Since these message boards are full of adverts for it, I thought we could have a discussion about Smiley Central.

I know that say that thier software is 100% spyware free, but everyone says it is full of it. Microsoft Anti Spyware picks up loads from it. Why else would they spend so much money advertising it and so much time making it?

I know what you mean...

Most programs that package their software with spyware claim to be spyware free. They try to pass them off as "useful" programs, like a clock synchronizer???

Why would you need a clock synchronizer when Windows XP has one built in?

These clever ways of passing spyware off as programs that are useful is very depressing especially when they affect the lives of hundreds of people. I try to help my friends avoid these schemes as best I can. The other day I had to completely reformat my friends hard drive just because of the amount of spyware on it. His processor was maxed the whole time his computer was on.

I would suggest carefully reading about a program before you download it, and take user opinions into serious consideration.

i think that people should not use smilly and would strongly recamend not using it.
peace out
yimmj

Trend Micro blocks Smiley Central very strongly as a dangerous website with spy ware. Is there other websites with emotions regarded as being free of virus and spyware and reasonably safe?

-Terry

I’ve never run Smiley Central myself so I can not give you a definite answer. (I was never quite that stupid.) I do know that they have been around for a very long time and they have a long history of deceiving customers and loading spyware. When a company has such a reputation I would believe it is wise to steer clear.

On the issue of advertising, I don’t know which company Astahost uses but I am sure they run advertisements independently of content. Much like a radio station, the advertiser buys so many impressions and then the station randomly runs the ads. I listen to Dave Ramsey (http://www.daveramsey.com/) all the time and occasionally you will hear a credit card ad. Dave is a die hard pay off all your debts and cut up your credit cards philosophy so it is not a good spot for credit ads. Same thing for web advertisers. You could get a Smiley Central ad on www.IHateSmileyCentral.com.

I would never run it myself either.

Heard nothing but bad things about, I am really surprised it is still going......

While Smiley Central advertises itself not to be spyware, I think that they are definitely up to something. I think that someone using my computer installed it by mistake and it was a pain in the butt to remove.

There were several programs that got installed together with the smiley central app and some of them had to be manually removed.

Then I swept my computer with lavasoft adaware, antivir antivirus, hijackthis, and spybot search and destroy to make sure nothing was left on it.

But I'd say stay away from heavily marketed programs that are geared toward luring in teens and pre-teens who are non the wiser, or even adults.... lol

Aye, Smiley Central and CursorMania and stuff like that are viruses. They say it is Spyware-Free and they're reviews are great, but they are not. They are fake reviews and spyware with the software.

xxxx-jozh-xxxx

Smiley central is the most annoying thing I've seen in ages. I have a handful of friends that use it seemingly problem free, but they are too computer illiterate to know where their problems come from so it doesn't surprise me. The advertising is annoying, having people try to get you to get it is annoying, knowing its full of spyware is annoying, and yet people download it and they probably rake in a mint with it. Sometimes the internet makes me cry

I remember giving it a try some 16 months back. I didn't use it for long, neither did I realize that it was some kind of spyware and definitely took their word for it. Its surprising to know that something deemed 100% spyware free is full of it. The prospect of using so many cool smileys with Yahoo! seemed rather exciting. But, it was rather slow and did have all the symptoms of a spyware. Then again, I wasn't much aware of all these spyware stuff back then.