81. by rgriffis. 2005-02-15 23:02:55
Add Space.com to the list of Viewpoint installers. At least they let you know about it up front.
The joke is, there is a "No Spyware" logo on the Viewpoint install page. That is really sick.
Viewpoint is SPYWARE. Any software which records your internet activity and reports it to a third party, whether it includes your name and personal info or not, is SPYWARE. Period.
I will never use any product which includes or utilizes Viewpoint in any way.
There are so many excellent products which have the same functionality without the intrusion. It is a shame so many otherwise respectable vendors are opting to go the spyware route.
82. by Bill Bosley. 2005-02-15 19:02:59
Why, why, I did not ask for it, I think Adobe reader did it.....why,
Stop it, just stop....
83. by dcreeden. 2005-02-14 21:02:28
Tonight a pop-up box appeared asking me if I wanted to install Viewpoint.
Of course I didn't.
Curiosity got the best of me so I Googled my way to your web site.
Who knows what would happen if I removed it?
Instead I decided to disable it.
Sure nuff, Viewpoint was sitting in my program files folder.
Aha! Viewpoint Manager had ViewCP.cpl, a Control Panel item.
Went to Control Panel and there it was.
Checked all three boxes in the Update Preferences area and disabled updates.
Went into MSCONFIG and found Viewmgr was indeed up and running automatically on startup,
using my resources without permission.
[Start Button -> Run and type in MSCONFIG and press enter]
Of course, MSCONFIG nicely tells you the registry key it starts with.
REGEDIT
[Start Button -> Run and type in REGEDIT and press enter]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
Deleted the ViewMgr.exe key.
Now I'll just see if things still work.
84. by David Selby. 2005-02-14 10:02:32
this thing somehow got on my computer, the window comes up and blocks my screen, the only way to get out of it to restart. I hate this company and program, it's crap!! I hope the creators of this program burn in hell.
85. by Dave. 2005-02-14 10:02:48
I have never heard of a LEGITIMATE APPLICATION that finds it way into people computers without their knowledge or consent.
86. by Hate spyware. 2005-02-14 07:02:35
Spyware, adware, whatever you want to call it, it's crap! Get this crap off my computer!
87. by rizzo. 2005-02-09 23:02:42
to the guy who thinks people are stupid for considering viewpoint spyware...
it installs without you knowing it. also, aol does include spyware that is regularly picked up by spybot s&d, it's known as wild tangent. sure you can opt-out, but they know that most people don't. get off your soap box. with aim, you can't opt-out of viewpoint. plain and simple. if something installs without me knowing it, regardless of whether or not the third party application is legit, it's spyware. plain and simple. and it sends information, no matter how anonymous to that server and updates itself without telling you. that's the definition of spyware. maybe aol needs to be more careful with their installers. it does not list anything about viewpoint in the EULA.
88. by frustrated. 2005-02-05 15:02:24
I am not too incredibly bothered by the program and the toolbar and the Media Player. I installed ViewPoint without knowing that I had, but I understand that ViewPoint comes with AIM, which I installed about 2 months ago and have had no problem with until now. However, what has been bugging me about this thing is that every time I click on the shortcut on my desktop to get into Internet Explorer, I get a message, like to open a file, that brings me to a random folder, I have not yet figured out the pattern behind what folder this is since it brings every user on my computer to a different folder. The title of this message thing is "Select Skin File". Now, I have no idea what this is, but it is really bugging my mother, so I want to get rid of it if possible, but I dont want to install AIM if I dont have to. thanx -skip
89. by thumky. 2005-01-25 08:01:23
Is this guy for real? He clearly works for Viewpoint, his response reads just like the "Privacy" statement on their website ( which doesn't include removal instructions btw! )
It shows up on my computer without me consciously knowing about it. It doesn't let me End the Process in the task manager like normal programs, it didn't even come with an Uninstaller. As far as i'm concerned, its spyware.
90. by Zaphod. 2005-01-24 19:01:24
Viewpoint is NOT spyware or adware. You guys have gone wayy overboard. You can disable the Viewpoint Media Player (VMP) from contacting Viewpoint (updating itself) by going in your control panel, double-clicking Viewpoint, and tell it not to auto-update their software! (Something I don't recommend.) It will no longer send anything over the internet, but will still let you see cool 3D Viewpoint media, flash or video through their player.
The Viewpoint toolbar will stop sending other search results to viewpoint if you simply click the "options" menu, click "searching" and disable the "competitive search" option! (Which allows you to get viewpoint search results AND results from whatever other engine you use AT THE SAME TIME. If your options menu doesn't work due to having WinXP SP2, go to: http://search.viewpoint.com/toolbar/features_2.html and download the SP2 Fix for the toolbar.
Viewpoint (VMP) is a key component of AOL (I've beta tested AOL for 10 years) and AIM. It's the tech. behind AOL 3D SuperBuddies, Adobe Atmosphere, Sony's 3D product models, Ford, Dodge, Toyota and many others. It is totally harmless, and works like all other media players.
AOL, AIM, Adobe and others include the player because their software won't work without it. All data sent to the player is completely anonymous, and there is no way for Viewpoint to gather any personal info on you.
From http://www.liutilities.com: ViewMgr.exe is responsible for managing/updating (VMP)’s components. Similar to Flash, Quicktime, etc. Security Risk (0-5): 0
Read article: http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/ViewMgr/
AOL doesn't want to install spyware on your computer, it would be bad for their buisness. AOL 9.0 scans for spyware because its what their customers want: clean PCs. They wouldn't start installing spyware because it would hurt them if they did.Viewpoint used to be Metacreations, makers of 3D and photo programs such as Bryce, Poser, RayDream Studio, Carrara, Kai's Power tools, Painter, and much more. Viewpoint used to be called Metastream: a very cool way to view 3D content on the web. They changed the name to Viewpoint to concentrate on 3D content for the web, and sold off their software products to Corel, Curious software, Adobe and others. I've always loved their cool 3D products and even 3D models on the web. They have some of the most realistic rendering I've seen, and what was very inexpensive software.
The Viewpoint Toolbar and VMP are very useful and cool programs. It's time to stop calling them bad names. Visit http://www.viewpoint.com and see what neat 3D models and interactive media they create. It's the coolest stuff on the web!
Best,
-Zaphod
91. by Jackson. 2005-01-21 02:01:28
I noticed a folder called "Viewpoint" in the 'program files' folder. I thought this was strange- 5 days ago i did a clean install of xp. I checked in 'add and remove programs for any out of place programs and found none (including the Viewporint entry that has been talked much about in this forum). After some research, I found that upon updating Acrobat Reader atmosphere component, the "Viewopint" folder is created and a few of its components are put into it. As far as I can tell, this has unaffected my computer- no internet toolbars, its not the default media player (actaully there is no player its just a few components), no CUID, no automatic updating process, etc.
92. by davepatrick. 2005-01-16 20:01:08
This shit has taken over my media play. Now i CANNOT download a media player, or anything else.
Whatever
93. by Furious Chicken. 2005-01-14 23:01:39
I do NOT, nor have ever used AIM and just got the popup to update VMP, the most recent install II did was Microsoft Media Player 10. That was some time ago though.
94. by Salsaholic. 2005-01-10 06:01:38
I will uninstall AIM because of this crap. There are better Messenger Tools (for example GAIM) with no Spyware included. I just hope enough people will do the same to make AOL understand they should never oblige us to acceppt spyware on our systems.
95. by Guest. 2005-01-09 22:01:53
I know that deleting VMP from Remove/Add, and deleting the reg. keys would probably remove the program, but what if I want to keep using AIM?
I heard that AIM would malfunction if some of the files relating with VMP were deleted.
shoot, I hate AOL!!
96. by Guest. 2005-01-02 13:01:27
http://www.unicast.com/company/privacy.asp
Advertising content delivered via the Unicast SUPERSTITIAL system may contain third-party cookies. Advertisers, and third party companies acting on behalf of advertisers (such as an ad serving company or an ad agency), use third-party cookies to judge the effectiveness of and target their SUPERSTITIAL ad campaigns.
While Unicast's SUPERSTITIAL format delivers the ad content which may allow a third-party cookie to be set, such cookies are not within Unicast's control and the information they collect is reported back to the third party directly, not through Unicast. Third-party cookies are placed and tracked by the advertiser or by a third-party company. Unicast does not have the access to the information tracked by third-party cookies.
Most third-party cookies anonymously track the Web browsing habits of users and their interactions with the ads they view. However, users should be aware that some cookies can collect other types of information, including personally identifiable information.
While Unicast itself does not have access to the information tracked by third-party cookies set through SUPERSTITIAL advertisements, there are cases when the third party may agree to share such information with Unicast. Such information sharing is done on an aggregate and anonymous basis, and does not include any personally indentifiable information collected by the third party.
The issue of third party cookies is a matter between the users and the advertisers and/or the third party company representing the advertiser, not involving Unicast. This information is provided by Unicast as a service to users who may be unaware of third party cookies.
97. by Guest. 2005-01-02 13:01:00
http://www.unicast.com/company/privacy.asp
Unicast privacy policy contains a statement concerning 3rd party cookies that is very alarming. Other than some of the fortune 500 clients, Unicast has had some very interesting past clients that are listed as adware/spyware. Viewpoint can NOT take my computer to make money.
98. by Guest. 2005-01-02 06:01:58
i complained to aol about viewpoint media player telling them i was cancelling my broadband contract 3 mionths into it because of this spyware. the reply was its not spyware its adware was said to me. the guy said he was indian and didnt understand english very well. my complaints have worked and i no longer have viewpoint because they swent me some update and seems to be gone
99. by Guest. 2004-12-18 13:12:27
I booted into safe mode w/ command prompt and deleted the files. But they managed to come back.
100. by Guest. 2004-12-13 12:12:09
Check out the MetaStreamID.ini file:
[InstallIDs]
InstallID = AdobeAtmosphere
[EULA]
EULA_Agreed = 1
Add Space.com to the list of Viewpoint installers. At least they let you know about it up front.
The joke is, there is a "No Spyware" logo on the Viewpoint install page. That is really sick.
Viewpoint is SPYWARE. Any software which records your internet activity and reports it to a third party, whether it includes your name and personal info or not, is SPYWARE. Period.
I will never use any product which includes or utilizes Viewpoint in any way.
There are so many excellent products which have the same functionality without the intrusion. It is a shame so many otherwise respectable vendors are opting to go the spyware route.
82. by Bill Bosley. 2005-02-15 19:02:59
Why, why, I did not ask for it, I think Adobe reader did it.....why,
Stop it, just stop....
83. by dcreeden. 2005-02-14 21:02:28
Tonight a pop-up box appeared asking me if I wanted to install Viewpoint.
Of course I didn't.
Curiosity got the best of me so I Googled my way to your web site.
Who knows what would happen if I removed it?
Instead I decided to disable it.
Sure nuff, Viewpoint was sitting in my program files folder.
Aha! Viewpoint Manager had ViewCP.cpl, a Control Panel item.
Went to Control Panel and there it was.
Checked all three boxes in the Update Preferences area and disabled updates.
Went into MSCONFIG and found Viewmgr was indeed up and running automatically on startup,
using my resources without permission.
[Start Button -> Run and type in MSCONFIG and press enter]
Of course, MSCONFIG nicely tells you the registry key it starts with.
REGEDIT
[Start Button -> Run and type in REGEDIT and press enter]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
Deleted the ViewMgr.exe key.
Now I'll just see if things still work.
84. by David Selby. 2005-02-14 10:02:32
this thing somehow got on my computer, the window comes up and blocks my screen, the only way to get out of it to restart. I hate this company and program, it's crap!! I hope the creators of this program burn in hell.
85. by Dave. 2005-02-14 10:02:48
I have never heard of a LEGITIMATE APPLICATION that finds it way into people computers without their knowledge or consent.
86. by Hate spyware. 2005-02-14 07:02:35
Spyware, adware, whatever you want to call it, it's crap! Get this crap off my computer!
87. by rizzo. 2005-02-09 23:02:42
to the guy who thinks people are stupid for considering viewpoint spyware...
it installs without you knowing it. also, aol does include spyware that is regularly picked up by spybot s&d, it's known as wild tangent. sure you can opt-out, but they know that most people don't. get off your soap box. with aim, you can't opt-out of viewpoint. plain and simple. if something installs without me knowing it, regardless of whether or not the third party application is legit, it's spyware. plain and simple. and it sends information, no matter how anonymous to that server and updates itself without telling you. that's the definition of spyware. maybe aol needs to be more careful with their installers. it does not list anything about viewpoint in the EULA.
88. by frustrated. 2005-02-05 15:02:24
I am not too incredibly bothered by the program and the toolbar and the Media Player. I installed ViewPoint without knowing that I had, but I understand that ViewPoint comes with AIM, which I installed about 2 months ago and have had no problem with until now. However, what has been bugging me about this thing is that every time I click on the shortcut on my desktop to get into Internet Explorer, I get a message, like to open a file, that brings me to a random folder, I have not yet figured out the pattern behind what folder this is since it brings every user on my computer to a different folder. The title of this message thing is "Select Skin File". Now, I have no idea what this is, but it is really bugging my mother, so I want to get rid of it if possible, but I dont want to install AIM if I dont have to. thanx -skip
89. by thumky. 2005-01-25 08:01:23
Is this guy for real? He clearly works for Viewpoint, his response reads just like the "Privacy" statement on their website ( which doesn't include removal instructions btw! )
It shows up on my computer without me consciously knowing about it. It doesn't let me End the Process in the task manager like normal programs, it didn't even come with an Uninstaller. As far as i'm concerned, its spyware.
90. by Zaphod. 2005-01-24 19:01:24
Viewpoint is NOT spyware or adware. You guys have gone wayy overboard. You can disable the Viewpoint Media Player (VMP) from contacting Viewpoint (updating itself) by going in your control panel, double-clicking Viewpoint, and tell it not to auto-update their software! (Something I don't recommend.) It will no longer send anything over the internet, but will still let you see cool 3D Viewpoint media, flash or video through their player.
The Viewpoint toolbar will stop sending other search results to viewpoint if you simply click the "options" menu, click "searching" and disable the "competitive search" option! (Which allows you to get viewpoint search results AND results from whatever other engine you use AT THE SAME TIME. If your options menu doesn't work due to having WinXP SP2, go to: http://search.viewpoint.com/toolbar/features_2.html and download the SP2 Fix for the toolbar.
Viewpoint (VMP) is a key component of AOL (I've beta tested AOL for 10 years) and AIM. It's the tech. behind AOL 3D SuperBuddies, Adobe Atmosphere, Sony's 3D product models, Ford, Dodge, Toyota and many others. It is totally harmless, and works like all other media players.
AOL, AIM, Adobe and others include the player because their software won't work without it. All data sent to the player is completely anonymous, and there is no way for Viewpoint to gather any personal info on you.
From http://www.liutilities.com: ViewMgr.exe is responsible for managing/updating (VMP)’s components. Similar to Flash, Quicktime, etc. Security Risk (0-5): 0
Read article: http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/ViewMgr/
AOL doesn't want to install spyware on your computer, it would be bad for their buisness. AOL 9.0 scans for spyware because its what their customers want: clean PCs. They wouldn't start installing spyware because it would hurt them if they did.Viewpoint used to be Metacreations, makers of 3D and photo programs such as Bryce, Poser, RayDream Studio, Carrara, Kai's Power tools, Painter, and much more. Viewpoint used to be called Metastream: a very cool way to view 3D content on the web. They changed the name to Viewpoint to concentrate on 3D content for the web, and sold off their software products to Corel, Curious software, Adobe and others. I've always loved their cool 3D products and even 3D models on the web. They have some of the most realistic rendering I've seen, and what was very inexpensive software.
The Viewpoint Toolbar and VMP are very useful and cool programs. It's time to stop calling them bad names. Visit http://www.viewpoint.com and see what neat 3D models and interactive media they create. It's the coolest stuff on the web!
Best,
-Zaphod
91. by Jackson. 2005-01-21 02:01:28
I noticed a folder called "Viewpoint" in the 'program files' folder. I thought this was strange- 5 days ago i did a clean install of xp. I checked in 'add and remove programs for any out of place programs and found none (including the Viewporint entry that has been talked much about in this forum). After some research, I found that upon updating Acrobat Reader atmosphere component, the "Viewopint" folder is created and a few of its components are put into it. As far as I can tell, this has unaffected my computer- no internet toolbars, its not the default media player (actaully there is no player its just a few components), no CUID, no automatic updating process, etc.
92. by davepatrick. 2005-01-16 20:01:08
This shit has taken over my media play. Now i CANNOT download a media player, or anything else.
Whatever
93. by Furious Chicken. 2005-01-14 23:01:39
I do NOT, nor have ever used AIM and just got the popup to update VMP, the most recent install II did was Microsoft Media Player 10. That was some time ago though.
94. by Salsaholic. 2005-01-10 06:01:38
I will uninstall AIM because of this crap. There are better Messenger Tools (for example GAIM) with no Spyware included. I just hope enough people will do the same to make AOL understand they should never oblige us to acceppt spyware on our systems.
95. by Guest. 2005-01-09 22:01:53
I know that deleting VMP from Remove/Add, and deleting the reg. keys would probably remove the program, but what if I want to keep using AIM?
I heard that AIM would malfunction if some of the files relating with VMP were deleted.
shoot, I hate AOL!!
96. by Guest. 2005-01-02 13:01:27
http://www.unicast.com/company/privacy.asp
Advertising content delivered via the Unicast SUPERSTITIAL system may contain third-party cookies. Advertisers, and third party companies acting on behalf of advertisers (such as an ad serving company or an ad agency), use third-party cookies to judge the effectiveness of and target their SUPERSTITIAL ad campaigns.
While Unicast's SUPERSTITIAL format delivers the ad content which may allow a third-party cookie to be set, such cookies are not within Unicast's control and the information they collect is reported back to the third party directly, not through Unicast. Third-party cookies are placed and tracked by the advertiser or by a third-party company. Unicast does not have the access to the information tracked by third-party cookies.
Most third-party cookies anonymously track the Web browsing habits of users and their interactions with the ads they view. However, users should be aware that some cookies can collect other types of information, including personally identifiable information.
While Unicast itself does not have access to the information tracked by third-party cookies set through SUPERSTITIAL advertisements, there are cases when the third party may agree to share such information with Unicast. Such information sharing is done on an aggregate and anonymous basis, and does not include any personally indentifiable information collected by the third party.
The issue of third party cookies is a matter between the users and the advertisers and/or the third party company representing the advertiser, not involving Unicast. This information is provided by Unicast as a service to users who may be unaware of third party cookies.
97. by Guest. 2005-01-02 13:01:00
http://www.unicast.com/company/privacy.asp
Unicast privacy policy contains a statement concerning 3rd party cookies that is very alarming. Other than some of the fortune 500 clients, Unicast has had some very interesting past clients that are listed as adware/spyware. Viewpoint can NOT take my computer to make money.
98. by Guest. 2005-01-02 06:01:58
i complained to aol about viewpoint media player telling them i was cancelling my broadband contract 3 mionths into it because of this spyware. the reply was its not spyware its adware was said to me. the guy said he was indian and didnt understand english very well. my complaints have worked and i no longer have viewpoint because they swent me some update and seems to be gone
99. by Guest. 2004-12-18 13:12:27
I booted into safe mode w/ command prompt and deleted the files. But they managed to come back.
100. by Guest. 2004-12-13 12:12:09
Check out the MetaStreamID.ini file:
[InstallIDs]
InstallID = AdobeAtmosphere
[EULA]
EULA_Agreed = 1
[{03F998B2-0E00-11D3-A498-00104B6EB52E}]
Policy = Adobe
InstallLoc = https://components.viewpoint.com/adobe/MetaStreamComponents/
[{1B00725B-C455-4DE6-BFB6-AD540AD427CD}]
Policy = Adobe
InstallLoc = https://components.viewpoint.com/adobe/MetaStreamComponents/
[Preload]
Policy = Adobe