61. by th0magain. 2005-03-07 21:03:20
update on aaabesthomepage:
got rid of it by disabling ALL third party browser extensions.
goodbye googlebar, the one i did like.
that darned thing would keep popupkiller busy for as long as i left my machine on, browser open or not.
62. by th0m. 2005-03-07 21:03:16
not much to say here that hasn't been said...
i will say this, though:
of all the websites we collectively search,
all the companies we see on the web,
how many respectable companies have NO contact links on their entire page?
i looked at www.viewpoint.com after having to reinstall AIM and having to uninstall the crap that came with it.
lets see...
main page: no 'contact us' link
2nd tier pages: no 'contact us' link...
see a pattern?
maybe they got tired of overstuffed inboxes of hatemail.
anyone hoarding links to older versions of aim that still work, pls email ph47h0m@netscape.net
oh, while on the subject of crapware,
anyone had to deal with this aaabesthomepage garbage? gimme a holler...
till next reinstall...
th0m
63. by C-soapbox. 2005-03-07 12:03:32
I didn't download it. I didn't install it. I never heard of it until it popped up and asked for permission to update itself. I refused, and my Windows Media Player was uninstalled without my knowledge. Now I have to get rid of this Viewpoint thing and get my Windows Media Player back--what a bother from a "legitimate application."
64. by Guest. 2005-03-07 09:03:36
Pure BS that this is legitimate software. It is spyware that vicitimizes less savy computer users, takes over your browser, refuses to go away gracefully and is a pain to remove. Shame on AOL -- this would make a GREAT ad for netzero. I support life in prison for assholes like the ones who implemented this.
Stay away from viewpoint!! Watch out IM users!
65. by dps. 2005-03-04 01:03:32
I have basic computer knowledge (power on, web browsing, etc.). As many users, I couldn't delete AxMetaStream.dll and 5 others due to them being already in use. With the suggestions from this blog, I simply clicked the "start" button, then the "run" selection. I typed in "msconfig", Immediately on that screen I had a choice of how to start up my pc. I chose the "diagnostic" startup which only uses the needed drivers and devices. I restart and whatever programs the Viewpoint files were attached to weren't running and I was able to delete the files and discard them from the recycle bin. I'm sure when the Viewpoint people read this, they will disable that option in the next update.
66. by andy. 2005-03-03 16:03:53
Didn't ask for this and I don't use AIM. Not really sure how it imbedded itself, but I don't really care either. I did the following removal steps, I haven't checked the registry yet to what may have changed:
0) Reboot in protected mode (XP and W2K)
1) re-named the root directories which contained the offending .dll and executables. This should break any connection the program has with the operating system.
2) I then deleted everything under the offending root directories.
3) Emptied the wastebasket
4) So far, so good...
67. by Mary. 2005-03-03 12:03:23
I have a box stating Viewpoing Media Player updated that will come up in the bottom right of the screen most of the time after signing onto the internet. It seems to choose when to show up and when it does I cannot get rid of it without signing off and restarting my computer. Whether Viewpoint Media Player has a good purpose or not, I would not use it on purpose because of the irritating fairly large box that covers up everything in that corner. Even after disconnecting from the internet the message box remains, and cannot be moved,.
68. by just removed viewpoint. 2005-03-02 10:03:43
I have an inherited computer with God knows what on it. I was able to get the .dll's to erase. I don't know if all these steps are necessary, but this is what I did, trying to delete after mostly every step..
Went ahead and downloaded the uninstall from the toolbar. You have to accept an update to get to the toolbar in a new explorer window which has the uninstall option. It got rid of the toolbar. It's dangerous to give permission to download anything so I searched for all the files on my computer that had been modified today and deleted them.
The View point files were still in the programs folder. Deleted everything I could, renamed the rest.
Tried to give the .exe's a new extension--didn't work because the .exe extension was hidden.
At this point, I was getting an error when trying to delete that claimed it was because another program was using the files. I rebooted and then all the files deleted just fine.
I deleted everything from the recycle bin that had been deleted today.
Remained PO'd that I had to go through all that. It might've worked just to try the deletions just after a reboot.
69. by Guest. 2005-03-02 03:03:24
goto the WPM_FAQ (above), click "How do I decline the Viewpoint Toolbar opt-in prompt?"
"You've been updated"
Now if i've already been updated then how the F-- is that an opt-out? Kinda seams like its already installed. THX
AOL/AIM can use dlls' OCX's plugins ETC without requireing an update mgr, that sends ANY data to any one, but thats not the fun way, there is money to be made in having access to users computers to use, and use consumers. What happend to putting your credits in a small credits box, maybe flash it off every time the program start and thats the end of it.
70. by Guest. 2005-03-02 02:03:43
Program autoupdated itself, and biggy backed on some other program (aim or whatever) I dont aprove of them actions. Pain in the A__ to uninstall. And if its not collecting personal data then why does it have a GUID? not a program GUID, a user one, in Allusers... We're going to have to start mandating that a file list is encluded with an EULA. altest dir's and files outside of that dir..
71. by Guest. 2005-03-01 16:03:47
If it is legitimate, why is it so difficult to uninstall? It is my computer.
72. by some guy. 2005-03-01 15:03:01
if you open AxMetaStream.dll with notepad and delete everything in it, save it you can delete it the actual file
73. by VLM. 2005-03-01 12:03:43
I've been trying everything to get Viewpoint off.
They have a Viewpoint folder under allusers in the application Data. There is a notebook doc. telling the download info. I looked into the what sites came up with the https://a248.e.akamai.net and found that it has a fake link to windows updates download and other programs.
74. by MKJ. 2005-02-28 19:02:01
This Viewpoint is crap. Got an install message that looked like it was from Windows. Next thing I know, I have this new toolbar and program installed on my computer. Got the s#it uninstalled asap. I'm an attorney, and I swear, if this has done something permanent to my computer, I'm coming after somebody.
75. by Dave. 2005-02-27 14:02:47
This crap is NOT from aol. it comes from adobe software and is one of their newer updates. Nothing i have tried so far will delete it so if you have any suggestions plz post them
76. by iowa. 2005-02-25 22:02:19
tonight i got the popup asking me to update this software. I never installed it to begin with!
i do not have AIM installed on this pc. However, i did visit the SPACE.COM website as someone else mentioned here. I did not see any prompt to download any files, or more importantly, install any files!
i did the add/remove and deleted the files, however, AxMetaStream.dll would not delete.
this is a horrible way to gain customers and their data. this is spyware no other way to describe it.
77. by Dave. 2005-02-23 18:02:01
I cant get this thing of my computer. my computer wont shut down because the viewoint process won't end. HELP!
78. by Jase. 2005-02-21 09:02:05
Adware is adware ....We the users don't like to be forced to have anything that we are not aware of.
Only sick people will try to impose their will on others.
We will overcome.
79. by Tingatanga. 2005-02-16 11:02:33
thank you for everybody's comments. this Viewpoint thing just popped up on my screen today and i got rid of it. I certainly didn't approve of it being installed on my computer without me knowing about it.
80. by Merkwurdigliebe. 2005-02-16 06:02:57
I'm calling the company (212-201-0800) and raising a shit-storm.
update on aaabesthomepage:
got rid of it by disabling ALL third party browser extensions.
goodbye googlebar, the one i did like.
that darned thing would keep popupkiller busy for as long as i left my machine on, browser open or not.
62. by th0m. 2005-03-07 21:03:16
not much to say here that hasn't been said...
i will say this, though:
of all the websites we collectively search,
all the companies we see on the web,
how many respectable companies have NO contact links on their entire page?
i looked at www.viewpoint.com after having to reinstall AIM and having to uninstall the crap that came with it.
lets see...
main page: no 'contact us' link
2nd tier pages: no 'contact us' link...
see a pattern?
maybe they got tired of overstuffed inboxes of hatemail.
anyone hoarding links to older versions of aim that still work, pls email ph47h0m@netscape.net
oh, while on the subject of crapware,
anyone had to deal with this aaabesthomepage garbage? gimme a holler...
till next reinstall...
th0m
63. by C-soapbox. 2005-03-07 12:03:32
I didn't download it. I didn't install it. I never heard of it until it popped up and asked for permission to update itself. I refused, and my Windows Media Player was uninstalled without my knowledge. Now I have to get rid of this Viewpoint thing and get my Windows Media Player back--what a bother from a "legitimate application."
64. by Guest. 2005-03-07 09:03:36
Pure BS that this is legitimate software. It is spyware that vicitimizes less savy computer users, takes over your browser, refuses to go away gracefully and is a pain to remove. Shame on AOL -- this would make a GREAT ad for netzero. I support life in prison for assholes like the ones who implemented this.
Stay away from viewpoint!! Watch out IM users!
65. by dps. 2005-03-04 01:03:32
I have basic computer knowledge (power on, web browsing, etc.). As many users, I couldn't delete AxMetaStream.dll and 5 others due to them being already in use. With the suggestions from this blog, I simply clicked the "start" button, then the "run" selection. I typed in "msconfig", Immediately on that screen I had a choice of how to start up my pc. I chose the "diagnostic" startup which only uses the needed drivers and devices. I restart and whatever programs the Viewpoint files were attached to weren't running and I was able to delete the files and discard them from the recycle bin. I'm sure when the Viewpoint people read this, they will disable that option in the next update.
66. by andy. 2005-03-03 16:03:53
Didn't ask for this and I don't use AIM. Not really sure how it imbedded itself, but I don't really care either. I did the following removal steps, I haven't checked the registry yet to what may have changed:
0) Reboot in protected mode (XP and W2K)
1) re-named the root directories which contained the offending .dll and executables. This should break any connection the program has with the operating system.
2) I then deleted everything under the offending root directories.
3) Emptied the wastebasket
4) So far, so good...
67. by Mary. 2005-03-03 12:03:23
I have a box stating Viewpoing Media Player updated that will come up in the bottom right of the screen most of the time after signing onto the internet. It seems to choose when to show up and when it does I cannot get rid of it without signing off and restarting my computer. Whether Viewpoint Media Player has a good purpose or not, I would not use it on purpose because of the irritating fairly large box that covers up everything in that corner. Even after disconnecting from the internet the message box remains, and cannot be moved,.
68. by just removed viewpoint. 2005-03-02 10:03:43
I have an inherited computer with God knows what on it. I was able to get the .dll's to erase. I don't know if all these steps are necessary, but this is what I did, trying to delete after mostly every step..
Went ahead and downloaded the uninstall from the toolbar. You have to accept an update to get to the toolbar in a new explorer window which has the uninstall option. It got rid of the toolbar. It's dangerous to give permission to download anything so I searched for all the files on my computer that had been modified today and deleted them.
The View point files were still in the programs folder. Deleted everything I could, renamed the rest.
Tried to give the .exe's a new extension--didn't work because the .exe extension was hidden.
At this point, I was getting an error when trying to delete that claimed it was because another program was using the files. I rebooted and then all the files deleted just fine.
I deleted everything from the recycle bin that had been deleted today.
Remained PO'd that I had to go through all that. It might've worked just to try the deletions just after a reboot.
69. by Guest. 2005-03-02 03:03:24
goto the WPM_FAQ (above), click "How do I decline the Viewpoint Toolbar opt-in prompt?"
"You've been updated"
Now if i've already been updated then how the F-- is that an opt-out? Kinda seams like its already installed. THX
AOL/AIM can use dlls' OCX's plugins ETC without requireing an update mgr, that sends ANY data to any one, but thats not the fun way, there is money to be made in having access to users computers to use, and use consumers. What happend to putting your credits in a small credits box, maybe flash it off every time the program start and thats the end of it.
70. by Guest. 2005-03-02 02:03:43
Program autoupdated itself, and biggy backed on some other program (aim or whatever) I dont aprove of them actions. Pain in the A__ to uninstall. And if its not collecting personal data then why does it have a GUID? not a program GUID, a user one, in Allusers... We're going to have to start mandating that a file list is encluded with an EULA. altest dir's and files outside of that dir..
71. by Guest. 2005-03-01 16:03:47
If it is legitimate, why is it so difficult to uninstall? It is my computer.
72. by some guy. 2005-03-01 15:03:01
if you open AxMetaStream.dll with notepad and delete everything in it, save it you can delete it the actual file
73. by VLM. 2005-03-01 12:03:43
I've been trying everything to get Viewpoint off.
They have a Viewpoint folder under allusers in the application Data. There is a notebook doc. telling the download info. I looked into the what sites came up with the https://a248.e.akamai.net and found that it has a fake link to windows updates download and other programs.
74. by MKJ. 2005-02-28 19:02:01
This Viewpoint is crap. Got an install message that looked like it was from Windows. Next thing I know, I have this new toolbar and program installed on my computer. Got the s#it uninstalled asap. I'm an attorney, and I swear, if this has done something permanent to my computer, I'm coming after somebody.
75. by Dave. 2005-02-27 14:02:47
This crap is NOT from aol. it comes from adobe software and is one of their newer updates. Nothing i have tried so far will delete it so if you have any suggestions plz post them
76. by iowa. 2005-02-25 22:02:19
tonight i got the popup asking me to update this software. I never installed it to begin with!
i do not have AIM installed on this pc. However, i did visit the SPACE.COM website as someone else mentioned here. I did not see any prompt to download any files, or more importantly, install any files!
i did the add/remove and deleted the files, however, AxMetaStream.dll would not delete.
this is a horrible way to gain customers and their data. this is spyware no other way to describe it.
77. by Dave. 2005-02-23 18:02:01
I cant get this thing of my computer. my computer wont shut down because the viewoint process won't end. HELP!
78. by Jase. 2005-02-21 09:02:05
Adware is adware ....We the users don't like to be forced to have anything that we are not aware of.
Only sick people will try to impose their will on others.
We will overcome.
79. by Tingatanga. 2005-02-16 11:02:33
thank you for everybody's comments. this Viewpoint thing just popped up on my screen today and i got rid of it. I certainly didn't approve of it being installed on my computer without me knowing about it.
80. by Merkwurdigliebe. 2005-02-16 06:02:57
I'm calling the company (212-201-0800) and raising a shit-storm.