Ishi Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Hi, there is a website that offers you to download the installers of several free apps in one package and if you click the Get installer button, you will be asked to download the FreeApp.exe thing. http://www.freenew.net Besides that, you get to choose which apps you want to come with the package by checking or unchecking the little boxes, you also get to choose more apps from below the ones prechecked and recommended. You can also choose things like Chrome, Revo Uninstaller, Microsoft Security Essentials and even CCleaner. The question is, is this even legit???? Even though these apps are free, things like CCleaner are supposed to be downloaded in trusted locations only and so are many of the other apps listed in there. I love computer maintenance tasks. Some of my favorite programs: Wordpad -basic word processing Notepad - temporary clipboard and basic scripting module Windows Media Player 12- video, music and online radio player Windows Media Center - live TV, local FM radio CCleaner- handy computer maintenance tool If something fails to work after using the registry cleaner, use SYSTEM RESTORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Andavari Posted April 1, 2010 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2010 Don't know if it's legit or not, but I certainly wouldn't want anything like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishi Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 Reasons why you wouldn't like that??? I love computer maintenance tasks. Some of my favorite programs: Wordpad -basic word processing Notepad - temporary clipboard and basic scripting module Windows Media Player 12- video, music and online radio player Windows Media Center - live TV, local FM radio CCleaner- handy computer maintenance tool If something fails to work after using the registry cleaner, use SYSTEM RESTORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearNothingProductions Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 To me it seems too easy. Too easy. I really have to question if this is legitimate. I think I'm going to play around with this on my VM tonight... I'm really intrigued. Of course the pen is mightier than the sword! You know who said that? The guy with the pen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishi Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 To me it seems too easy. Too easy. I really have to question if this is legitimate. I think I'm going to play around with this on my VM tonight... I'm really intrigued. You are gonna try that on your virtual machine??? Keep us posted if there is anything malicious. I love computer maintenance tasks. Some of my favorite programs: Wordpad -basic word processing Notepad - temporary clipboard and basic scripting module Windows Media Player 12- video, music and online radio player Windows Media Center - live TV, local FM radio CCleaner- handy computer maintenance tool If something fails to work after using the registry cleaner, use SYSTEM RESTORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearNothingProductions Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 So I just finished my initial tests- I'll write up something formal in the morning. But as of now, the program (a single executable called 'FreeApp') doesn't appear to be malicious. The download from the site is a single 695 KB .exe file. According to the site, the program downloads the freeware apps you select online from their official vendors. The site also claims to be spyware approved, which it technically appears to be. The kicker: File sharing programs, such as uTorrent, are among those freeware apps available for download. And we all know what P2P programs do... It doesn't look like there is anything blatantly malicious about this site or program. The program downloads and installs a wide variety of freeware applications hosted all around the internet (the creators boast that you now only have to visit one site to get all you favorite programs). One trifle is that the programs are automatically installed, meaning users can't make any changes during the installation process (change target destinations, disabling toolbars). Scans from AVG 9, MBAM, SAS (which was installed via FreeApp) and an analysis of an HJT log didn't indicate any malicious or infectious alterations to the system. One other thing- CCleaner, Defraggler and Speccy were all part of the FreeApp system. Does Piriform know about this? Right now it's time for bed. I'll include logs, reports and a formal write up tomorrow. This looks pretty interesting. Where did the OP find out about this? Of course the pen is mightier than the sword! You know who said that? The guy with the pen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Face Of Bow Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 There are at least two other sites that offer the same service : ninite.com (easy to use), and Allymaps (a huge bunch of programs). They both work the same way as freenew (go and donwload from editors sites). I've only done a proper spyware check on the ninite bundle, though. Leagley, as long as the only offer freeware, it should be good. I think. The recommended software bundle is a bit greasy, though... :-( winRar, AD-Aware, AVG, are lousy choices, and there are no less than TWO torrents progs recommended! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators hazelnut Posted April 1, 2010 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2010 Nice to have you looking at it for us FNP. I see it is beta ware, and as you point out toolbars are installed. a big no no for me. No mention seems to be made of the fact that some items listed are beta ware themselves (such as speccy) There is a forum, very very new. Support contact https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general or support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmite Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 There's also liberkey (see this current thread which is pertinent to licensing issues ... http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=27197&hl=) and PortableApps. As portable apps rather than installed apps, the concept is not new. Portable apps don't, of course, have to be installed on portable media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishi Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 There's also liberkey (see this current thread which is pertinent to licensing issues ... http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=27197&hl=) and PortableApps. As portable apps rather than installed apps, the concept is not new. Portable apps don't, of course, have to be installed on portable media. Portable Apps seems a bit well. I recently downloaded Open Office Portable from that site since I had no MS Office (I had to rely on Wordpad for document writing for some time). I also want portable applications since they don't need to be installed and leave orphaned registry entries when removed. But so far, Open Office Portable seems prone to crashes at least in Windows 7 so I had to run them in compatibility mode for Windows XP , not sure if that will improve it. I love computer maintenance tasks. Some of my favorite programs: Wordpad -basic word processing Notepad - temporary clipboard and basic scripting module Windows Media Player 12- video, music and online radio player Windows Media Center - live TV, local FM radio CCleaner- handy computer maintenance tool If something fails to work after using the registry cleaner, use SYSTEM RESTORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Andavari Posted April 1, 2010 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2010 Reasons why you wouldn't like that??? Because it takes mere seconds for me to click upon my bookmarks to the freeware/open source I use to see if there's an update - albeit most have an built-in update checker nowadays making a website visit completely unnecessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTskifreak Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Ninite's legit. My cousin and I have used it a lot - and it was reviewed by MaximumPC. AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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