You cannot imagine how many Tech Service Reps, and other "authorities" I had been through
when I happened to read your newsletter this morning on the Aureate problems and how this
could cause browser 'crashes'. Thank goodness I could still receive my e-mail during this
crisis!
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"I have to thank you immensly for "OptOut"!

I had been having a problem with Internet Explorer crashing whenever I had gone to a website
that opened multiple browser windows. Closing these windows in the improper sequence always
resulted in a GPF. However, I downloaded and ran OptOut over the noon hour today, (after
reading that it ran as a parasite on browsers), and, guess what!?! My GPF problem is gone! I've
had Microsoft looking in to this problem for several weeks, and they're still scratching their
heads

Thanks again for your programs, and for the information you provide!"
>
Would you like more? I was plagued by a random OE fault at W98se startup since installing a
PC clock synchronization program back in December (not on the Aureate list). This problem
would only occur after a shut-down if I used the browser. Can't remember the program name but
I de-installed it. The problem never went away until you guessed it I removed the Aureate stuff
with OptOut on Monday. My browser IE5 jumps on the screen now were in the past it took 1-2
second and did occasionally crash.

I sat back, thinking I was well protected with AtGuard and didn't need to do anything, but then
decided I try OptOut. It came up with 17 entries on my system, some of which had been
accessed that morning! I used OptOut to delete everything. Interestingly, I had an ongoing
problem with my Win98 system not shutting down - this has disappeared. Performance when
browsing has also improved markedly, and I have not been getting the crashes under IE5 which
had plagued me over the last couple of months. Thanks!
>
Prior to discovering OptOut, I was experiencing numerous crashes using Netscape
Communicator v4.7, including some VERY obnoxious post-exit crashes that required
rebooting/restarting. I posted the details on the netscape.communicator newsgroup, and was
advised to search for a file named "ADVERT.DLL" on my system, and if I found it, to *rename*
the file, and see if that helped the Communicator crashes. I did indeed find the ADVERT.DLL
file in my C:\Windows\System subdirectory, and renamed it ADVERT.BAK. Lo and behold, the
advice was valid; my Communicator problems were cured like magic.
>
Advert.dll has been identified for several months as a major cause of crashes in Netscape 4.6 and
4.7. I learned about this long before I became aware that Aureate/Radiate was the culprit. So I
manually deleted advert.dll and subsequently had fewer "illegal operation" crashes.
>
There was some discussion of side effects of OptOut, such as curing browser crashing. MY
problem was dial-up disconnects, like 4-5 in a two-hour period, and they happened every day.
Downloading was a nightmare, even something only a few hundred K couldn't be gotten without
a disconnect, and I cringed if I needed something in multiple megs range. I was ready to
change ISP's! Ever since I opted out and got rid of all traces of Aureate, I haven't had ONE
disconnect. This is fantastic. Steve, tell me (1) how much and (2) where to send it, and (3) will
my hair grow back after I've pulled it out?
>
My computer had been crashing regularly, 5-10 times a day. I run Win98 and am on cable
modem. I was about to format and reinstall Win98 when I found Steve's site. I ran Optout, and it
detected Aureate DLL's on my system. I removed them, and my problems disappeared.

The DLL's came from an installation of CUTE FTP, done by my wife. When I emailed Aureate
about the problem (crashes) they seemed to be totally uninterested.
>
I use Netscape most of the time. I was convinced that Netscape had released a buggy browser
that was particularly unstable on Windows 98. I can't tell you how many hours I spent in
the various Netscape newsgroups complaining about the instability of the browser and seeking a
fix. The thing that infuriated me the most was the way Netscape processes seemed to continue to
run, well after I had exited the program and how I would get "Netscape has performed an illegal
operation" when I thought the program was closed. Interestingly, advert.dll was early on
identified as a culprit and the Netscape "Champions" were advising users to remove it. However,
they did not identify the other offending dlls or link the whole mess to
Aureate/Radiate-impregnated adware. Needless to say, I had several of these parasite programs
on my computer, Go!zilla being chief among them. My browser's performance improved
significantly late last year when I deleted advert.dll and uninstalled Go!zilla. And things have
totally stabilized after I ran OptOut.
>
The thought of spy-ware on my machine is a personal violation...like rape. I resent it. The
second I ran that uninstaller my machine , ran faster on the internet. To think of the hours I spent
trying to figure out why I was getting all those error msgs and screen freezes...and reinstalling
Netscape..etc etc.....it was that damn progam.
>
Their software caused my computer to:
1. Crash 5 - 15 times per day.
2:. My browser to freeze up.
3. My modem connection to drop.
4. My time wasted in reboots, hunting for errors in Windows that does not exist.
5. Used my bandwith (for which I pay) for their benefit.
6. Pushed my frustration level to the limit.

To me that is VERY wrong.

Sine I installed and ran Steve's Optout about 2 weeks ago, I only had one "blue screen. My
computer is performing much faster. My processor is no longer running at 100% of its capacity
for most of the time as it had been doing before.
>
My Netscape now works 90% fine...
Javascript is RARELY causing errors and Netscape has crashed only once..
before I had 5 crashed/day !!!!!!!!!!!
also my download speed is MUCH higher about 0.5-1 kb/sec with same
connection speed...
>
I still can't thank you enough for solving the nightmare of trying to figure why my Browsers and
other internet applications were behaving so badly.

This is a bit embarrassing to confess but professionally I solve computer software and hardware
problems and for four months I couldn't resolve the problem with my own computer. Netscape
and Explorer were crashing regularly, I'd have to reboot several times a day under heavy internet
usage. On occasion even my dial-up networking software would crash.

GetRight would waste all system resources on a heavy night of downloads. I virtually memorized
their FAQs page and tried every trick they suggested that was applicable, I ran every diagnostic
utility I have and virus software also.

I strongly suspected that either Netscape or GetRight was the culpable application. I would
remove these applications and hand delete all registry entries in association with them and
reinstall them to no avail. I reverted to previous versions that I knew were stable, all to no avail.
I even reinstalled the OS and every application from scratch. My mistake was I reinstalled
GetRight and its secret software.

For some time I'd wanted to build a new computer and I was only waiting for the price of ram to
come down, when it did I built a new computer from scratch and again reinstalled the OS and all
software. I was still having the same problems. I was pretty sure some internet program was
doing something wrong. At one point I went into the registry and searched all "http" and told
every application to go to http://www.altavista.com when you want to connect to the internet. I
think I even remember seeing an Aureate entry but I didn't cognite on Aureate was all about. I
saw all the hidden directories in Windows and mistakenly figured that IE v5 created all those
directories, I know how Bill loves to reconfigure everything and make new directories that
weren't there before.

I decided to rid myself forever of Netscape 4.72 because I'd had one "blue screen of death" to
many. I deleted it and then reinstalled and monitored the install and deleted every last entry and
modification it made to my registry. I made it as though Netscape had never even been on my
computer. At a later date I went to the registry and found that new Netscape entries were in the
registry. I thought when I have time I'll get to the bottom of this.

The problems persisted and I determined that Netscape wasn't the culprit, I carefully checked my
phone line for white noise, pops and clicks. I found some and had the phone company come out
and fix it. Even after they fixed the line I was still having problems with my internet software,
connection speed, etc., etc. I ordered cable service in place of modem connection. Before the
cable people arrived I discovered and downloaded OptOut.

OptOut wasn't on my hard drive more than sixty seconds and I ran it. It couldn't finish its job the
first time around because some of the DLLs it needed to delete were actually in use and couldn't
be deleted, it needed me to reboot the computer in order to delete those files. I wrote down
the names of the files and went straight to real DOS and deleted them myself. When I rebooted
into Windows I ran OptOut again and then I ran it again, and again and again and observed its
every action. I wondered how can he do all that with 32 kilobytes!?

Just like magic everything on my computer started working beautifully, the problem that I'd been
working on was now obviously solved. GetRight caused it all with their secret software and I
never had a clue as to what GetRight actually did. In reviewing the list of companies using
or-ee-eight software GetRight was the only one on my machine.

I was pissed, I'd never purchased, downloaded or evaluated any advertising software! I was a
registered user of GetRight long before they got into the advertising business. All I did was
download and install an upgrade!

I re-ran GetRight and carefully monitored the setup program and made logs of every single thing
it did to my computer, I then monitored the uninstall and discovered everything they didn't
uninstall. I wrote them a letter and the main theme of the letter was HOW DARE YOU BE SO
BOLD!

They wrote back and said they have a new improved version that removed the AD software for
registered users. That is too little and too late in my book. I'm a registered user of GetRight and I
feel like a person who hired a locksmith to make a key for my house only to discover that he
made several duplicates and gave them to his associates so they could come in whenever they
wanted and peek around.

GetRight told me that the software is NOT SpyWare. In my letter to them I never suggested that
it was nor did I mention GRC or OptOut.

Is it Or-ee-eight spyware? The dictionary basically defines spying as, "watching or observing
closely and secretly." I assure you Aureate operates as secretly as any software I've ever
encountered. It most undeniably meets the part of the definition of Spy. The only remaining
question is does it watch or observe closely? If it does watch or observe closely it most certainly
SpyWare by the most common and acceptable usage of the term.

I was so grateful to you Steve that I bought SpinRite 5.0 in order to support you and I still feel
indebted. Computers are the better part of my life and it is so nice to have everything working
properly.
>
Since OptOut (2 weeks I think) removed Aureate, I've had ONE system crash under Win98. I was
averaging 3 or 4 per day

Fortunately, I had only considered buying new stuff to fix the problem. I hadn't actually done so,
though I had spent a bunch of time hunting for the problem.
 

Completely amazing, Ian. This seems to have solved my problem entirely.

Do you realize I've lived with this problem for well over a year and a half? I estimate it has cost
me at least 9 hours of troubleshooting time, and at least 25 to 30 hours of lost productivity over
the past nearly two years.

I think I'm going to send Aureate a bill for the damage caused by their software.

Thanks so much for helping me at last get this cursed thing off my system.