now I find a very great number og Smiley companies on the net. Are they all as bad? Do you know any of them I can trust as clean and can install? -question by Ragnar H�rum Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FirefoxRocks 0 Report post Posted October 8, 2008 A lot of antispyware software applications will detect Smiley Central as spyware, even when the Terms and Conditions explicitly state that it is spyware free. This is because Smiley Central will hijack your browser's home page, install toolbars into Internet Explorer and is quite time consuming and confusing for the average user to remove completely without a system restore/backup.If you want smileys to use in Messenger, wait until Yahoo! or those Microsoft partners (Kiwee, etc) release the free smiley packs. I can actually trust those to be installed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arbitrary 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2008 Yes, Smiley Central is definitely not safe to download. It basically is a virus disguised as a useful program, and everyone knows those are everywhere. Anti-viral software should detect it (or else your anti-virus really stinks), but I think users should also be able to recognize that most of these "free" offers on the internet deserve a bit more caution. If users all thought a bit more before downloading things, then anti-virus software would pretty much be only needed for things like torrents. Smileys that are actually safe usually come from companies who have already established their trust, like the bigwigs that FirefoxRocks names. Everyone else is probably out there to trick you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoonLightCity 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2008 I've heard some bad things about Smiley Central but I haven't used it because of that.. So I wouldn't know exactly.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted December 4, 2008 I installed smiley central and it was working great, and I loved it, until a few days ago. I see the tool bar but it will not let me click on it to use? Any suggestions anyone? -question by victoria Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TehJohn 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2008 Smiley Central / Cursor Mania (Both The same thing?) 180 Solutions, Zango, and Everything Related Is Spyware Seriously, My mother was on my pc for 4 hours once, and when i came back, i had smiley central and 180 solutions on the pc... Took me 3 hours to clear it, Avast Didnt detect Anything (Weirdly..) Neither did AVG but i manually uninstalled it and changed the registary settings.. Avoid at all costs, because ive had it once before this on an illegal windows xp pc, with no anti virus, and seriously, not an enjoyable thing.. Avoid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alnatih 0 Report post Posted January 12, 2009 it came with some adware,just get ride of it and have happy smileys,not much to worry,just dont install the afiliate programs and run some adware software Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted March 13, 2009 smiley central is definately spywareSmiley CentralI doubt there is very much super sinister like bank account theft going on here. I think that smiley central are just "aggressively marketing". Regardless, it's a pain in the *bottom* and truly awkward to remove. I removed it from a customers amchine by using superantispyware and malwarebytes on all the computer accounts in safe mode with system restore turned off. after that you can remove the remaining browser helper objects that annoyingly now open up new tabs in your explorer that never connect with "hijack this". sounds simple, but it took me three days of trying different things to get to this magic selection. people should think about what they click on rather than simpy click on anything than moves... (ooh bright shiny colours ooh) never mind, it was a paid job, so no real bother to me ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yordan 10 Report post Posted March 14, 2009 never mind, it was a paid job, so no real bother to me !No real bother to you, and you earned some money, very nice for you.But it was a great damage for the guy who had to pay your job in order to have his PC cleaned, so it was a great trouble for him. Then, it can be warned as a dangerous virus for normal users, even if a clever guy is able to remove it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted March 31, 2009 The problem is within the download not the smileys. I make smileys (they are actually called emoticons) using a gif animator program (freeware) and I can reasure u there is no possible way the smilies themselfs can't cause any harm. But when dowloading the smiley central franchise may put extra programs like spyware within the program.-feedback by DAN54656 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atomic0 0 Report post Posted April 27, 2009 As the saying goes, "nothing is ever free". There is always a cost to any so-called 'free' stuff, which in this case is adware that is installed with the Smileys . Although it isn't a virus or worm, it will make more ads appear on your computer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted September 6, 2009 ALOT OF PROGRAMS ARE FREE AND SAFE ON THE NET...BUT...Smiley CentralEXAMPLES:spybot s&d,clickster,avira anti-virus,frostwire,manycam,mp3gain,mp3mymp3 and many many more...I've got tons of programs on my pc that I got for free via the internet.A person just has to be careful.There are actually free and legitimate screensavers a person can download as well,but agan a person needs to be careful.I've been a heavy pc user since 1997 and studied source code,xhtml, and am not ignorant about the pc and internet,etc...Alot of free stuff online is legitimate (virus and malware free )..If a person isn't sure about downloading something google it by typing review,then the name of the product in question. also.Once downloaded,run virus scan...Never download product you're not sure of by opening it..Save to a folder instead..Then scan it for virus's and spyware or adware. when installation begins keep track of what's being loaded.My security( avira)will notice immediately if a program other than the initially intended program begins to download(bundled junk like toolbars,search engines,etc).Generally one can tell by name of the file whether or not it's something one wants downloaded.. My security notifies me immediately and I have the choice to allow or bock those files.The download then continues after I make my decision. I suggest avira as an anti-virus software and comodo firewall and superantispyware for trojans and general spyware.Also iobit security 360. And keep windowsdefender activated also.These programs don't interfer with on another and all of them I've mentioned are free.There are alternative fee versions,but the free versions of these programs work great.Avira's free antivirus scans in real time and it's an excellent program all the way around. There's alot of free stuff out there.Just be careful!! important--A REMINDER! newbies or not. always search for reviews regarding programs that aren't familiar to you. THE REASON Idon't have virus problems...For example..I reviewed cursormania cause I wasn't sure about it.Not just one review search but five..It's all negative..It only takes a few minutes to search for and read 4 or 5 reviews regarding a product or program. -reply by djteel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted November 22, 2009 Right. Not. A .Gif image can have code embedded inside of it. A .Gif image is capable of transporting malware so you are giving people bad information by saying that they are harmless. Maybe YOURS are harmless (I doubt it based on your post) but maybe. The best advice is that if you are going to download something, download to a folder on a flash drive before you install it. Then scan it before you install it. Then install it and watch it step by step. Answer any questions very VERY carefully and tell it NO if it wants to download something other than the item you want to install. Once it is installed, look at your startup entries (I use CCleaner and/or Spybot Search and Destroy to view startup items). If there is something in there that you don't recognize or want, disable it. You may have to reboot at this point. Make sure nothing has punched a hole in your firewall. Once you've disabled and possibly rebooted, run a full system scan for malware of any type. I use CCleaner, Spybot S&D, AVG and Panda with great success. Good luck and be vigilant. The slimebags out there will lie to you to serve their purpose without batting an eyelash. Coda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted February 24, 2010 Where is the older virsion of smiley central?Smiley CentralI got a new computer last April after I set it up the Smiley Central I had was gone and I can't find it. Does it still avaible? I rather that version than the new one. -reply by Noel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
