TDS modifying Hosts file

Another one of my pograms which will go unnamed detected TDS modifying my hosts file. Say what you want, but I don't like that one bit. Makes me wonder what else is being done. I can't say what else I didn't like about TDS because once I saw the hosts file warning I never used the program... I deleted it, cleaned it's entry from my hosts file and locked the hosts file. You lost a potential customer.

 

Hi,

The answer can be found here:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=25715

That is exactly what TDS-3 does : it puts that line in your HOSTS file:
64.91.255.87 www.dcsresearch.com
And nothing else !
A file comparison between your old and new HOSTS would have shown you that
If you don't like that line in it, simply remove it, but then your F5 shortkey will not work as it was meant to.
That's all

Please reconsider to install and use TDS-3: it is a GREAT program !

Regards, Jan.

 

FanJ,

I appreciate your reply I really do. Please don't take any of this the wrong way. Maybe some of you think it's ok for it to do that, but I don't. No need for me to read that link... I do understand what it did, but I don't like it. As I said in my original post... I cleaned the entry from the hosts file and locked it. I'm sorry, but I will not use TDS ever again. Hmm actually I never got to use it once I saw the warning about it altering my hosts file LOL. You know, there's no need for them to do that and as I said before it makes me wonder what else can or is being done. I can't trust a program like that. No offence to you, but there's nothing to reconsider. It's done, deleted, gone from registry and so on. Maybe in the future they will do away with that. Come to think of it, isn't TDS suppose to monitor host file changes? It's a joke a program that's suppose to monitor that sort of thing is making entries itself. If you can't tell by now... I am not happy about this. Bye TDS, I hardly knew ye.

 

Hi BlackHawk1,

I'm really sorry about this all.
Actually I too was a bit surprised when I saw that HOSTS file change by TDS-3. It happened about a year ago (if I remember me well) when the latest version of TDS-3 was published. But Wayne explained it all.
Please give me a moment to explain it to you too:
In TDS-3 is hard-coded a link to www.dcsresearch.com.
That site was in the past owned by DiamondCS, but that is not longer the case.
That hard-coded link gives you the possibility, when you're in TDS-3, to click F5 which takes you to the private DiamondCS-forum.
Since that site is no longer owned by DiamondCS and the private forum is now on a different site, clicking F5 would take you to the wrong site.
The easiest thing to fix this, was to add that line in your HOSTS file.
That really is all that this is all about, nothing else, no secrets !!!
That is why I wrote that little guideline, just to make people aware of it.
I really can tell you that you can trust DiamondCS.
But of course I cannot take your decision: it is your decision !
If you like, you could see it for yourself:
Before installing TDS-3: Let a file-integrity-checker like ADinf32 take a full "snapshot" of your system and export your registry;
After installing TDS-3: run again ADinf32 and you will see all file-changes; export again your registry and let BeyondCompare compare those two exported registries.
About TDS-3 protecting your HOSTS-file: by default it doesn't, but I was the one who adviced people to add it into the CRC32-list of TDS-3 so they will be warned in case it has been changed.

Once again: it is your decision, everyone of us has to take his/her own decision, and I respect it.

The only thing in general that I wish, and please note that I am NOT suggesting that you did that, is that there are not going to be stories that DiamondCS is fooling you, because it is simply not true.

Once again: I respect your decision: it is up to you which AT to use.

Regards, Jan.

 

Little addition to avoid misunderstandings: only the old domain name dcsresearch was owned by DiamondCS, not the site as it was the last time i saw it with tracking cookies etc. This is what DiamondCS tries to avoid for unexpecting people who install TDS and get on the wrong leg on the wrong site and infected.
Thought it was mentioned on the site it would be added; if the HOSTS file is locked it should not have been possible to add it and people would still get on the wrong site unfortunately.
I love TDS, using it many years, no problem with the F5 key for me and the Frum menu option.
In TDS-4 it will certainly be corrected, no worries, have not seen other complaints about this, btw, people are generally just happy to stay away from infections.