Tracker Software - PDFViewer

[Jeff]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.
I've searched my system and I cannot find these programs anywhere.
They're not in my list of "Add/Remove Programs"

Any idea what they may be and how I can remove them?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[John Morrison]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.
I've searched my system and I cannot find these programs anywhere.
They're not in my list of "Add/Remove Programs"

Any idea what they may be and how I can remove them?

Download & install "SUPERAntiSpyware" from:
http://www.superantispyware.com/

There is a free version that will find and fix any problems you have.

I run the paid version daily, sometimes twice a day and get hits for
tracking software a couple of times per week.

 

[Monty]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.
I've searched my system and I cannot find these programs anywhere.
They're not in my list of "Add/Remove Programs"

Any idea what they may be and how I can remove them?

Jeff,

I have PDF-XChange Viewer Free by Tracker Software installed on my
PC. The installed name is PDFViewer. Maybe you have it listed by
that name in Installed Programs. You can read a CNET review at
http://download.cnet.com/PDF-XChange-Viewer/3000-10743_4-10598377.html

 

[Paul]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.
I've searched my system and I cannot find these programs anywhere.
They're not in my list of "Add/Remove Programs"

Any idea what they may be and how I can remove them?

Thanks, Jeff

That sounds like this product. The viewer portion is free,
while some of the other features are evaluation versions.

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

What's nasty, is by using Linux and WINE to run that software,
it appears to try to run "Ask Toolbar". So it may be a free
PDF viewer, but with a payload that helps offset the cost of
providing downloads.

(Don't click this! This is where it was headed... Off to ask.com ...)
http://apnmedia.ask.com/media/toolbar/stub/1.0.0.0/ApnIC.dll?tb=TKR&version=1.0.0.0

It still doesn't explain why it showed up.

If it was still around, you'd look for this as the uninstaller
(part of InstallShield I'm guessing).

C:\Program Files\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\unins000.exe

It also appears have what might be an ActiveX plugin for the browser
(which I specifically asked it not to install). This isn't a plugin,
but perhaps supports a plugin in some way.

C:\Program File\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\PDFXCViewAx.dll

That info was extracted from the WINE run log. I run software
like this in a virtual machine and under Linux, so it can't do
quite as much damage.

I think their Ask Toolbar code failed, so I can't be sure about
what it would have left behind. I was not prompted to approve
of installing the Ask Toolbar, and perhaps since their attempted
download didn't work (WINE isn't a perfect emulation of Windows),
the installer didn't bother to prompt about it. I could see the
attempt left some files in the Internet Explorer cache folders.

This is how I determined that the Ask Toolbar was "incoming".
Head to the bomb shelters...

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2124/asktoolbarimg.png

Paul

 

[VanguardLH]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.
I've searched my system and I cannot find these programs anywhere.
They're not in my list of "Add/Remove Programs"

You installed Tracker's PDF-Xchange Viewer, an alternative to Adobe
Reader that isn't similarly attacked, has better security options, is
lighter on resources (memory consumption), and has more features, like
letting you add annotation (comments) onto a .pdf file.

In Add/Remove Programs, look for a "PDF Viewer" entry (you should've
been clued in to look for that entry by the Belarc output - look for
entries by company name or by product name in the Add/Remove Programs
applet).

Personally I would dump Adobe Reader and go with the safer, faster, and
leaner PDF-Xchange Viewer. The free version does everything I (and most
user) want for a PDF viewer and more than Adobe's offering (unless you
want to pay huge bucks for their Acrobat).

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

Don't concern yourself with their lure about their PDF converter. I
suspect that's just a PDF printer (an emulated printer), like Bullzip
(what I use), PDFCreator, CutePDF, and other such utilities. They
create a printer that you can select in any application that has a print
function. You "print" to a .pdf file.

As far as company names go, well:
- Microsoft. That was okay when personal-use computer were
*micro*computers whereas today most PCs today surpass the mid-frames
of yesteryear.
- Jam (Treesize Free). They're going to "jam" you?
- Avast (anti-virus). Avast me matey. Yar, ye be on the shoals.
- Blighty Design (Samspade tools). Software that's a blight?
- Fiddler (web browser diag). Will your PC burn as it fiddles?
- LanTricks (LanSpy, LanWhoIs). Who's tricking who?
- Radio Shack. Since shacks are dumps, would you buy there?
- Bullshitbingo.net (found in a Google search on "bullshit software").
- Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. Okay, a gag name of a fictional law firm.
- Dr. Rape (Rah-pay). Yep, saw a doctor with that real name.
- penisland.net: Pen Island but that's not what you first see in a URL.
- Fuk Hing Int. Development Co., Ltd.
- PMS General Trading Co. Just women work there?
- Some local scaffolding company whose motto is "Need a fast erection?"
- A store named "Lick Her Shop".
- Dirty Dicks Crabs House.

I don't know enough about Tracker Software's history to know if they
choose that name out of the blue, because of some product they first
offered, a city/county/area where they were first located, a street
name, or if one of the owners was named [Joseph] Tracker. The only exec
I've heard of is John Verbeeten (http://www.viatec.ca/profile/1118).
Sometimes picking a company name is just trying to find something you're
allowed to register that hasn't already been used but is simple or
catchy to be easy for customers to remember. Do you say 3M or Minnesota
Mining and Manufacturing for the company name? You could contact them
yourself (http://www.tracker-software.com/contact) to see why they named
their company Tracker Software. They were incorporated in 1997 (and
might've been a non-corporated entity before that) so maybe spyware
wasn't so common back then so they didn't know their company name might
get construed as something affiliated with malware.

 

[VanguardLH]

That sounds like this product. The viewer portion is free,
while some of the other features are evaluation versions.

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

What's nasty, is by using Linux and WINE to run that software,
it appears to try to run "Ask Toolbar". So it may be a free
PDF viewer, but with a payload that helps offset the cost of
providing downloads.

Only if you choose to blindly run a "typical" install instead of doing a
custom install or reading the installer's screens. If you let the
installer include the foistware then that's your choice. Anyone that
bothers to LOOK at the installer's screens can choose NOT to include the
foistware (Ask Toolbar). What, you've never seen freeware installers
that include foistware?

It also appears have what might be an ActiveX plugin for the browser
(which I specifically asked it not to install). This isn't a plugin,
but perhaps supports a plugin in some way.

It's an AX control or plug-in depending into which web browser you
installed it. It's their toolbar trying to get you to use their online
search service (so they can present their revenue generating ads on
their search engine's web pages). This is no different than other
freeware that defaults to including (and why YOU have to choose to not
include) other foistware, like Google Toolbar, Bing Toolbar, or some
other crap you don't need but generates revenue to the freeware author
in its bundling in their installer.

I can see where a freeware author that produces only freeware might want
to offset some of their costs to provide a web site, file hosting,
bandwidth for downloads, and development costs; however, a company that
also markets commercialware (payware) shouldn't resort to foistware in
their installers. They're already generating revenue from their payware
products and their overhead costs should include advertising which is
what is their freeware.

If there is no entry in Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the Ask Toolbar
(or it fails because the command cannot be found or doesn't function),
you could install the Ask Toolbar and then uninstall it (so a good
record gets added to the uninstall key in the registry for you to see in
the Add/Remove Programs applet). Or you could use something like Revo
Uninstaller. And if none of that work, you could leave its files
polluting your hard disk but disable it from functioning in your web
browser by disabling that add-on/plug-in listed in the config for your
web browser(s).

 

[Steve Hayes]

This is how I determined that the Ask Toolbar was "incoming".
Head to the bomb shelters...

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2124/asktoolbarimg.png

I;ve seen that image on a number of web sites - what is the significance of
it?

 

[VanguardLH]

I;ve seen that image on a number of web sites - what is the significance of
it?

Oh, you're trying to pretend you haven't heard of online searching.

http://www.google.com/search?q="ask+toolbar"

 

[Jeff]

That sounds like this product. The viewer portion is free,
while some of the other features are evaluation versions.

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

What's nasty, is by using Linux and WINE to run that software,
it appears to try to run "Ask Toolbar". So it may be a free
PDF viewer, but with a payload that helps offset the cost of
providing downloads.

(Don't click this! This is where it was headed... Off to ask.com ...)
http://apnmedia.ask.com/media/toolbar/stub/1.0.0.0/ApnIC.dll?tb=TKR&version=1.0.0.0


It still doesn't explain why it showed up.

If it was still around, you'd look for this as the uninstaller
(part of InstallShield I'm guessing).

C:\Program Files\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\unins000.exe

It also appears have what might be an ActiveX plugin for the browser
(which I specifically asked it not to install). This isn't a plugin,
but perhaps supports a plugin in some way.

C:\Program File\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\PDFXCViewAx.dll

That info was extracted from the WINE run log. I run software
like this in a virtual machine and under Linux, so it can't do
quite as much damage.

I think their Ask Toolbar code failed, so I can't be sure about
what it would have left behind. I was not prompted to approve
of installing the Ask Toolbar, and perhaps since their attempted
download didn't work (WINE isn't a perfect emulation of Windows),
the installer didn't bother to prompt about it. I could see the
attempt left some files in the Internet Explorer cache folders.

This is how I determined that the Ask Toolbar was "incoming".
Head to the bomb shelters...

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2124/asktoolbarimg.png

Paul

I think I may have figured it out - I hope.

I must have installed the program sometime in the past and then
un-installed it. It is now nowhere on my computer. I've searched
everywhere and it is just not there.

But, I found it in the registry entries which point to
"C:\Program Files\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\PDFXCview.exe"
which does not exist. That is why I think I may have had it for a brief
period and unistalled it but it left entries in the registry which
Belarc found.

Does that sound reasonable?

Jeff

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.

[]
You installed Tracker's PDF-Xchange Viewer, an alternative to Adobe
Reader that isn't similarly attacked, has better security options, is
lighter on resources (memory consumption), and has more features, like
letting you add annotation (comments) onto a .pdf file.[/QUOTE]

I've never used Tracker's one (this thread is the first I've heard of
it), but all of the above is also available in the freeware from Foxit.
The freeware version of the annotator does also watermark the annotated
..pdf, but the installer doesn't default to adding Ask or similar -
unless, of course, they've added that since I last got it.
[]

Personally I would dump Adobe Reader and go with the safer, faster, and
leaner PDF-Xchange Viewer. The free version does everything I (and most
user) want for a PDF viewer and more than Adobe's offering (unless you
want to pay huge bucks for their Acrobat).

Certainly Foxit also seems faster and generally to have less footprint
(than Adobe reader).

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

Don't concern yourself with their lure about their PDF converter. I
suspect that's just a PDF printer (an emulated printer), like Bullzip
(what I use), PDFCreator, CutePDF, and other such utilities. They

(I use pdf995. They're probably all much of a muchness.)

create a printer that you can select in any application that has a print
function. You "print" to a .pdf file.

As far as company names go, well:
- Microsoft. That was okay when personal-use computer were
*micro*computers whereas today most PCs today surpass the mid-frames
of yesteryear.

Most _'phones_ of today ... (-:

- Jam (Treesize Free). They're going to "jam" you?
- Avast (anti-virus). Avast me matey. Yar, ye be on the shoals.
- Blighty Design (Samspade tools). Software that's a blight?

Blighty is an old jocular name for England/Britain.
[]

I don't know enough about Tracker Software's history to know if they
choose that name out of the blue, because of some product they first
offered, a city/county/area where they were first located, a street
name, or if one of the owners was named [Joseph] Tracker. The only exec
I've heard of is John Verbeeten (http://www.viatec.ca/profile/1118).

Even "Tracking software" as such isn't _necessarily_ a bad thing:
security and other trucking firms use it to know where their trucks are,
for example.

Sometimes picking a company name is just trying to find something you're
allowed to register that hasn't already been used but is simple or
catchy to be easy for customers to remember. Do you say 3M or Minnesota
Mining and Manufacturing for the company name? You could contact them

Sometimes the name _is_ no longer the initials it once was, but is just
a set of letters. (For example, British Aerospace was long ago absorbed
into BAE SYSTEMS, but a lot of people think that still means B Ae - it
doesn't, it doesn't stand for anything.) Others whose name is just
letters that no longer stand for anything (though many, including the
media, continue to think they do) include, I think, BP, GKN, ICI ...

yourself (http://www.tracker-software.com/contact) to see why they named
their company Tracker Software. They were incorporated in 1997 (and
might've been a non-corporated entity before that) so maybe spyware
wasn't so common back then so they didn't know their company name might
get construed as something affiliated with malware.

Indeed.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... his charming, bumbling best, a serial monogamist terrified of commitment,
who comes across as a sort of Bertie Wooster but with a measurable IQ. - Barry
Norman on Hugh Grant's persona in certain films, Radio Times 3-9 July 2010

 

[Jeff]

I just ran Belarc advisor on my Windows 7 laptop and it showed that
among my programs I have:

Tracker Software - PDFViewer FREE VERSION
Tracker Software - PDFViewer.IBrowser FREE VERSION

Needless to say, "Tracker Software" does not inspire confidence.

[]

[/QUOTE]

I've never used Tracker's one (this thread is the first I've heard of
it), but all of the above is also available in the freeware from Foxit.

I too have used Foxit for years. It is excellent.

Certainly Foxit also seems faster and generally to have less footprint
(than Adobe reader).

I agree.
I must have installed the pdf viewer long ago. It is no longer in my
system but left traces in my registry which is where I think Belarc
found it.
<snip>

 

[SC Tom]

I think I may have figured it out - I hope.

I must have installed the program sometime in the past and then un-installed it. It is now nowhere on my computer.
I've searched everywhere and it is just not there.

But, I found it in the registry entries which point to
"C:\Program Files\Tracker Software\PDF Viewer\PDFXCview.exe"
which does not exist. That is why I think I may have had it for a brief period and unistalled it but it left entries
in the registry which Belarc found.

Does that sound reasonable?

Jeff

That sounds reasonable. After reading this thread, I checked my installed programs (since I've had PDF-XChange for ages
and love it) and I had two versions showing. After uninstalling the older one, the viewer no longer worked even though
the newer version still showed up in Programs and Features. I would have to assume that the update to the newer version
didn't totally overwrite/remove the older one. So I uninstalled the newer version too, and then P&F was cleared, so I
installed the newer one. Whew!

Along with what VanguardLH, Paul, and others have posted, there is a screen to install the Ask toolbar, make Ask your
home page, etc. By unchecking the items from bottom to top, all boxes will be unchecked, and it appears that none of it
is installed. The only plug-in I have associated with PDF-XChange is the IE viewer, and that may be because I have it
set to show PDF's in my browser instead of opening a separate window. I have no plug-ins that even mention Ask, and it
certainly isn't on my list of search providers.

 

[Steve Hayes]

Oh, you're trying to pretend you haven't heard of online searching.

http://www.google.com/search?q="ask+toolbar"

Not at all.

I'm talking about this:

http://methodius.blogspot.com/2011/12/frozen-frog.html

 

[Char Jackson]

Certainly Foxit also seems faster and generally to have less footprint
(than Adobe reader).

I used Foxit Reader for quite awhile a few years ago, but it had some
quirks at the time that made it very annoying. I'd get blank pages
and/or severe flickering, with the latter being especially common
during scrolling. I ended up going back to Adobe Reader.

 

[Ken Blake]

I used Foxit Reader for quite awhile a few years ago, but it had some
quirks at the time that made it very annoying. I'd get blank pages
and/or severe flickering, with the latter being especially common
during scrolling. I ended up going back to Adobe Reader.

I don't know how long ago "a few years ago" is, but I've been using
Foxit Reader for about two years now. I've never experienced any such
quirks and I like it very much. I find it *much* better and faster
than Adobe Reader. You might want to try it again, this time with the
latest version.

 

[Char Jackson]

I don't know how long ago "a few years ago" is, but I've been using
Foxit Reader for about two years now. I've never experienced any such
quirks and I like it very much. I find it *much* better and faster
than Adobe Reader. You might want to try it again, this time with the
latest version.

Thanks, Ken. I'm thinking it was from 2006-09 or thereabouts, so it's
been awhile. Good to hear that things have improved. I'll keep your
suggestion in mind.

 

[Ken Blake]

Thanks, Ken. I'm thinking it was from 2006-09 or thereabouts, so it's
been awhile. Good to hear that things have improved. I'll keep your
suggestion in mind.

You're welcome.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

[]

Thanks, Ken. I'm thinking it was from 2006-09 or thereabouts, so it's

[]
You're welcome.

That's one of the things that has surprised me about this newsgroup, and
kept me here even after I've delivered the Windows 7 machine to the
person I got it for: despite being nominally for 7, this newsgroup seems
to have lots of courteous and helpful people in it - not what I expected
at all.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... his charming, bumbling best, a serial monogamist terrified of commitment,
who comes across as a sort of Bertie Wooster but with a measurable IQ. - Barry
Norman on Hugh Grant's persona in certain films, Radio Times 3-9 July 2010

 

[Char Jackson]

[]

Thanks, Ken. I'm thinking it was from 2006-09 or thereabouts, so it's

[]
You're welcome.

That's one of the things that has surprised me about this newsgroup, and
kept me here even after I've delivered the Windows 7 machine to the
person I got it for: despite being nominally for 7, this newsgroup seems
to have lots of courteous and helpful people in it - not what I expected
at all.

Ken's one of the good guys.

 

[Ken Blake]

[]
Thanks, Ken. I'm thinking it was from 2006-09 or thereabouts, so it's []
You're welcome.

That's one of the things that has surprised me about this newsgroup, and
kept me here even after I've delivered the Windows 7 machine to the
person I got it for: despite being nominally for 7, this newsgroup seems
to have lots of courteous and helpful people in it - not what I expected
at all.

Ken's one of the good guys.

Thanks for the kind words. And so are you.