GolfProRM Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 One of the reasons I've stayed with IE is the MyWay.com Speedbar. It's a toolbar for IE that has a search function and bookmarks built right in. The best part about it is that the bookmarks are stored online, so both my computers (work and home) stay updated with the same bookmarks (no work involved). Anyway, I ran Ad-aware the other day (after updating to the latest build), and noticed that it caught the Myway speebar registry keys and program folder. The category was Data Miner. I was very surprised to find them labeled as spyware due to the way MyWay.com is setup. I love the speedbar, and everything about MyWay.com, but am worried about security issues due to this program. Anyone have an info as to whether or not I should be worried? Quote
Scot Posted April 11, 2003 Posted April 11, 2003 Even though I recommended MyWay.com as a home page, I've never tested the SpeedBar. Any product that stores your bookmarks online and is free is suspect in my opinion. I'd be interested to know if Spy-Bot also considers this product to be spyware/adware of some sort. It's a freeware product. Do you know it?http://security.kolla.de/-- Scot Quote
greengeek Posted April 11, 2003 Posted April 11, 2003 It's spyware and probably a lot more, get rid of it.Joy Quote
GolfProRM Posted April 11, 2003 Author Posted April 11, 2003 I just ran Spybot S&D (took 2 hours, which is why I don't like this program)... and it didn't find anything related to the speedbar. Ad-aware never saw it as an issue until about a week ago... Don't know if it's something new they added in one of their updates....Anyway, until I find out about any specific issues, I'm probably going to keep it... it hasn't caused any problems at all, and it's very handy... I would have to recommend it to anyone who uses IE.... Quote
Guest ComputerBob Posted April 11, 2003 Posted April 11, 2003 It's spyware and probably a lot more, get rid of it.JoyYou might be right, but I'm curious about what you've seen that makes you think it's spyware. Care to elaborate? Quote
greengeek Posted April 11, 2003 Posted April 11, 2003 Read the terms: http://info.myway.com/terms/mw_speedbar.htmlI may be paranoid, but I don't use anything that installs updates without asking me first.Joy Quote
Guest LilBambi Posted April 11, 2003 Posted April 11, 2003 greengeek --I totally agree with you on unasked for or announced updates from remote systems without my explicit permission. From their license agreement terms:Your license to an existing version of a particular Application may, at our discretion, expire when new versions of that Application are released. We reserve the right to add additional features or functions to existing Applications. When installed on your computer, an Application periodically communicates with our servers. Additionally, we may require the updating of an Application on your computer when we release a new version of an Application, or when we make new features available. This update may occur automatically or through other means and may occur all at once or over multiple sessions. You understand that we may require your review and acceptance of our then- current privacy policy and end user license agreement before you will be permitted a limited license for any subsequent versions of our Applications. You acknowledge and agree that we have no obligation to make available to you any subsequent versions of our Applications.GolfProRM --That's no reason to knock SpyBot S&D really ... they go back and forth ... what one gets this week the other gets next week, and vice versa. That's why I say they compliment each other well. Quote
Scot Posted April 12, 2003 Posted April 12, 2003 Greengeek, I agree with your instincts, but this particular language in the legalese seems pretty clear to me: The Application does not report back to My Way with information about the sites you visit on the Internet or collect any information that you provide you to any such web sites.In other words, they're saying it's not spyware. I don't seen anything that proves to me it isn't adware, but then, that's fairly obvious to the user.Although there are many people who are unhappy with Lavasoft these days, I trust their judgment about what's spyware and what isn't. Given that this is a new addition, perhaps they did make a mistake. Or perhaps they've just discovered that it is, in fact, data-mining spyware.GolfProRM, I don't know the answer. Personally, I don't think that just something is spyware you have to rip it off your system immediately, as if it were some sort of a virus. Yes, it's anathema. But in this case, there's at least some doubt.Sorry Spy-Bot took so long to deal with. By the way, there are other ways around your problem of accessing bookmarks centrally. Are you various computers in different physical locations, or are they all on the same network?-- Scot Quote
GolfProRM Posted April 12, 2003 Author Posted April 12, 2003 I use two computers... one at home and one at work... on completely different networks... and actually, I do keep my other bookmarks pretty well synchronized... I used EudoraWeb on my PalmPilot that I have cradles for at both places, so it automatically synchronizes my bookmarks in certain folders (of my choosing).My main reasons for liking the speedbar over the bookmarks is that the links are always one click away (no menu to use, and they don't take up much screen space), and the inline search engine (works with Google, AltaVista, Looksmart, and others)... At this point, the program is going to stay... If something bad happens, I'll learn my lesson and get rid of it, but I keep well enough organized with my backups that if for some reason, it killed my OS, I wouldn't be in trouble. Also, if I ever find that it does add additional programs, I'm sure adaware or spybot will catch it and then I'll know to dump it. I've never been so concened about spyware that I won't run something if I'm not sure (I'm not going to use a program that dumps 4 others with it), and I'm willing to give the guys at myway.com a chance (they haven't let me down yet)...P.S Thanks scott and greengeek for all your input! Quote
benhenry Posted April 12, 2003 Posted April 12, 2003 I don't have any experience with "speedbars" or even with google's search bar, but they seem unnecessary... It is very easy to write a routine browser extension that will allow you to select some text and right-click... sending it to a search engine of your choice. And I think there is something similar already written on Fred Langa's Plus site. Maybe I should write up how to create your own for a tip-of-the-week suggestion.GolfProRM, did you know you can put a folder in the links bar in IE and it will expand for you just like a drop-down menu? You could sync a couple of folders to use...But here, I just wanted to say... I think MyWay.com is a great portal site. I use a local html page on my computer for a start page, but then usually go to "My" myway.com. The customization allows you to pick great news and weather with no ads at all. I'm going to enjoy it immensely while it lasts. Quote
Guest ComputerBob Posted April 12, 2003 Posted April 12, 2003 Maybe I should write up how to create your own for a tip-of-the-week suggestion.I like that idea! Quote
GolfProRM Posted April 12, 2003 Author Posted April 12, 2003 I agree with you completely about My "MyWay". It's a great portal site, no ads, no popups, no junk... I've been using it ever since I heard about it. I hope it lasts because it's great to have a junk free website. I guess so far, the company is turning quite a profit, so that's a very good sign.... I appreciate the other advice, and I've used some of the ideas in the past (I do get Fred's letters too). But I think at this point, for as comfortable as I am with the program, until I hear evidence that it's really doing something harmful, I'm going to keep it. I understand the risks and the possibility that it could come back to haunt me, but at this point, the benefits far outweigh the possible problems (no evidence to show that it could go bad), so I'm going stick with it. If anything ever does happen, I'll be sure to report my findings, and investigate more into myway.com and how the whole thing really works.Thanks again Ben for your help! Quote
ibe98765 Posted April 15, 2003 Posted April 15, 2003 I love My Way! Since they say they get their money from search referrals, it seems that the best way to help them is to do your searches through them, rather than using say Google's toolbar. They have 5 search engines to choose from. Quote
Scot Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 MyWay.com is my home page on my main PC. I'm still using it, and I still like it enormously. As I think benhenry said, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.I also see no reason to drop it just because they*might* be doing something scurilous. I can understand the appeal of having portable bookmarks. I do think there are other ways, but if this is what you like, go for it. Especially since your eyes are open to the potential problems.I make decisions like that all the time, and I'm rarely bitten by them (on computers).-- Scot Quote
eksimba Posted April 16, 2003 Posted April 16, 2003 Keep in mind that My Way is actually part of Excite, so if you trust/distrust excite, you can do the same for My Way. Compare the FAQ pages for the My Way Speedbar and the Excite Speedbar:http://help.myway.com/features/speedbar.htmlhttp://help.excite.com/bar/speedbar.html Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.