Spyware, viruses, & security forum: Is weather.com download spy/adware free?

Is WeatherBug Spyware?

According to their website, Weatherbug is not spyware, however it is adware. It does not monitor, collect data or 'spy' on its user base, however the program is considered adware since the free version is ad-supported.

http://www.pchell.com/support/weatherbug.shtml

More in http://ww3.weatherbug.com/aws/notspyware.html

Also in http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.weatherbug.html Adware.Weatherbug - The Weatherbug is a utility that shows current weather conditions and future weather forecasts for your locale. It is an adware supported product.

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Minibug / Weatherbug isn't a major concern but it does has some potential privacy related things that you should be aware of. They do collect personally identifiable information. You will want to read over the EULA. A form of adware called My Search will also be installed on your system. You do get something decent out of this deal since you get reliable weather updates. If it weren't for the privacy issues and adware this would really be a nice program.

The built in uninstaller seems to remove things properly.

http://www.iamnotageek.com/a/392-p1.php

Thanks for the input! WeatherBug just drives me nuts with their "types" of adds!! Flashing, blinking, cover the whole screen type of hype! You must close the add to see the weather page!! Plus it shows up twice as adware/spyware on scans!

I know it is because I opt for the free versions which are supported by adds but the Bug takes it to another level! I even sent an email to WB support as their adds are so intrusive they are medically of the type that would cause seizures in some epileptics! It is 95% adware and 5% weather related!

Well im off to make the switch!

Thanks again,
Ken

I like to see what the weather is going to be but I don't have a need for national or world wide weather.

So I plug into one of my local tv stations which has a web page.

The only problem is they think everyone has broadband. (lots of graphics/local ads on their web page)
and
Whoever is posting the weather report is doing it from a room without windows.

Umm, yep thats what everyone has said. Also why im getting rid of it. I will check out the tropical site!
Thanks,
Ken

Weather Pulse is good! I do miss the local region active movement when looking at the weather map but it is a good trade off non the less!

I went to the WeatherBug site just to check the "map in motion" once and couldnt do it. Now you must download WB to use any feature! Oh well! At least im not going dizzy getting the all intrusive "pop over" adware from WB. Nice the way they hid values in the registry and other areas making it a major chore to clean out all related junk from my puter! Back when I had Weather.com installed at lesat it did a clean uninstall!

Did full systems scans with everything including HijackThis and am now finally adware and spyware free! I opted to print out a hard copy of my clean HJT log to compare for future log scans!

In all fairness again it boils down to personal preferrence! What are we willing to deal with to get what we want or dont want!

WeatherBugs price for no ads is a fair price however im just not enough of a weather geek to pay for a forcast and too old to be able to look at the dizzying pop over ads from WB.

Ken

Weather Watcher by Singer Creatiooons is a free alternative to Desktop Weather by Weather.com that is also free of ads. I believe that this program atcually uses Weather.com's feeds intended for Desktop Weather users. It displays the same info and icons in it's own ad free interface. I have used this program for a couple of years now, and am very happy with it. The only thing even closely related to an ad, is a line at the bottom of the program window, written in small print, that says "Donate to Singer Creations". There is no special benefit to donating, You would not get some special upgrade, You would just be helping to keep improvements comming. You can download this program from singercreations.com, or download.com amoung many other sites.

I'm a recent convert to Firefox, so I may well uninstall the weather.com desktop anyway, but I'm wondering whether anyone else had noticed a slowdown since installing it? How much space does it take up anyway? It seems handy to have but beyond the adware/spyware debate, anyone have a sense of whether it may be gumming up the works or whether I'm just attributing that to it...?

I personally have not tried Free Weather. Right now im using Weather Pulse its small in size so not a resource hog and no adware. It can/does link to Weather.com for a few options and I have noticed no difference in it slowing me down. Back when I did have Weather.com installed the only time I had to wait briefly was to watch the "weather in motion" feature but as soon as I changed pages all was normal. I was also on dial up back then!

No problem continuing this thread I opened it looking for all the input I could get. Im not a weather buff but I do live in the north east where the weather can change rapidly and I work outside, so weather does affect my daily quality of life somewhat. Im not a big fan of tv so prefer to get my info online.

Thanks for your input!
Ken