PcPitStop

I have heard a rumor that PcPitStop.com installs some kind of ActiveX Control file that spies on you. Where is the file located if I potentially may already have it installed and does SpywareBlaster currently protect against it?

Thank you,
-David

 

Hi David51485,

You can find the ActiveX components in your Windows\Downloaded Program Files.
The story that the one from PCPitstop could be spyware however is new to me. Where did you hear that?

Regards,

Pieter

 

I heard this from Sarrkazztic at Amazingtechs.com

He brough it up in this thread:
http://amazingtechs.com/index.php?s=821d7d847b4f57ccc083bb72cff41317&act=ST&f=6&t=4424&view=getlastpost then go to page 2.

I have been talking back and forth with him on private messaging on that AmazingTechs.com board.

I hope we can figure this out, as I will be alerting Lavasoft and Spybot Search and Destroy on this matter.

-David

 

I've removed two entries in C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files that were from PcPitStop in that folder. Right clicked each file in that folder and then clicked "Properties." Then you can see where you downloaded each Control from.

-David

 

Hi David,

Nice to see you registered. I read the thread on the other board, but that remark about PCPitstop being spyware infested came out of the blue and without explanation. Could you possibly give us any reasons to believe it?
I´m not saying it´s not true. I just never heard it before.

Regards,

Pieter

 

PCPitstop does install a few ActiveX objects needed to scan your computer.

However, so do Trend Micro Housecall and others, and these don't constitute spyware by any stretch of the imagination.

 

I have contacted Sarrkazztic aka Stephen to send me over more information. I also gave him a direct link to this thread so he could put in some more comments. He also knows people who have studied this incident in great detail, and they should be able to help us....

Until Stephen posts here,
-David

 

I also believe what Tony says. I have run PCPitStop several times, no probs.

I also scan with the following

AV; TDS3; spybot; AdAware6.0 PLUS; run SpywareGuard; SpywareBlaster; Wormguard; and not a peep out of any of them.

They are highly rated as a security site, so having a spyware component downloaded would be a huge ask to believe.

However, I will reserve judgment until your friend posts in here with

1] Facts he can substantiate
2] More than one "security" guru to verify said facts
3] The actual "spyware" they put on and what it's supposed to do.

Until then, Cheers.

 

I went looking in my system and found the item in question from PC PitStop [Disk Health Scan Class]

As you can see I have had it on my system for almost a year, and nothing has happened.

Plus I am running a Firewall and nothing has "asked permission" to leave my system that I do not know what it is.

 

David-I doubt you will be hearing anything here from Sarr as he posted that "rumor" over a week ago and has still not answered a request for any substantiation.Just because he is an administrator on the site he posted it on doesn't mean he is an expert.He probaly just goes to school with the guy who runs the site.
As I looked into this surprising accusation(that a site that does a security check would use spyware)I found that 1)He was asked to provide a basis for this and has not done so
2)he made a post this morning saying that Adaware had found 30 pieces of spyware on his system.Quite embarrasssing.
Although he can't back up his statement(because it's not true,trust me)at least he will fess up to the fact that he can't keep his own system clean.You gonna waste your time following this guys advice?

 

Hi Stardotstar3,

Welcome at Wilders.

Don't forget to read our TOS before you decide to post more often. You can find the button leading there at the top of the page, on the right hand side.
Enjoy your stay and try to keep it factual instead of personal.

Regards,

Pieter

 

Well...nice to see the members of this forum having a great time bashing me while I am not around.....

 

Thanks Pieter....

 

Ok...now that I am all registered...I can start posting...without that darn guest thing over my head....first off....to my detractors....and especially the <edit> who said I am only an Admin because I go to school with the board owner....I laughed hard at this...since I am in my mid 30s..and have been working on computers probably longer than you have been alive.....

As for the remark that David would not hear back from me since it has been over a week....I run my own business...and am quite busy....since you see...I am good at what I do... Http://www.amazingpcsolutions.com

I was emailed yesterday by some <edit> named AlkyAlvin@aol.com woudlnt be any of you fine gentlemen woudl it Well if you cannot tell by now...I blocked you from sending me any more inflammatory emails...

Something all of you need to know.....I do not know jack about Wilders site....but I work out of Amazingtechs and VirtualDr...which happens to be the NUMBER 1 pc help support forum in the world...I am an ADMIN at Amazingtechs.com because my work in networking proceeded me when I went to that site....not because I went to school with the owner who by the way lives about 1500 miles from me.....boy gotta love these old YABB software boards....no way to go back and read the inflammatory remarks..like you can with Invisionboard or even Vbullitin software...

ok back to the subject at hand....I have been working with the Admin at Virtualdr trying to find the original thread this conclusion was based on....and it was an issue with pcpitstop being caught by guarddog software attempting to search for credit card information on the users computer....so maybe spyware was the wrong term to use...but definately malware applies....and while I have had no luck so far finding the original thread I do have links to 2 threads that were mentioning the same thread and even had it linked in the thread but as VDR has undergone 2 software changes since then...it has either been archived or lost to the point that I cannot find it yet....but here is what I have so far....

Exerpt from an email from Ghouldini...also another well known techie from most of the good support forums
The stink was they were loading your rig with more than the nescessary files to do testing. One guy at VDR claimed it was caught trying to access his credit information. I think I have a copy of the thread from VDR that I always linked to when seeing somebody posting to another about using them for a check out. They (PCPitstop) also spammed VDR and other places with a phony new user name and lied about it when caught on it.

and the 2 archived threads

http://www.amazingpcsolutions.com/~mr.kazztic/extras/pcpitstopfiles/Cool%20Site%20-%20windows-help.net.htm

http://www.amazingpcsolutions.com/~mr.kazztic/extras/pcpitstopfiles/Cool%20Site%20-%20windows-help.net.htm

I repaired your links and edited out the insults. Our TOS goes for you as well. Pieter

 

Looks like you will have to cut and paste those into your browsers to get it to work..may be a limitation in this Yabb software.....


also....known issue with Yabb..takes forever for pages to load..even on my 1.5mb line.....

 

I am still looking for the original thread...and will not give up until either I find it..or am satisfied that it just does not exist anywhere anymore...


and to mr. smartypants who commented on my spyware...it was actually cookies that were archived by spybot that the new adaware found.....please make no comments about my security issues....as there is no way that even if I picked up a peice of serious malware that it could call home...I go out through 2 hardware firewalls...and also norton internet security as a software solution...but I do have 2 11 year old boys who like to browse the web and do pick up some untasty cookies and things like that....not one of us is immune from picking something up....


<soapbox closed>

 

Sarrkazztic, hello, and welcome to the boards from me also.

I do have some questions regarding your posts.

First, the above quote is unfair in lumping what one/two people had to say in regards to you making the rest of the good people in here feel like they are "bashing you around in your absence". Not true!

We do not know you, we can only follow the "leads" of other posts and keep some semblance of order regarding the first post's question, so making the "bashing me around" statement is not conducive to a good thread being maintained and kept on topic.

I posted in here like others doubting the original posters question [which he had the perfect right to post if it concerns security for his system ]

Personally I said:

I gave an unbiased post, and, like any normal security conscious person in here, would like some *facts* upon which to base an opinion, not just some "he said/she said" posts elsewhere.

I went to the links you posted but did not glean any real information at all [apart from it saying I did not have authorisation to view that particular board's code] and still need some form of *proof* that PCPitStop does in fact inflict malware on your system.

Aside from the fact of proof being needed, it's a pretty defamatory broad statement indicting PCPitStop in such a manner.

This in no way means it's not happening, just members in here are probably one of the most security conscious around, and we do not blindly accept such a statement on face value without backup.

Have a good look at the SubHeaders in the main forum menu that will bear testament to that. All forms of discussion in here are 99% security related, so to have a security testing site named as installing malware on your system is a serious security breech indeed, IF PROVED!

Can you post what *you* know/substantiate/prove in relation to this please, as I sure am interested to see what's what.

If this thread can now continue on the points regarding solely on the original question, then we can get to the bottom of this much sooner without hurt feelings all over the place.

Regards, TAS.

 

I am still working with several people who were around when that posting was put up at virtual dr....and am not having much luck digging up the original thread....the 2 that i posted were just to show that there was once indeed a thread on it and that I was not just making something up......of course if you go to those threads and find the link to the one I mention all you get is a 404 error.....but I am still digging.....now mind you...this all took place over a year ago...and they may have cleaned up the offensive code....but I am one who does not beleive in second chances.....especially for a site like pcpitstop whose information can be misleading...I mean come on....labeling your hard drive partitions is that really going to increase your speed....and that warning/Tip shows up every time you can.....I would much rather see the good members of all forums using either belarc advisor or Sisoft Sandra to test their systems....

 

I would like to say...I do not nor have I ever considered myself an expert on pc security....I am a networking and hardware expert.....the software and security side I lean on the few experts that frequent the forums that I do....I am just learning the security side....and yes Tassie I do agree that not everone here was bashing me.....and I may have came off somewhat offensive....but when you have been around various forums like I have...and made a good name for myself on them...I do not appreciate the flaming activity whether it be on this forum as as my pal AlkyAlvin@aol.com did via email.....it has been suggested that my pal AA could just be some troll that has a thorn in his side about me and chooses to publicly declare war on me....still wondering if StardotStar might infact be the same person.....but to tell the truth I really do not care.....