Installing Vuze does bizarre things to firefox

[Caitlin]

I literally JUST did a clean install of windows 7 after hating preinstalled windows 8.

I installed firefox and imported my profile (great, all the add ons were there, and that awful glitch I had where the tabs have a curved tab shape overlaying a square tab shape behind it was gone.

Installed a bunch of other stuff yada yada yada getting windows set up. All fine and dandy almost 100% done installing programs until I installed Vuze 0_0

Then when I opened up firefox not only was my bizarre glitch back, but a bunch of appearance themes were back under add ons (basic ones that just switch the background) and one was even active. Also two bookmarks were back that I deleted after I reloaded my profile. REALLY WEIRD because it's like vuze somehow knew who i was and restored things despite different OS and not using the same IP consistently. What the bleeping bleep is going on here.

I think it may have something to do with Java because I noticed that Vuze installed Java...

Uninstalling Vuze with Revo Uninstaller didn't help.
Uninstalling Firefox with Revo didn't help. Apparently it still kept all my profile data.. maybe if I manually remove all that then it will reset? I hope.

This is ridiculous and has me fuming I hated this glitch and now I don't even want to use Vuze and I'd rather find a new torrent client.... ;_;

 

[Enju]

Vuze installs a bunch of adware iirc! Have you unchecked every optinal "offer" in the installer of Vuze and unchecked the Ask Toolbar option in the Java installer?
If you are looking for a new client take a peek at Deluge http://deluge-torrent.org/ or qBittorrent http://deluge-torrent.org/ both are open source and contain no spy- or adware.

 

[Sven]

I do not believe Vuze does such things, if you've logged in to your Mozilla account to sync, maybe some of your older data returned?

 

[Enju]

I do not believe Vuze does such things, if you've logged in to your Mozilla account to sync, maybe some of your older data returned?

http://support.moonpoint.com/network/p2p/vuze/adware.php Vuze does install a bunch of crap... and you have to be very careful when installing it.

 

[Atlas147]

I use utorrent, so far no issues, I have heard that there are some people who encountered a bitcoin miner when installing but I have yet to reproduce the result.

 

[viktik]

better use these torrent clients : Deluge, qBittorrent, Tixati

uninstaller won't help in uninstalling everything that got installed by a software.

 

[Caitlin]

I don't beleive it installed much of anything per se- I dont see any new PUPs and I unchecked everything-

But I do think Vuze kept tabs on me and/or kept info in my firefox profile, and when I installed vuze it 'activated" those things in my browser. It was very bizzare, it restored things that were on my old computer that hadn't been moved to this one when i initially pasted over my profile folder. I think when I copied over the folder it contained some seperate profile that Vuza had been keeping in there (without my knowledge.)

I'll look into those clients ASAP as they're all whitelisted by my favorite tracker

Thanks for the suggestions.
As for my firefox, I'm going to try deleting my profile folder and restoring my old back up copy that did not have these issues. I really think that's where the "problem files" lie here.

 

[OokamiCreed]

@Enju is correct. Vuze WILL install adware on your computer. I believe even the Vuze Leap (while not as much) will also put crap on your computer. I highly recommend open source clients. I myself use Halite which is also open source. Deluge and qBittorent are also plenty good for the job. Each have their own features so it's just a matter of picking one that suits you best.

@Hanmin147 They removed the bitcoin miner a while back after receiving a massive amount of complaints on their forum. Bittorrent (the parent company) told it's users that it was supposed to be installed only by choice but they gave no such option to opt-out.

Halite download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/halite/
Source code download: https://github.com/Eoinocal/Halite
Authors site: http://www.binarynotions.com/halite-bittorrent-client/

 

[Terry Ganzi]

I literally JUST did a clean install of windows 7 after hating preinstalled windows 8.

I installed firefox and imported my profile (great, all the add ons were there, and that awful glitch I had where the tabs have a curved tab shape overlaying a square tab shape behind it was gone.

Installed a bunch of other stuff yada yada yada getting windows set up. All fine and dandy almost 100% done installing programs until I installed Vuze 0_0

Then when I opened up firefox not only was my bizarre glitch back, but a bunch of appearance themes were back under add ons (basic ones that just switch the background) and one was even active. Also two bookmarks were back that I deleted after I reloaded my profile. REALLY WEIRD because it's like vuze somehow knew who i was and restored things despite different OS and not using the same IP consistently. What the bleeping bleep is going on here.

I think it may have something to do with Java because I noticed that Vuze installed Java...

Uninstalling Vuze with Revo Uninstaller didn't help.
Uninstalling Firefox with Revo didn't help. Apparently it still kept all my profile data.. maybe if I manually remove all that then it will reset? I hope.

This is ridiculous and has me fuming I hated this glitch and now I don't even want to use Vuze and I'd rather find a new torrent client.... ;_;

First thing first which revo did you use next was it configured,reason i ask you this stuff is because most people install revo thinking that is all to it,revo needs to be configured for top performance,don't blame revo put the blame on user awareness,people don't like to read an educate themselves about products they use,tom,jerry,bob and ralf say this program real good,ok toss it on let''s run this,then get problems an accuse the program of not doing it's job. That Revo pro your using needs updating. Revo 3.0.70 Pro is not the latest update.

 

[Caitlin]

Im not accusing it of not doing its job! It's not supposed to delete my firefox profile so I don't blame it and it's been great in the past.

Running Revo 3.0.70 Pro.I will admit to not tweaking the configuration at all on this computer

Also I decided to go with Tixati They all seemed to have similar features and I liked the screen shot of Tixati- lol. Looked simple & powerful at the same time. I dont like huge modern UI's

 

[NatsuruHaveALife :D]

http://support.moonpoint.com/network/p2p/vuze/adware.php Vuze does install a bunch of crap... and you have to be very careful when installing it.

I use old utorrent 2.2.1. the old utorrent is clean. new ones aren't. Do not use newer versions of utorrent. Ever.

 

[OokamiCreed]

Im not accusing it of not doing its job! It's not supposed to delete my firefox profile so I don't blame it and it's been great in the past.

Running Revo 3.0.70 Pro.I will admit to not tweaking the configuration at all on this computer

Also I decided to go with Tixati They all seemed to have similar features and I liked the screen shot of Tixati- lol. Looked simple & powerful at the same time. I dont like huge modern UI's

It would be a good idea to update Revo to the latest version which is currently 3.1.2.0. Firefox leaves it's data in a different area of the computer which is probably why Revo and other uninstaller can't find it. It probably would find it easily if you installed it with Revo (it will record where Firefox puts everything).

Manually you can reset Firefox using it's build in reset button or you can manually remove the folder where it has all it's settings, addons, etc. which are located here:

It would be your username instead of mine (which is Ookami). Both local and roaming have a folder called "Mozilla". If deleted, it clears out everything firefox related including your profile in firefox, addons, etc.

NOTE: The AppData folder is hidden, you have to unhide it using folder options which is under "Organize" on the top left. From there it's "Folder and search options".

 

[Caitlin]

Yes, OokamiCreed (I almost called you wolf creed >_>...getting languages mixed up here) I actually just deleted the profile there & replaced it with my old backup (edited the profile settings file to find that profile) and it didn't help. Whatever Vuze "activated" is in that old version of my profile (I did have Vuze then on the old OS too)

Thinking now I will try only copying over select files.... bookmarks, add ons...

It's so ugly >_<
Only in littlefox theme does the issue go away

 

[OokamiCreed]

I'd say whatever is on your computer keeps putting crap back into it without asking you. An example would be having an AV that likes to install an addon for it's link scanning (which most of the time asks you first). No matter how many times you reinstall the browser, it will persist. I'd guess that something that is actively running might be causing it. Most likely a PUP which should be removable by running something like Malwarebytes, Hitman Pro, or Zemana Anti-Malware. Hitman Pro and Zemana are great at removing browser pests. Never really tried out Malwarebytes for this purpose.

 

[bunchuu]

I think you can try Adware Cleaner to remove adware or bundleware from vuze.
Next time, I suggest you install unchecky to avoid installing adware unintentionally.

 

[Caitlin]

I actually have installed Unchecky & Zemana (got a liscense by signing up for Beta 2.0) thanks to my security wizard thread and already have MalwareBytes so I'll try that.

This stuff came back literally immediately after installing Vuze so I know it's the culprit. F Vuze, man. I'll try using them (not Unchecky, too late) but I somehow doubt it's going to fix my issue.

 

[OokamiCreed]

I think you can try Adware Cleaner to remove adware or bundleware from vuze.
Next time, I suggest you install unchecky to avoid installing adware unintentionally.

You mean this? http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/ It's a very good tool however it is very aggressive. Probably the best tool to use actually in this case. Forgot about this tool. Unchecky wouldn't hurt either. Everyone slips up once in a while. Unchecky is a good tool to prevent that. It's not perfect though. It won't be 100% accurate with every program installation.

Edit: You could also use http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/ which is even more aggressive than Adwcleaner. It will force stop some processes.

 

[bunchuu]

You mean this? http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/ It's a very good tool however it is very aggressive. Probably the best tool to use actually in this case. Forgot about this tool. Unchecky wouldn't hurt either. Everyone slips up once in a while. Unchecky is a good tool to prevent that. It's not perfect though. It won't be 100% accurate with every program installation.

Edit: You could also use http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/ which is even more aggressive than Adwcleaner. It will force stop some processes.

Yes, indeed. I thinks adware cleaner is effective for this case.
if you want to use more aggressive tool than JRT (junkware removal tool), you can use adlice roguekiller from this site

 

[jamescv7]

There is an existed removal guide in MalwareTips for Vuze Toolbar hijack which you may consider check it:

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/vuze-toolbar-removal/

 

[Caitlin]

Oddly enough I dont have the toolbar. I had searched for that already- no extension, no toolbar or anything. All it did that I can tell was re-add some old settings into Firefox... (Im sure thats not really all though.)

Downloaded Adwcleaner and ran it.... deleted one conduit registry key and a couple folders and one file in my mozilla profile. Ran farbar recovery tool which I already had and it didnt find anything I thought was suspicious so didn't have it fix anything (was told to be careful with that tool)

Ran crystal security & also emisoft emergecy & MWB and didn't find any other traces...

the stupid bleeping tab issue continues

haven't tried butchering the profile yet... about to though... brb...