iRiver Security Issue

[Bob Costa]

I just discovered that along with my iRiver software, there is some software from a company called MoodLogic that is loaded onto my system. Now I for one don't like Internet updates for no good reason, too many chances for some nitwit programmer to break my system. So here is my slightly paranoid perspective.

This company didn't tell me they were loading software onto my system. They certainly didn't ask me for permission to update it (or whatever it is they are really doing with this stealth program). There is in fact no easy way to even determine what the software is or where it comes from if the update gets trapped by your firewall. There is no option in iRiver Music manager to disable this update, nor any mention that it ever happens. Likewise, the software isn't even loaded in the iRiver directory, but in the main root directory. Now I am assuming they didn't lie to me when they said it was there because of IRiver, that could be a half-truth. This software is very aggressive (like a virus) and tried to access the Internet every five minutes or so. I had to exchange over a dozen emails with them, including a threat to contact my lawyer, while they gave me a run around, a bunch of ineffective solutions, and a bunch of wrong directions and wrong filenames on how to remove this software. The whole situation just pisses me off and iRiver will hear about it..

So here are the details. Look for a process on your machine called updater.exe. Also look for a file called updater.exe. I found mine IN THE ROOT DIRECTORY !!!! It appears to be a microsoft program unless you look very carefully. Now you can delete the process first, and then delete the exe file, and that supposedly will fix the problem without causing any trouble except that their software which I don't care about and don't use will not get updated.

Do with this info what you wish.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

You're right to not want the moodlogic on your system. It's a resource pig.
You can remove it cleanly from the ControlPanel too.

[Richard Maloney]

I tried to uninstall it from the control panel but no go.
So, I killed the process (ctrl-alt-delete>processes tab),
then deleted updater.exe which is in root directory (C:).
Also, it is a startup application so delete the startup entry.

Thanks Bob for the heads up, I dislike those pests!
Now, how about a record volume level readout and we will call it even :)

From Moodlogics site:

...What personal information might MoodLogic collect, and why?
MoodLogic collects two types of information about our users - identifiers, and profiles.

At times, MoodLogic may request basic information to identify you (like a username, or your email address). This information is always stored securely, and is used strictly for administrative purposes. For example, when you install the MoodLogic Client, a unique 'Machine ID', username and password is collected to verify your identity when using our services (so unauthorized parties can't access your account). Your email address can be used to remind you of your password. With your consent, we may also use your email address occasionally communicate with you to make sure your MoodLogic experience is the best possible.

MoodLogic also aggregates profile data (like zip codes, age ranges) given to us by our community. This information helps us better understand our community - so we can maximize the quality of the services we offer. We won't use this information to bother you (we hate when companies do that to us), and providing it to us is completely optional.

Why does MoodLogic identify my songs? Do they need to know what's in my collection?
Simply stated - If we don't know what songs you have, we can't help you organize them, clean their tags, discover new music, or build one click playlists....

That don't sound too nice to me- basically a huge database of who listens to what.