Adware Blocker Unchecky acquired by Reason Software
Unchecky, a popular Windows program that blocks adware and third-party offers during software installations has been acquired by Reason Software, a company known for products such as herdProtect and Should I Remove It.
Adding adware and third-party offers to software installers is big business. Windows users face lots of challenges in this regard, from tricks that make it difficult to disable a third-party offer to download wrappers on software download sites.
While manual checks offer the most thorough way of making sure that adware does not land on PCs, this only works if you know about the dangers of adware and can distinguish between adware and the main program in software installers.
Unchecky has been designed as a line of defense that uses a different method than antivirus solutions which usually block installers with potentially unwanted programs outright.
The program runs silently on the system for the most part and becomes active during software installations.
It displays a warning if the program ships with potentially unwanted programs and unchecks options and switches linked to those third-party offers as well.
The program supports a wide range of third-party offer solutions and download wrappers but relies on those information to detect and handle adware offers on Windows systems.
While it is definitely helpful, it is still recommended to check entries manually to make sure that unwanted software does not land on the PC.
A recent entry on the author's blog confirms that the software has been acquired by Reason Software.
According to the blog entry, nothing will change for existing Unchecky users. Unchecky will be integrated into Reason Software's Reason Core Security application that is available as a free and paid version.
The core difference between both versions is that the paid version offers real-time protection and automatic scans while the free version does not.
Unchecky has already been integrated into the program so that users of it benefit from its functionality.
It is not clear right now if Reason Software will take over development of Unchecky Standalone completely as well but it seems that this is the case.
The standalone version of Unchecky remains available for download on the official program website.
Since I made a mistake once in my life :-( and installed some crapware inadvertently, I’m giving ver 1.0.1 a shot on Win10 x64 Home AE. We’ll see….
Thanks for this always interesting site.
I downloaded/saved the setup exe for unchecky 0.3.9.0 via the link on this page. Using Windows xp-sp2.
Double click on .exe caused immediate system crash /BSOD due fatal error etc. A rare event in my xp experience.
One more box I shall untick.
Never used Unchecky favoring my own checking but will test it. That new site Reason Core is an odd one. Who names the s/w setup.exe instead of a more useful/version name. Plus site screams Free download while ghacks review mentions the Free & Paid versions. Looking at Reason’s download tab just cycles back to main Free d/l page. Guess have to install program then deal with selecting which one? Not something willing to try right now. Most sites post separate d/l for Free & Paid w/ breakdown of differences. Pretty bush league. At least Unchecky still standalone.
IMHO, Unchecky is a must-have for every Windows box (along with WinPatrol and the Secunia PSI). Here’s hoping that tit continues to be developed (and remains free of charge) under their new owner.
I love 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, another one of RaMMicHaeL’s tools. It allows configuring various aspects of the Windows taskbar, e.g. set which programs should be grouped and/or combined. Another setting enables opening files by dragging them onto the taskbar icon.
http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker
I can see such a program being helpful for people like me who are the family tech support guy. This could prevent so many toolbars and smilie packs on parent’s computers, lol.
Too bad I already converted Dad to Linux, since he has modest needs and it works fine. Mom’s PC on the other hand could use this…
Yet another awesome pointer from Martin!
Martin, would you put a link to your home page on your email notification?
Unchecky has been a boon – I still keep my eyes open during installs but it’s never missed anything yet, have been using it about a year?
This is why I love Ghacks – unchecky will save me hours of cleaning up my wife’s computer for her. Why does she have 5 different browsers and 4 virus checkers? I don’t know either. But I never would have heard of this program without Ghacks so keep up the good work Martin.
YIKES!
I went to the website https://www.reasoncoresecurity.com/download-free.aspx to find out more about the company’s security product!
The product does look promising but I was Stopped in my tracks due to the many Typos I encountered on the pages at the site.
Sometimes I will give an occasional pass to a company whose headquarters may be located in a non-English speaking country.
HOWEVER, Reason’s HQ are in New York City!!!
[Typos are a big turn-off and I will be alerting the company to these and will soon be applying for a job there as their in-house proofreader]
i
thanks, this looks like a handy tool
Great to see anti-junkware tools like this coming together. My hope is that it eventually gets added to major anti-virus programs.
The irony is that “bundleware” could be great if it was actually do something useful, didn’t violate user privacy, and could be easily and *completely* removed. What’s at the core of all this is SO many bundleware programs bordering on malware, doing things NO user could possibly want: bitcoin mining, browser/search hijacks, etc. I don’t know the solution to help developers make money and keep users from this junk. Maybe some kind of certification system that unchecky programs leave alone?