... "Would you like to download and use Comet Cursor"
:: YES ~ NO ~ MORE INFO::
Pretty self explanatory really, and in my case I clicked NO. The reason being, there was no certificate to verify it as a safe program, and my personal dislike for online gadgets and such accessing my system for ... Read review
Advantages: None. Disadvantages: System problems & Invasion of privacy.
...like to download and use Comet Cursor"
:: YES ~ NO ~ MORE INFO::
Pretty self explanatory really, and in my case I clicked NO. The reason being, there was no certificate to verify it as a safe program, and my personal dislike for online gadgets and such accessing my system for setup purposes. Generally not a clever thing to do.
Has the story finished? NO, and No again.
The site I was visiting was not ... ...p#:~@#d off, i found that Comet had installed itself "WITHOUT MY PERMISSION", and was sat in the start up files and system tray for continuous use. Immediately I ejected it from my system and rebooted.
Well at that I figured the problem was resolved, but a month or so later I installed a program that checks for "SPY WARE", and guess what? You got it.... Amongst the integrated system files was yet another little ... more
When something is given away for free to millions upon millions of people, and is allowed to be used on a global scale as much as you like, and you have permission to give it away all over again, just to add a bit of glamour to a web site. Something's not quite right? Well that's what i think anyway, perhaps i read too much into things, BUT!
An internet experience I had that some may relate to.
~~~~~"Boy, this page is taking age's to load".~~~~~ ~~~~~"Ah, at last, somethings happening".~~~~~ ~~~~~"Ooer', what's this".~~~~~~
Staring you in the face is a pop up box. "Would you like to download and use Comet Cursor" :: YES ~ NO ~ MORE INFO:: Pretty self explanatory really, and in my case I clicked NO. The reason being, there was no certificate to verify it as a safe program, and my personal dislike for online gadgets and such accessing my system for setup purposes. Generally not a clever thing to do.
Has the story finished? NO, and No again.
The site I was visiting was not Comet Cursor's site, but a normal everyday surf in, so the option to download and run the cursor gadget was given no more consideration, after all, I'd already said no. Anyway I continued browsing around with what I thought was a Java script cursor, specific to the site, as I had experienced similar things elsewhere, and have even used little scripts myself to make my site look and feel better.
Soon the problem came to light, but not until I continued to other sites. The cursor went with me, being a bit concerned about possible virus etc, I logged off and rebooted my system. Guess what? The cursor was still present, but worse, icons all over the place had decided to pick for themselves what they would prefer to look like. The obvious thing was to run a virus killer. In fact I ran 3 and nothing was found.
Confused, I started searching the system for strange cookies, or executable's that had only recently appeared. Totally amazed, and very p#:~@#d off, i found that Comet had installed itself "WITHOUT MY PERMISSION", and was sat in the start up files and system tray for continuous use. Immediately I ejected it from my system and rebooted.
Well at that I figured the problem was resolved, but a month or so later I installed a program that checks for "SPY WARE", and guess what? You got it.... Amongst the integrated system files was yet another little file from Comet, presumably spying away to it's hearts content. Again removal was the answer along with other spyware that was found.
Right, OK, so what is comet cursor?
There's not much to tell really, it's just loads of different cursors available for free use where ever you like. You know, like the ones you can make really easily on windows. Some are pretty, and other's are pretty boring, but what the heck, It's Free & comes with the guarantee to do your head in, or possibly some unsuspecting surfers. In reality, that's all she wrote. As for site info, I can't answer without going there, and that's something I'm never likely to do. "It's Too Risky", but I should think everything is of a satisfactory nature just to pull in the crowds.
As a final point, the situation with Comet's unauthorised download to my system, has happened 4 times now, and so is not accidental, and on each occasion I clicked NO! All I do now the instant I see odd cursors, or get the question box, I hit the back button. And if that isn't allowed, I log off, reboot, and reconnect.
To me, this is both sad and sick, and definitely should not be allowed. The scary part is, it even defeats a cookie blocker and windows warning info box. Would I recommend it? NO! - NO! - NO! Even now, after 8 - 9 months, I still have problems with icons taking on a life of their own, but without trashing my hard drive and running a completely new setup, there's nothing I can do. Unfortunately there's too much stuff on my system to back up sensibly, so if anyone who reads this knows what is causing it, and how to get rid of it, it will be much appreciated.
Advantages: Fun for a while, NOT spyware, toolbar useful if you like that kind of thing Disadvantages: Flickery cursor, nothing too exciting
...software from a company called Comet Systems found it's way onto millions of computers across the world...people had no idea where it came from and no idea what it was doing or whether it was safe to remove it. You either ignored it or you investigated it further, one person who did the latter used a packet sniffer to see just what the software program was doing and found it transmitting data from his computer to a remote location. The cry went up ... ...a remote source somewhere and Comet Cursor was added to spyware removal company's lists everywhere and lumped together with evil, information stealing companies like Cydoor, Aureate etc. Comet Systems never got a chance to explain.
Some years later, most of those who made the claims that this is a spyware package have retracted them but users who value their privacy are less than likely to come around to believing anything an alleged spyware company ...
wampyrii 08.08.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Comet Cursor
Advantages: can give you encyclopaedia definitions from the comfort of the webpage you are visiting Disadvantages: spyware, superfluous
The comet cursor may look like a funky little dooberry so enhance your website and give it a bit of originality, but in actual fact the cursèd cursor (fine archaic orthography!) contains a nasty payload. Whilst you obliviously let the comet cursor guide people across your websites, you are actually giving a spyware application free rein to reveal your surfing habits to third parties, and pry on your internet habits.
Aside from being an example of ... ...inviting a burglar in to your own home, and well you wouldn't do that, would you? Whilst it functions well, being easy to install and use, if your browser supports it, the fact that this is a gratuitous example of spyware gets Comet Cursor a big thumbs down from me. ...
Morgenhund 12.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Comet Cursor
Advantages: fun and easy Disadvantages: too many to choose from
...bin and get yourself a comet cursor.
www.cometcursor is a site that allows you to acquire as many different cursors as you so wish. An extensive library offers you 2, 500 to choose from in a variety of categories, these include:
Animals – including cats, dogs, butterflies
Bands,
Celebrities,
Every cartoon character possible,
Sports,
People,
Teddy bears,
And tons more.
A small download taking around 2 minutes is all that’s needed ... ...tray, this tells you that comet is running and one click takes you to the home page to make your selections.
There really are too many to choose from but your own library lets you keep the ones you choose for future ease of changing.
So whether you fancy surfing with Britney on the end of your mouse or Homer Simpson, then you will find there is something to tickle your fancy here.
A smart cursor section is an added advantage, it allows you to ...
broksababe 09.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Comet Cursor
Advantages: Great selection of cursors Disadvantages: Not many people like it
Comet Cursor... Where did it come from? How did it get here? And what does it want?
In 1999, Comet Cursor, Developed by Comet Systems, suddenly started appearing on computers around the world. This software allows you to change your standard cursor and trun it into some great images, like animals, technology images, photos of famous people etc. This is the part where hundreds, if not millions of people suddenly hate me... I admit to liking Comet ... ...aspect of it...
So, Comet Cursor, Where does it come from?
Comet Cursor came bundeled with Real Player back in 1999, however, I did find it was still bundled in some versions available in 2001. Also, if you visit a website which uses the Comet Cursor, the software is also transferred to your computer, but you will be notified and asked if you would like to download it.
Okay, and what does the software do?
Basically, it lets you change your cursor ...
Robbo86 19.08.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Comet Cursor
Advantages: pretty mouse cursors Disadvantages: It tracks severy website you go to, without telling you
...Visit a website that uses comet cursor and you are promted to downoad what seems to be a perfectly innocent piece of software. It downloads very quickly (even on a 56k conection) and then alows you to change your mouse cursor to pretty much anything you want.
I thought that there was nothing wrong with this software until I checked out some security sites. At www.grc.com I got hold of a piece of software which checks your machine for spyware software ... ...Comet Cursor. What this means is that once Comet Cursor is installed on your system, as well as having a load of pretty cursors, you also have some 'behind the scenes' spyware software. This spyware software reports every single site you visit back to Comet'sserver. Now this may be for research purposes, marketing, whatever, but must people don't realise that this is going on.
If you don't mind this type of invasion of privacy, then go ahead and ...
keit 09.04.2001 (12.04.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Comet Cursor
Instructions / Help
Ease of use
Ease of Installation
Value For Money
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Advantages: freeware, or pro version cheap, very effective, customisable, small download Disadvantages: none
status to run the program properly
One problem however is the fact that certain advertising sponsored programs, e.g. Gator or Go!Zilla, both of which are notorious for their spyware content, cannot function probably once the spyware programs have been removed. However I would advocate removing these nasties any way (see my ops on them for further reasons!).
Ad Aware can detect a wide range of spyware, with the most common spyware systems being Adware, Alexa, Aureate, CometCursor (see my damning op!), Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, Gratisware, OnFlow, Flyswat, Gator (smack that crocodile!!!), Hotbar, NewDotNet, TimeSink, Web3000 and Webhancer amongst others.
The software is very easy to use, with a wizard style set-up so that it is straightforward to set up how you want the software to scan your system. There is a choice ...
Advantages: Does what it is supposed to and does it well Disadvantages: None
File scan result:
Suspicious files found:10
Scanning finished
Suspicious modules found:0
Suspicious keys found :0
Suspicious folders found:0
Suspicious files found:10
Spyware components ignored:0
Total spyware components found:10
Clicking on the “Continue” button gives you further options on what to do with the “Spyware”. The help files are quite thorough and not too difficult to understand.
Having found the “Spyware” and eliminated it you don’t want to be plagued by more so you can download Ad-watch which will sit in the background and guard against known applications that contain “Spyware” - Adware, Alexa 1.0-5.0, Aureate v1.0,2.0 and 3.0, CometCursor v1.0,v2.0 and v3.0 Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, Gratisware, On ...
jimbuck 20.06.2001 (27.10.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Lavasoft Ad-Aware 5
Advantages: Cleans computer, faster loading after use, Free Disadvantages: Must use help guide as its doing a complicated job
downloads. How many of you have got or had in the past cometcursor? Yep it has the spies with it, so did audio galaxy, The list is extensive. Other spyware finds its way onto your machine without you downloading it.
So what was I to do. The answer was a complex one, and partly my own idea. First was to download Ad-aware from Lavasoft, next would be to download another browser in case Internet explorer became totally useless in my attempts to remove these nasty programs. I chose netscape navigator as I had never had it on my pc before and my way of thinking was the resident spyware on my pc would not corrupt it.
So here I was with both downloaded and I was ready to do my bit of ghost busting. I opened Ad-aware and without reading it too closely I ploughed straight in. Well I found over 500 yes five hundred bits of spyware, so I got rid ...
