I haven’t been following the news of CNET bundling adware into software hosted by them because I always download the setup installer from the official website. Unless if the official website is no longer accessible, I’ll try to look for it in Softpedia. Downloading software from official websites is the best option and should always be practiced by everyone because the author of the software normally keeps the latest version there and also free from viruses. The fact is no programmer would want to tarnish their reputation by infecting their own programs with viruses.
I’ve just taken a look at CNET Download.com’s website and not all software are bundled with CNET Installer. If a software is being bundled with CNET’s installer, you would see a button that says “Download Now. CNET Installer Enabled“. If you look closer, there is actually a “Direct Download Link” where you can download the software directly from Download.com without the CNET installer.
If you move the mouse cursor to the CNET Installer Enabled, you would get a popup that explains:
The CNET Download.com Installer is a tiny ad-supported stub installer or “download manager” that helps securely deliver your downloads from Download.com’s servers. We also include offers for carefully screened software that complies with Download.com Software Policies as part of our Installer process.
Basically the CNET Installer is a downloader that downloads the software that you want to install on your computer from their server but it also comes with an option to install adware such as Babylon Toolbar or Spam Free Search Bar and changing your web browser’s default page and search provider. The problem is the installation of adware is enabled by default so you will need to select “I do not accept” at step 2 of 4 to make sure that the adware will not be installed.
Even if you decided not to install the downloaded software at step 4 of 4 from the CNET Installer by clicking the Later button, it is already too late because the adware is already installed on your computer. Fortunately these adware can be easily removed or uninstall from Control Panel > Programs and Features. However, you may need to manually reset the default home page and search provider for every web browsers that is installed on your computer.
Reset Search Engine for Internet Explorer
1. In Internet Explorer, press Alt+X
2. Select Manage Add-ons
3. Click on Search Providers, right click on Bing and select Set as default.
4. Alternatively you can also remove the unwanted search provider.
Reset Home Page for Internet Explorer
1. In Internet Explorer, press Alt+X
2. Select Internet Options
3. At the General tab, you can either click on the Use default or Use blank button.
Reset Search Engine for Firefox
1. In Firefox, click at the icon with the drop down arrow pointing downwards and select Manage Search Engines.
2. Select the unwanted search engine and click the Remove button.
Reset Home Page for Firefox
1. In Firefox, click the Firefox button located at the top left of the window.
2. Select Options > Options
3. At the General tab, click the Restore to Default button at Home Page.
Reset Search Engine for Chrome
1. In Chrome, click the wrench icon at the top right of the program and select Options
2. At the Basics tab, click Manage search engines button.
3. Set Google as default and then followed by clicking the X button to remove the unwanted search options.
Reset Home Page for Chrome
1. In Chrome, click the wrench icon at the top right of the program and select Options
2. At the Basics tab, you can either select the “Use the New Tab page” option or set the URL that you want to automatically open at Open this page.
Reset Search Engine for Opera
1. In Opera, click at the icon with the drop down arrow pointing downwards and select Manage Search Engines.
2. Select the unwanted search engine and click the Delete button.
Reset Home Page for Opera
1. In Opera, press Ctrl+F12.
2. At the General tab, set the URL that you want to automatically open at Home page.
finally, less crap,i totally stopped using that site since they started using that down loader.
Well, that’s an eye opener because they’ve always gone out of their way to promote the downloads and adware, virus free, etc. It shows how vigilant you have to be and that’s alarming to find out if you say, “don’t accept,” “…it is already too late because the adware is already installed on your computer.” Now, just like TeXaCo_sr said, if CNET is the only choice to install, I’ll just pass.I have noticed that even going to the developer’s website for direct downloads now commonly results in linkback to CNET and/or some others. Good to know Softpedia is still reliable. Thanks for the wake-up call!
Hi Ray,
Since CNET started to push this adware with their downloads, I refuse to download anything from them. It’s the principle of the issue. They were once a reputable company and should know better than to bundle this type of stuff in their downloads. I guess now adding the direct download link is a concession because people are upset about the whole thing.
Well, until they remove the adware bundled installer all together, I will not be downloading from them. If it is something I need, I will find it on other sites like you mentioned softpedia or snapfiles.
I have run into one or two programs that I wanted to try out but found out you could only download them from CNET. So I decided that I could live without those programs.
Hopefully they will see issue at some point and fix it, but I am not holding my breath.
TeX
This is the very reason I now steer clear from Cnet and other similar sites that offer their bundled installers. Sometimes even when I’ve unchecked the ”do not install toolbar” opttion, it still installs the offending crap-ware. Like you I now go directly to the source for my installer. I’ve also found sites such as Filehippo and Snap Files that offer just the installer and a link to the developer’s site. Thanks for this informative article, Raymond. Keep up the excellent work…
I’m stuck with babylon search in internet explorer. I have uninstalled babylon toolbar from add or remove program, removed from addons manager and changed default home page.When I open ie there is no problem, but when I open a new tab in ie the babylon search coming automatically. Please help
nice article. thanks
Download.com has made me very angry doing this. I have switched to alternative sites like FileHippo and Softpedia
I prefer filehippo.com
There is a userscript (userscripts.org/scripts/show/111137) that allows to skip the CNET downloader and to download the actual application. Quite useful and without all the hassle :)
You don’t really need that userscript anymore when you can click on the Direct Download Link without registering or logging in to CNET.