Hello

long time user of FDM, do like the the program a lot, but am concerned that Sunbelt Software Vipre Antivirus program has starte reporting FDM3 as containing Favorit Adware.

Is this a false positive, or something installed as part of that Community Software Download Favorites etc

Original version of FDM does not contain adware.

I work in IT as a network admin - not your typical home user so am very confident it's not a dodgy download I installed from.

I redownloaded the file fdminst3.exe again this morning by clicking on the download link on this site (no redirection) to a fresh computer (a new xp sp3 build in vmware) and reinstalled FSM3 with default options.

Installed Sunblet Software Vipre again, let it update to latest pattern file, and again it reported this software as favorite N adware.

Risk name: Favorit Network
Source: Scanner
Risk level: Moderate
Risk category:Adware (General)

Description:
Adware, also known as advertising software, displays third-party advertising on the computer. The ads can take several forms, including pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, or links embedded within web pages or parts of the Windows interface. Some adware advertising might consists of text ads shown within the application itself or within side bars, search bars, and search results. Adware is often contextually or behaviorally based and tracks browsing habits in order to display ads that are meant to be

Advice:
This is a moderate risk and should be removed or quarantined as it may negatively impact your privacy and security or make unwanted changes to your computer's settings.


It detects 2343 traces for this program, listing all the shortcuts, registry entries, installed files etc. but I am unable to copy them out to enter here (ctrl-c etc does not work).


It may be a false positive from Vipre, but you can verify this yourself by installing a trial version of Vipre. The software versions I have installed are below.

Vipre SW Version : 3.1.2710
Defs Version : 5162
Vipre Version: 3.2.2079.2

If it is a false positive, you can at least verify it yourself and take it up with Sunbelt Software to update their pattern files accordingly.

Thanks, Kieran

Here is the CRC of the FDMINST3.EXE file downloaded from your site

355DB713

I am experiencing the same issue with the same anti-virus at work. I've requested my IT department to have the anti-virus vendor not mark the official version as adware.

It is possible that some other person took the FDM and bundled their own adware into an unofficial version. It happens all the time and usually causes an anti-virus vendor to wipe out both the malicious version and any legit ones at the same time until they update their definitions.

this could be easily just false positives, it happens more often than you think, especially with antivirus or antispyware of dubious quality

Alex wrote:Original version of FDM does not contain adware.

For the original FDM ver. 3.0 build 848, what should the MD5 be?
I'm getting MD5: 00ae799b7ba9c2f182d10bff33dae980

BTW, WTH is Sunbelt Software Vipre?
Never heard of it.

Jorge wrote:BTW, WTH is Sunbelt Software Vipre?
Never heard of it.

Don't feel bad Jorge....
VIPRE is new....About 2yrs old now.
Sunbelt Software, 33 North Garden Ave, Suite 1200, Clearwater, FL USA 33755 Int'l:1-727-562-0101 Toll-Free: 888-688-8457
Have a look at their website: http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/
VIPRE is an Antivirus-Antispyware suite that has one of the highest detection rates (runs neck & neck with NOD32).
It also has the fastest scan times in the industry.

Mmm, KAV is far better than ALL other AVs (I have tested it myself. NOD32 misses several viruses that KAV catches. And on the other hand, NOD32 gives a lot false positives that KAV handles correctly, especially some compressed executables are consistently mistaken for viruses by AVG and NOD32)

bye!