Dear jimbaen-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
I’m going to give you a couple of different sources for the removal of
Weatherbug and it’s associated annoyances because some are may be
considered “official” while others might tend to be more in depth and
unbiased toward the program and it’s perceived add-on's and effects.
Let’s start with the obvious:
WEATHERBUG
The makers of Weatherbug offer these OFFICIAL instructions for the
removal of its program:
“How can I uninstall WeatherBug?”
“To uninstall WeatherBug, first, make sure the program is not running.
Please right click on the temperature or WeatherBug icon and select
"Terminate or Exit WeatherBug."
To permanently remove WeatherBug from your system:
-Click START (lower, left of computer screen)
-Select SETTINGS and CONTROL PANEL
-Double click ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS
-Select "WeatherBug" (or other programs) from the list of applications
-Click ADD/REMOVE and follow the instructions
This will uninstall WeatherBug.”
http://ww3.weatherbug.com/aws/defaultx.asp?cid=297#uninstall
Depending on your computer and how the program was originally
installed, you may have to uninstall your “My Search” separately:
“How do I uninstall My Search?”
“Click START (lower, left of computer screen)
Select SETTINGS and CONTROL PANEL
Double click ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS
Select "My Search" from the list of applications
Click ADD/REMOVE and follow the instructions”
http://ww3.weatherbug.com/aws/defaultx.asp?cid=297#mysearch
You can find another OFFICIAL version of the uninstall procedure here:
UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG
http://ww2.weatherbug.com/aws/default.asp?cid=234#q2
The makers of the Weatherbug program suggest these additional actions.
To make sure you have killed every last vestige and lingering
annoyance that might be associated with Weatherbug, you can down and
run these free programs AFTER YOU UNINSTALL Weatherbug:
AD-AWARE
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
(This IS a good one. I’ve used it myself)
or
PEST PATROL
http://www.pestpatrol.com
(I’ve never used this one personally but the Weatherbug site
recommends it.)
OUTSIDE THE OFFICIAL SITE:
For reasons known but to these forum members, you can clearly see that
Weatherbug is a commonly discussed topic at Annoyances.org. Here you
will see that people have discussed the issue and worked it out among
themselves. This appears to be an unbiased discussion outside the
official Weatherbug uninstall site. You may find some helpful tips
here that were not offered on the official uninstall site:
ANNOYANCES.ORG – HOW DO I UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG?
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/n1049207375
As for your question concerning, “…the identity of the worm-brained
monsters who perpetrate it. Why have they not been squashed???”
According to this article “PC Hell: How To Uninstall Weatherbug”, Jay
Hoffman, Weatherbug’s Manager of Customer Support is quoted as saying
in part:
"Weatherbug does not monitor, collect data or 'spy' on its user base.
If a software program is implying or reporting that Weatherbug is
'spyware', it is incorrect. Weatherbug is incapable of tracking your
overall web use or deciphering anything on your hard drive. Weatherbug
has no functionality to determine what you were doing/where you were
surfing before you opened your Weatherbug program - or where you go
after using the Weatherbug.”
“With computer privacy a vital issue for so many people, we want to
assure you that Weatherbug, in addition to being spyware-free, is
committed to helping our millions of users understand how to remove
spyware from their computers, if they desire to do so.
Spyware, as defined by CNET, generally refers to any technology that
gathers personal information about your computer's configuration, your
surfing/shopping habits - including information like Web sites you've
visited, your IP address, and your computer's host name. Weatherbug
does none of these things. In addition, we require any software that
is offered with Weatherbug to also be spyware-free.”
You can read the entire article here:
PC HELL: HOW TO UNINSTALL WEATHERBUG
http://www.pchell.com/support/weatherbug.shtml
Like it or not however there are many, many sites where one can find
discussions about spyware and adware and whether or not Weatherbug
actually contains any of these. Weatherbug’s position is clear in that
it categorically denies having any spyware but the public opinion
(albeit unofficial) seems to suggest that the program does contain
annoying adware. I suppose the public jury is still out on this one
but even so, the judicial opinion has been rendered. The fact of the
matter, regardless of your opinion of whether Weatherbug contains
adware or not, is that Judges have been ruling that adware programs
ARE LEGAL. So you see, the bottom line here is that this battle has
been fought already, and lost (or won, depending on which side of the
fence you happen to be on):
JUDGE SAYS ADWARE IS LEGAL
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3073741
"ADWARE": RESEARCH, TESTING, AND SUITS
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/ads/
Special attention to this section of the article: “Pending Suits
against Designers of Adware”
Spyware, on the other hand is not as readily defended but alas, it is
deemed legal too, at least for the moment, if it meets certain
disclosure criteria. The general consensus is that if you install a
program and agree to the terms of its installation and use that you
are consenting to the installation of accompanying spyware programs.
This is the philosophy of “legitimate” spyware programs and at the
moment it seems to be working unless it can be proven that a program
installed spyware without your knowledge:
JIMMY THE GEEK: THE WRONG SPYWARE
http://geekbreeder.com/rs-spyware.htm
Finally, let me offer my own research disclaimer and this unsolicited
statement in Weatherbug’s defense:
I am not a user of Weatherbug and I have no personal opinion about the
program one way or the other. My research indicated that the program
seems to do exactly what it claims to do and a great many users appear
to be totally satisfied with it. The sites I found which describe
annoying add-on programs (real or perceived) in the Weatherbug program
are primarily from end-users and not from professional de-programmers
who have officially identified the existence of adware or spyware.
Having said that, I suppose it is entirely possible that your computer
could have become the host of such programs through other means and if
this is the case the detection and removal programs I mentioned above
should still resolve these problems you mentioned.
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
Defined above
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
WEATHERBUG
WEATHERBUG ADWARE
WEATHERBUG SPYWARE
WEATHERBUG UNINSTALL
WEATHERBUG ANNOYANCES
“WHAT IS ADWARE”
“WHAT IS SPYWARE”
“IS SPYWARE LEGAL”
“IS ADWARE LEGAL” |
