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Petey
new user
Reg'd: Sun
Posts: 3
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Hello.
I'm starting to regret installing Real Player on my computer. I've read several postings on other forums, which criticise Real Player very strongly. In fact some people have dedicated whole sections of their own web sites to crusading against Real Player.
They say that Real Player fastens itself very tightly to Windows, making it very difficult to uninstall. They say that it 'takes over' aspects of your computer, making itself the default for all sorts of things, running itself when you didn't ask it to, and generally making a nuisance of itself. They say that it is in constant communication with the Real Player company, 'phoning home', sending details of what you're viewing/listening to, presumably with the idea of having more effective advertising. I've heard the word 'spyware' used in connection with Real Player. However I lack the expertise needed to confirm this. And some of the forums I looked at were quite old.
Essentially, when I downloaded Real Player, I thought I was just getting a device to sit on my computer, and play stuff when I wanted it to. And obviously, when you get something that's free and useful, you accept that it might want to show you some adverts. However, from what I've read, it could be thought that Real Player is a whole lot more than that. And if it's true, then I'll want rid of it.
So really I'm asking a couple of things. 1) Do people here agree with the critics I've mentioned, and do you think that that stuff applies to newer versions? (Mine is Real Player 11.0.0.372 running on Vista Business, with Norton Internet Security.)
2) I get the impression that Real Player arrived on my computer in many segments. And I suppose it's possible that it has downloaded more bits during the time it's been here. So if I decide to uninstall Real Player, how do I make sure I'm uninstalling ALL of it?
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FifeFlyer
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 3818
Loc: Fife
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Petey , i do agree with the critics although describing it as Spyware is , well........a bit strong. I would call it intrusive and generally a pain in the bum. Trouble is at some stage you may need it to play RealMedia.
I was about to recommend you get rid of it and replace it with... Real Player Alternative...but a quick glance says it doesn't support Vista.
Edited by TheFatControlleR (Sun Jan 20 2008 06:41 PM)
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17726
Loc: Colchester
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It very much depends on how you installed Real Player. Simply clicking on Install Automatically will get you all sorts of rubbish but using Custom Install will stop a lot of it. You could install Real Player 10.5 which doesn't carry a lot of excess baggage. Once you've got it you can remove the Message Centre and you don't have to register anything with Real if you don't want to. Just cancel at the stage when it asks you to register.
To get rid of it is indeed a tiresome routine. The only way I could find to kill it completely was to set up a search in the registry for every occurrence of the word Real and then delete the key in which it appeared. A long, laborious process but effective in the end.
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Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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Petey
new user
Reg'd: Sun
Posts: 3
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Thanks for the replies so far. (Wasn't sure I'd get any.)
It does sound like a difficult process, deleting one little bit at a time. I supppose my main concern is that I don't want something on my computer that thinks it owns the place. So if I could get rid of enough of it so that it could no longer do any of the sneaky stuff it might be doing, then that would be fine. But I've no idea whether just right-clicking, and doing 'uninstall' would achieve that.
Are there any programs that could assist? I've heard of some that help you uninstall things. Ideally, there'd be one that was specifically geared up to neuter Real Player. What are the chances?
Anyways.... It could be that I'm making a big deal out of it. Or maybe not. Keep 'em coming, if you'd be so kind.
Petey
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foxedup
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 2
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Try revo uninstaller from here http://www.download.com/Revo-Uninstaller...cdlPid=10854684 I've found it to be excellent it uninstalls then scans the registry for remnants then asks if you want to remove said remnants.
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