For a couple of years I have been infected with this scumware called
Wild Tangent, the owner was interviewed some time ago and
claimed all he was doing was providing a game site like Pogo (another
one that loads adware).
I tried all the anti ware progs out there, ad aware, spy sweeper,
spybot, etc. Nothing would get rid of it. Till today. I think.
I used 'Counter Spy' and this time it apparently got rid of it.
The thing I couldn't help noticing was exactly how many dll's this
scumware was composed of. It took counterspy over 15 minutes
of digging through dll's to remove all of it, including all the register
listing. There were dll's with more benign names like wtgamedate.dll
and wtsystem.dll but more sinister sounding ones like
wtserialization.dll and cdalogger.dll. Get that last one? CDA logger.
CDA is a sound format so it sounds like if you play a cd in that format,
wild tangent people know about it because it reports that useage back
to wild tangent. Thats what loggers do. There was one called
propertybag.dll, and dozens more. Counterspy gave an acount of
every dll it removed and there were dozens of them. I never saw
a spyware package that took this long to remove. My kudo's to
Counterspy.
Originally posted by Steve ExeterIt SEEMS to remove it but I use 1.4 all the time and although it
SpyBot 1.4 (with latest defs.) always detects and removes Wild Tangent.
claims to remove it, it does so as fast as the rest, which is to say
it must be missing some key components because it always comes
back after that so-called removal. You should have seen the list
of dll components counterspy found, named and removed. It was
unnerving. Very disturbing to have something so invasive downloaded
into my system without my knowledge, permission or trying to play
any of the games on the tangent system.
Originally posted by Steve ExeterBTW, try this:
SpyBot 1.4 (with latest defs.) always detects and removes Wild Tangent.
Use 1.4, then go to control panel, add and remove programs,
and let it make its program list. See if you still have Wild Tangent
listed. I did and always found it still listed in the program files.
That is untill I used Counterspy. Now there is no Wild tangent list
on my program list in add and remove programs.
Originally posted by sonhouseYou've convinced me... I'm getting this CounterSpy and using it immediately
BTW, try this:
Use 1.4, then go to control panel, add and remove programs,
and let it make its program list. See if you still have Wild Tangent
listed. I did and always found it still listed in the program files.
That is untill I used Counterspy. Now there is no Wild tangent list
on my program list in add and remove programs.
Originally posted by rbmorrisThat wouldn't suprise me one bit. Dam AOL to helll, they suck
I have that wild tangent thing on my machine too. I did some research and found a site that said is was in some way associated with AOL instant messenger.
bigtime just for that reason, sending third party scumware down the
line with the messages.
Originally posted by SuzianneI hope everyone with that crap on their machine reads this and get
You've convinced me... I'm getting this CounterSpy and using it immediately
wise. Scumware like that sucks and we need it like an extra hole
in the head. I think Pogogames are in the same catagory but
my wife loves all the games there but when I do a Hijack this
search, it lists like twenty or more entries for pogo games she never
visits or plays, a lot of casino games. I think it sucks bigtime but
she won't part with her beloved pogo. Yeech.
Originally posted by sonhouseOK , you've solved half the problem . Who was the guy they interviewed ? I want names and numbers . I think 1000 angry computer users beating the living crap out of this dude would go a long way to solving these kinds of problems in the future .
For a couple of years I have been infected with this scumware called
Wild Tangent, the owner was interviewed some time ago and
claimed all he was doing was providing a game site like Pogo (another
one that loads adware).
I tried all the anti ware progs out there, ad aware, spy sweeper,
spybot, etc. Nothing would get rid of it. Till today. I think.
I u ...[text shortened]... . I never saw
a spyware package that took this long to remove. My kudo's to
Counterspy.
Originally posted by rbmorrisFigures... A O Hell.
I have that wild tangent thing on my machine too. I did some research and found a site that said is was in some way associated with AOL instant messenger.
I'm running now at the office, but I bet at home it's going to go nuts over all the junk. I've been using Yahoo's anti-spy... and I think it's weak.
P-
Originally posted by Moldy CrowI don't remember the guy's name, he owned wild tangent.
OK , you've solved half the problem . Who was the guy they interviewed ? I want names and numbers . I think 1000 angry computer users beating the living crap out of this dude would go a long way to solving these kinds of problems in the future .
I saw the interview, well it was just a paragraph but it was in one of
the nerd rags, PC world I think. Hard to remember, I read so many
nerdzines. I made a pretty thorough study of scumware, Spybot,
Ad Aware, spysweeper (they make another product called window
washer that clear all the temp files, all the cookies, history and a
lot of other stuff as well, great program. From Webroot),
Counterspy, Spydoctor and others.
There are websites devoted to testing these products and if you
don't already know, some of the ANTI spyware products out there
is actually spyware in disguise.
Here is a site that studies the issue of falseware:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
2 edits
Originally posted by sonhouseI've not found Wild Tangent to be at all harmful to be honest, just irritating like any other Spyware. Try getting permanently rid of Alexa, for example, I've never managed it.
It SEEMS to remove it but I use 1.4 all the time and although it
claims to remove it, it does so as fast as the rest, which is to say
it must be missing some key components because it always comes
back after that so-called removal. You should have seen the list
of dll components counterspy found, named and removed. It was
unnerving. Very disturbing to ...[text shortened]... stem without my knowledge, permission or trying to play
any of the games on the tangent system.