RealOne remover freeware?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mister Charlie
  • Start date Start date
M

Mister Charlie

Is there any? This POS program has got to go now Real ALternative is
installed. Of course it won't go quietly into that long goodnight.
 
John Corliss said:
Good luck. From what I've heard, the thing leaves cancerous tentacles
in your system after you uninstall it via regular means. Your best bet
is to do a total system reinstall (also from what I've heard.)
Click to expand...

Arg! Thanks. I was *afraid* of that.
 
Is there any? This POS program has got to go now Real ALternative is
installed. Of course it won't go quietly into that long goodnight.
Click to expand...
Or even "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
 
JnJ said:
Or even "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
Click to expand...
Yeah, going on faulty short term memory. However, the poem was less an
issue with me than the Real problem.
 
Yeah, going on faulty short term memory. However, the poem was less an
issue with me than the Real problem.
Click to expand...
Of course - understood. It's a great poem though. Real Players is the
pits.
 
|
| | > Mister Charlie wrote:
| >
| > > Is there any? This POS program has got to go now Real
ALternative
| is
| > > installed. Of course it won't go quietly into that long
goodnight.
| >
| > Good luck. From what I've heard, the thing leaves cancerous
tentacles
| > in your system after you uninstall it via regular means. Your
best bet
| > is to do a total system reinstall (also from what I've
heard.)
|
| Arg! Thanks. I was *afraid* of that.
|

Context:
I use Sytem Suite, an integrated utility collection similar in
function to Norton Systemworks, but much better behaved. I've
been able to successfully remove Real Player with it. The trick
is to use a utility (which this set includes) that tracks the
system changes that a program installation makes. Later, when you
uninstall the offensive software, the utility uninstaller undoes
the entire installation piece-by-piece. It is important that the
install tracker-uninstaller pair operate cautiously.

Real Player astounded me with the depth and complexity of its
installation. System Suite logged over five thousand system
changes -- the installation log covered 46 pages!

My uninstallation required two passes using the usual Microsoft
uninstallation route and two passes with the System Suite
uninstaller. Then, I went into the registry and manually removed
all the remaining "neutered" references. This is no task for the
faint-hearted.

I cannot recommend System Suite because I don't like the present
publisher's support and maintenance practices. I have been even
more unhappy with Norton Systemworks. I do recommend using either
a fine commercial utility set (System Mechanic is well-regarded
and will be next on my system) or free tools discussed in this
newsgroup.

Before I used System Suite, the only way that I was able to
remove Real Player and Quick Time was to reformat my hard disk!
Again, I am not recommending this particular product.

Note that the Real Alternative file set is an alternative to the
Real Player itself, but not to the practices and technologies of
Real Networks. This file set is used by Media Player Classic to
render Real Streams. I've also found jetAudio (another "Real
Alternative") referring to files within that set, as well. Real
Alternative appears to be a product of Real Networks; all its
files contain embedded references to that company as the source,
and one of the files in the set is a Real logo. True to form, the
program even incorporates spyware. See the spyware newsgroup for
information about how to protect yourself from the privacy
invasion.

Richard
 
Richard said:
Note that the Real Alternative file set is an alternative to the
Real Player itself, but not to the practices and technologies of
Real Networks. This file set is used by Media Player Classic to
render Real Streams. I've also found jetAudio (another "Real
Alternative") referring to files within that set, as well. Real
Alternative appears to be a product of Real Networks; all its
files contain embedded references to that company as the source,
and one of the files in the set is a Real logo. True to form, the
program even incorporates spyware. See the spyware newsgroup for
information about how to protect yourself from the privacy
invasion.
Click to expand...


This is the first time I've heard any claim that Real Alternative is
anything other than what it represents itself to be.

Would you mind pointing me toward any supporting evidence for this
allegation?
 
Richard Steinfeld said:
Note that the Real Alternative file set is an alternative to the
Real Player itself, but not to the practices and technologies of
Real Networks. This file set is used by Media Player Classic to
render Real Streams. I've also found jetAudio (another "Real
Alternative") referring to files within that set, as well. Real
Alternative appears to be a product of Real Networks; all its
files contain embedded references to that company as the source,
and one of the files in the set is a Real logo. True to form, the
program even incorporates spyware. See the spyware newsgroup for
information about how to protect yourself from the privacy
invasion.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed response. Obviously it is too late for me to
have a tracking program in place before installing Real.

I am surprised by the Real Alternative being a Real product charge
though. I am new to it and cannot say, though I had noticed the Real
logo. I just assumed it was a mocking sort of thing. Mocking me
perhaps.
 
message | Richard Steinfeld wrote:
| >
| > Note that the Real Alternative file set is an alternative to
the
| > Real Player itself, but not to the practices and technologies
of
| > Real Networks. This file set is used by Media Player Classic
to
| > render Real Streams. I've also found jetAudio (another "Real
| > Alternative") referring to files within that set, as well.
Real
| > Alternative appears to be a product of Real Networks; all its
| > files contain embedded references to that company as the
source,
| > and one of the files in the set is a Real logo. True to form,
the
| > program even incorporates spyware. See the spyware newsgroup
for
| > information about how to protect yourself from the privacy
| > invasion.
|
|
| This is the first time I've heard any claim that Real
Alternative is
| anything other than what it represents itself to be.
|
| Would you mind pointing me toward any supporting evidence for
this
| allegation?
|
| --
| Mark Warner
| lose .inhibitions when replying

Dear mark,

I'm going to lose my inhibitions in this reply, just like you
urged in your tagline. You are invited to point yourself to the
"evidence" that I mentioned in my post; go to the spyware
newsgroup. You know how to do this, don't you? Just because you
haven't heard any claims does not mean that you are not
uninformed! This issue has been discussed there more than once.
People on that group who have the technical knowledge to be able
to analyze code contained within certain files that they've
studied have posted specific file content patterns and
instructions for altering these contents so that the fileset
cannot "phone home" with reports about Mark Warner's media
habits. Go there and find the answers that you asked me. You may
have to go back a couple of months or so,and/or use Google Groups
to do so.

I also invite you to do exactly what I did; just use any program
that will display the contents within a file and look for
yourself at the source data that's contained in the Real
Alternative files.

As far as Real Alternative's being "...what it represents itself
to be," as far as I've seen, the Real Alternative file set simply
is a file set. I have seen no representation of itself by
"itself." All representations that I've seen have been provided
by others, such as the people who maintain freeware/shareware
download sites. The file set is used in the manner of a plugin by
Media Player Classic. Other suitable players, of course, are free
to connect with the file set, too. For example, when I use
jetAudio (a commercial product), my firewall reports that it's
actually gone over to the Real Alternative file set that I
installed with Media Player Classic and is grabbing a few of
those files to do its work. This is strange business.

Mark, do your own homework. Cut the lingo crap: I do not reside
in a goddamn law office.

Richard
 
|
message
| | >
| > Note that the Real Alternative file set is an alternative to
the
| > Real Player itself, but not to the practices and technologies
of
| > Real Networks. This file set is used by Media Player Classic
to
| > render Real Streams. I've also found jetAudio (another "Real
| > Alternative") referring to files within that set, as well.
Real
| > Alternative appears to be a product of Real Networks; all its
| > files contain embedded references to that company as the
source,
| > and one of the files in the set is a Real logo. True to form,
the
| > program even incorporates spyware. See the spyware newsgroup
for
| > information about how to protect yourself from the privacy
| > invasion.
| >
| Thanks for the detailed response. Obviously it is too late for
me to
| have a tracking program in place before installing Real.
|
| I am surprised by the Real Alternative being a Real product
charge
| though. I am new to it and cannot say, though I had noticed
the Real
| logo. I just assumed it was a mocking sort of thing. Mocking
me
| perhaps.
|

That's a reasonable assumption, alright. In fact, I thought the
same thing immediately upon seeing the icon among the files.

Just go get yourself any program that reveals the innards of
files. This type of program reveals the ownership statements
contained in the files. It's all right there. I've been using
File Snoop for this purpose. Unfortunately, File Snoop is a Ziff
Davis product, and I think that you have to pay for their
utilities nowadays. Fortunately, my experience with the Ziff
Davis stuff is that they put out useful utilities that fill real
needs, and their stuff is well-crafted and well-debugged. I used
to use a wonderful free DOS program for this, one that has been
able to work sometimes in Windows 9x. When you examine the
files' innards, you will see the ownership statements very
clearly.

I have used "snooping" utilities a surprising amount on-the-job.
They can be really handy for a number of purposes, such as when
you have to restore a bunch of linked files of diffferent
versions made by a person who quit suddenly. My knowledge of this
stuff is puny compared with some of the "pros" on the Spyware
newsgroup.

Understand that Real Alternative is a "Codec:" like "Modem,"
"Code-Decode." Real's streaming technology is extremely
complicated. It has to be in order to perform the myriad
functions of maintaining the flow of a stream, which is a whole
lot more complex than the conversation that takes place between
your computer and your printer. That flow includes recovery from
interruptions. It's very, very slick. To me, the process is
admirable. Note that I didn't say that I like the audio quality
or the business practices of the company. However, I'm amazed
that it works at and it's become almost indespensible in my life,
allowing me to listen to certain public radio programs from
Boston right here on the Pacific Coast. The quality of streaming,
by the way, is settable by the content provider. That's why the
audio isn't the same from one site to another.

Look; you still may be able to extract this nightmare of a
product. I just am not aware of other methods. Hopefully, someone
else here knows of a good free install tracker/uninstaller. And
even better, perhaps someone knows of a program that can undo the
octapus tentacles afterwards, like a "day after" pill. Good luck!

Also go to the spyware newsgroup and see what people have wrote
about the behavior of the "alternatives." I'll add that the two
alternatives that I've used are much less invasive and lighter on
their feet than the "official" variety.

Richard
 
Richard Steinfeld said:
Also go to the spyware newsgroup and see what people have wrote
about the behavior of the "alternatives." I'll add that the two
alternatives that I've used are much less invasive and lighter on
their feet than the "official" variety.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I will do that.
 
|
message
| | >
| >
| > Also go to the spyware newsgroup and see what people have
wrote
| > about the behavior of the "alternatives." I'll add that the
two
| > alternatives that I've used are much less invasive and
lighter on
| > their feet than the "official" variety.
| >
| Thanks, I will do that.
|
|

And I have wrote some bad wroting! Computers facilitate sloppy
editing. People "have written" or "wrote." Arggh! (I hate when I
do that.)

One thing that reveals more truth than our President is a
firewall. As I've said in another post here, I'm using Sygate
firewall right now. It's set so that whenever one of these "Real"
renderers (jetAudio for me now), the firewall alerts me and tells
me exactly where it's reaching out to. One thing to be wary of is
when the firewall tells you that the player is "phoning home."
Real itself gives me a bullshit message that it's downloading
"new software." Like, how many times per month does it need to
load "new software" before this routine begins to look like a
ruse. Do they employ an army of coders just to keep making
improvements and new releases every week? What sane software
company behaves like this?

I think that I'll try Real Alternative/Media Player Classic again
because this "updating" is beginning to gnaw at me.

You could also do a lengthier search coming at that newsgroup via
Google Groups. Don't worry about the one or two guys who hate
Real with such passion that they're foaming. Let us know what you
find out, OK? I haven't kept up lately.

Richard
 
Richard said:
"Mark Warner" wrote
Click to expand...

[snip unstripped sig line]
Dear mark,

I'm going to lose my inhibitions in this reply, just like you
urged in your tagline. You are invited to point yourself to the
"evidence" that I mentioned in my post; go to the spyware
newsgroup. You know how to do this, don't you? Just because you
haven't heard any claims does not mean that you are not
uninformed! This issue has been discussed there more than once.
People on that group who have the technical knowledge to be able
to analyze code contained within certain files that they've
studied have posted specific file content patterns and
instructions for altering these contents so that the fileset
cannot "phone home" with reports about Mark Warner's media
habits. Go there and find the answers that you asked me. You may
have to go back a couple of months or so,and/or use Google Groups
to do so.
Click to expand...

Great. Another RTFM guy.
I also invite you to do exactly what I did; just use any program
that will display the contents within a file and look for
yourself at the source data that's contained in the Real
Alternative files.

As far as Real Alternative's being "...what it represents itself
to be," as far as I've seen, the Real Alternative file set simply
is a file set. I have seen no representation of itself by
"itself." All representations that I've seen have been provided
by others, such as the people who maintain freeware/shareware
download sites. The file set is used in the manner of a plugin by
Media Player Classic. Other suitable players, of course, are free
to connect with the file set, too. For example, when I use
jetAudio (a commercial product), my firewall reports that it's
actually gone over to the Real Alternative file set that I
installed with Media Player Classic and is grabbing a few of
those files to do its work. This is strange business.

Mark, do your own homework. Cut the lingo crap: I do not reside
in a goddamn law office.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I'll use smaller words next time.
 
I have RealOne installed on my older Win98se computer. I wouldn't
install it in my newer XP computer. It's true RealOne infects your
system and is very hard to dis-infect if you decide to remove it.
If I had to install RealOne, I would use Total Uninstall to monitor
the installation. At least if you decide to remove RealOne at a later
time. You should hopefully be able to undo most of what RealOne
installed, by using Total Uninstall to remove it. Then of course a
manual search through the registry to remove whatever residue from
RealOne is left over. Of course the best method to avoid this problem
would be to just not install RealOne, in the first place. As to Real
Alternative I had installed it and after going to NetFlix to see if I
could watch any of their free movies. Real Alternative wouldn't work
for me. Perhaps I needeed to download a codec. Anyway I ended up
deleting Real Alternative too. Perhaps JetAudio does a better job. I
never tried that one.
 
Thanks for the detailed response. Obviously it is too late for me to
have a tracking program in place before installing Real.
Click to expand...

You might try uninstalling Real then reinstalling it with a monitor in
place.
 
| I have RealOne installed on my older Win98se computer. I
wouldn't
| install it in my newer XP computer. It's true RealOne infects
your
| system and is very hard to dis-infect if you decide to remove
it.
| If I had to install RealOne, I would use Total Uninstall to
monitor
| the installation. At least if you decide to remove RealOne at a
later
| time. You should hopefully be able to undo most of what RealOne
| installed, by using Total Uninstall to remove it. Then of
course a
| manual search through the registry to remove whatever residue
from
| RealOne is left over. Of course the best method to avoid this
problem
| would be to just not install RealOne, in the first place. As to
Real
| Alternative I had installed it and after going to NetFlix to
see if I
| could watch any of their free movies. Real Alternative wouldn't
work
| for me. Perhaps I needeed to download a codec. Anyway I ended
up
| deleting Real Alternative too. Perhaps JetAudio does a better
job. I
| never tried that one.
| --
| http://night2000.blogspot.com/

Thanks for this. You were more concise than I was.

Let me add that the Real Alternative file set consists of the
complete codec as it existed at the time that the set was
created, plus some spyware components (check out your file named
"cookies.txt" within the Real Alternative directory ("folder"):
what do you see there: Surprise!!! You're on Candid Camera!).

Real is always monkeying with their code, so it is possible that
they added a bell or a whistle for video after the RA set was
created. Content providers may "improve" their offerings, too, so
that they're no longer compatible with earlier codecs (just my
analysis, which may not use the correct terminology or
understanding). My preference for content providers and coders is
that I'd wish they'd hang back from adopting the latest and
greatest tools in order to place more emphasis on backward
compatibility. Don't we get so tired of the constant obsoleting
of perfectly good machines, operating systems, etc.? If coders
would resist the urge to be the first on the block to jump on the
bandwagon, we could all have a little peace and calmness around
here for a change. Maybe there would be more slack time during
which bugs could be worked out and thoughtful improvements
implemented instead of blindly racing full steam ahead into
Iraqs!

Media Player Classic (the foremost "plugged in" front end for RA)
is the project of one lone coder in Hungary. I think that it's an
OK job. As is often the case with freeware, its documentation is
really scanty. I wouldn't mind sending him a donation, but he's
using a service for this that takes -half- of what we send him.
And I can't find any way whatsoever to discuss this with him.
There's no way to contact the guy that works!

About jetAudio, I'm impressed with the interface. People cobbling
up media players often think that they're ever oh-so-cool by
making up cute interfaces that are non-standard and very hard to
operate (in other words, trendy and dreadful at the human
engineering part; this is called "Style over Substance").
JetAudio is slicker than Media Player Classic, and I can coexist
with the interface better than most. However, it is the product
of a small corporation, and they've got to pay the bills somehow.
That somehow is not transparent. On the spyware newsgroup, at
least one person has claimed that it contains spyware, and he
named the particular file that holds your viewing history. I
wonder if there's any other freeware out there that works with
the RA file set; it'd be worth a try.

Keeping an older computer for internet use, it being a
"sacrificial" installation allowed to withstand punishment, is an
idea that I've batted around more than once with a DP-expert
friend. At his place of work, they've banned streaming media
altogether because of general malfeasance plus the enormous
bandwidth drained off a large system by a few connected people.
Your method may be a good practical way to keep one's main
computer from being messed up. I like the idea. The main "choke"
rate in streaming is not imposed by the computer, but rather by
what the pipe can carry between the machines. Thus, I don't see
the need for hardware speediness for internet use. Do you agree?
You wanna play computer games, that's a different story. You
wanna use ultra-bloated software like Microsoft Word, with its
gargantua-mega-humungous work files, you may need the speed of a
gamer's machine just to plow through all the crap. But for web
and mail, why not put a depreciated decent machine to work just
for this. Agreed?

Richard
 
Is there something I'm not understanding or can one just

* uninstall the more insidious parts through windows add and remove,

* remove the directory hierarchy left behind, and

-- assume it is for all intents and purposes not messing up or with your
system?
 
Is there something I'm not understanding or can one just

* uninstall the more insidious parts through windows add and remove,

* remove the directory hierarchy left behind, and

-- assume it is for all intents and purposes not messing up or with your
system?
Click to expand...

The main problem with the Uninstaller built into Windows is that it
doesn't monitor all files that are installed, and all registry
changes. So obviously there will be left overs from a Windows
Add/Remove uninstall. So just depending on the Windows native
uninstaller, for all your uninstalls. Will over time, leave more and
more junk in your system, and registry. That's why a 3rd party
uninstaller is recommended to monitor *All* installs. My favorite
Freeware uninstaller is Total Uninstall.
 
Back
Top