[Update] Skype installs EasyBits Go CrapWare on your systems without users’ prior knowledge

This thing completely messed up with the definitions of my keyboard. I restored the system to the day before and both the application and the problem with the keyboard disappeared. Do you know if restoring is enough?

I would still check that the files are removed completely off the system. It doesn’t seem to be malware but just a one time install on Skype’s behalf. Just uninstall and delete the folder as described in the instructions. I think the whole problem may be a glitch.

Yes, there is no trace of them in my system now. Thanks from the prompt reply

I am hoping that’s the end of it. Some users using NOD32 are reporting ‘infiltrations’, so maybe it could be a false positive but I am just waiting for official word from Skype.

Also, you should need to remove the program files manually and the crapware also has plenty of buggy registry entries under the user class…

Thanks for this, I thought Easybits was a virus, but I can see that it is not seeing as this was the first result in my google search (removing easybits go).

That’s a shame to a company like this. Guess we can’t trust Skype anymore.

It seems the bulk of the install was in the ProgramData folder rather than the Program Files or Program Files (x86) folder. I checked my registry and it doesn’t seem to have any entries at the moment, but let me know if you find any other trace elements. BTW this after I uninstalled it and removed the content. Not sure what happens while it’s on.

so its not a virus it is just crap

skype trust lost

Thank you for this info, Bradley. I thought I caught a virus just now. I’m still removing this thing, and hope they don’t pull crap like this again.

For Windows 7, I found the folder to delete here:
Local Disk (C:) > Users > {YOUR USERNAME} >AppData > Roaming > go

Thanks a lot for your help! ^^

i restarted my computer, but it seems the program has completely disappeared on me. im concerned now.  i have no programsdata folder anymore as i did b4 i restarted.. help?

Did you delete it before restarting? Maybe after uninstalling, a restart was needed to complete the removal process. Anyone else have such an experience?

i uninstalled (through the control panel) almost immediately after it happened (around midnight) and then i found this site a few minutes ago and started to follow these steps. but when i reset it just disappeared.

is there any official word from skype yet? im really hoping this is just a foul up on their part and not an actual attack

Weird. I am not sure. In my opinion, it doesn’t seem to be much to worry about in terms of safety. Hopefully Skype will issue a statement within the next 24 hours.

 im still worried about this whole thing, but i really appreciate your help. hope skype does something soon

There was no such software installed on my PC. Always using custom install.

Ahh yes, the joys of proprietary software.   Between this and Dropbox I gave up and headed over to fsf.org for some free software instead.  Good luck removing everything if you decide to stick with it.

Ahh yes, the joys of proprietary software.   Between this and Dropbox I gave up and headed over to fsf.org for some free software instead.  Good luck removing everything if you decide to stick with it.

there was not such thing on my pc when i was typing this but now there is since i pressed on the update :S

I remember that Skype posted a bubble yesterday, asking me if I’m interested in playing games with my Skype contacts. There was an option that said “I will never be interested in such a thing”, which I clicked, and right now there is no trace of the EasyBits executable on my computer.
I believe this article has its fair share of sensationalism. Microsoft handled the installation in a very acceptable and unobtrusive manner.

same thing happened to me – clicked the X tab on the skype popup and got an automatic install. I could not delete Easybits folders until I uninstalled Skype. Then ran an Avira antivirus scan and it identified a virus/unwanted program “TR/Vundo.11.20″ in the recycle bin where I the easybits deleted folders were. It is very disappointing that Skype hasn’t issued any comments/instructions to assist.

Also, not sure if this helps but I noticed that the files in prefetch and roaming directories were created at the same time, so did a search for files and folders created at that time and found a few more in the search directory and deleted them : skypem.exe-eeca8925.pf and 2011-05-29-1.ezlog

I say, don’t use Skype anymore, or any other Microsoft software. Force them to make something proper first, to put effort in their software.

Thanks for this info. I was very irritated with Skype.

I clicked the red X and got an install. Sorry, but that is unacceptable. I then had to search forums for information and advice on how to uninstall. When I uninstall, the program tried to reinstall itself via Skype. This is underhanded behavior. Fortunately, I had disabled  3rd party access to the easybitgo.exe file in Skype as I found on this forum. If I had not done a Google search first, and found the advice here, I would still be going around in circles. When I get a message that might perhaps be malware, I always hit the red X, not any option inside the window, which could install, regardless of what it says. Now I find that even the red X can install. I’m glad that you hit “never be interested”, but I think we have a right to decline a response without prompting installation. On my end, there was nothing “acceptable and unobstusive” about it, since Microsoft/Skype did not await my go-ahead or make uninstall options clear, and included settings that would re-install after I had uninstalled.

If I have free software, can I chat with/call Skype users? That’s the rub. Anyway Skype is free, though it is proprietary, “for profit” software. 

There is another folder/file missing here, it also makes a flash cookie in the localhost folder of your flash cookie base

C:Users$YOUR USERNAME$AppDataRoamingMacromediaFlash Player#SharedObjects$FOLDERHERE DEPENDS ON YOUR SYSTEM$localhost

Thanks for this…I also thought I had malware…
Damn Skype, hate this kind of behavior, very unprofessional…

The Skype Extras Manager has been based on EasyBits since it was introduced years ago. It’s a useless resource hog, I just untick the option to install it during setup if it isn’t unticked already.

I’ve not seen the behaviour you’ve mentioned. If they are still going ahead and installing this crap even after people have said No during installation then that’s a seriously bad move on their part.

Microsoft has nothing to do with Skype yet. Still two completely separate companies.

It’s not necessarily unmentioned and certainly not violating your rights, I’m sure they put something about it in the license agreement.
You must have read that, it’s terribly important.

Thanks all for the additional info. Will add it to the list.

I just want to point out that all this Microsoft complaining is wasted seeing that Skype is not owned by Microsoft yet.
Not until the sale is approved regulators.

Not acceptable! There is no excuse for installing crapware without prior consent.

No! … and that is the problem with all proprietary software that does not use open standards for interoperability.

I’ve converted 2 companies (Already!) (admittedly only a few hundred employees in total) to SIP since Microsoft announced its aquisition of Skype.

Ekiga (ekiga.org) has SIP clients for Windows, Linux & Mac. The conversion is relatively painless.

this crapware just appeared on my PC as well …. i went to control panel …. hit uninstall ….. easybits go disappears automatically from the list ….. i went to the application data folder, IT IS STILL THERE !!!! is this a joke ?!i am uninstalling skype and this easybits go and everything related , end of the story.

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=821527&st=0&p=3413761&#entry3413761

It’s malware

All they needed to do was ask, just ask.  I don’t mind the software but it should ALWAYS be by choice.  Thanks for the remove instructions.

Are you sure though. I’m not sure if he knows what is going on exactly because the EasyBits software has been part of the Skype family for some time. I’ll look into it though.

having some sensitive info’s on my pc and this virus looking software coming up … it was kind of genuine wtf panic …

Awesome help – thanks!

http://www.easybitsmedia.com/NewsAndMedia

May 27, 2011-Gold version of easybits go released. I bet that’s why.
Oh look at that…3804 people like this program!!?? (Facebook tag)
BUT to uninstall it, check this link: http://www.easybitsmedia.com/support/RemoveGO.exe it’s (supposed to be) an uninstaller, I don’t know if it makes a difference but try it I use google talk so I never got caught up in this nonsense.

farking pricks!

i’m gonna unistall this sh* now!
everytime I use Skype the program just slows down man, it’s the only program on my laptop that slows down when I recover it from idle or doing other stuff.

How is this legal, this crap just turned up on my desktop and i had no idea. This should be illegal. 

just uninstalled skype.

cya losers.

Skype did ask me if I wanted to play the games and after I said yes, it installed it. I don’t know if they decided to let people opt in after the fact.

i got a little prompt, from skype, im pretty sure i click “No”, and yet it was still there…. promptly reformatted my pc….

Really a great post and shame on Skype, I use them a lot to chat with friends and relatives.

http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/05/easybits_update_disabled_for_s.html skype has officially done. . . something?

Reformatted? Ouch…a bit excessive.

Thank you…updating the post now.

no problem, been following the comments here and the skype forums for the whole day. so thank you for compiling all the info u have here

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=821491&st=340 the past couple of pages have a few skype admin posts (finally)

LOL at the admin’s responses. Also, this whole ordeal really is a big blow for Skype, coupled with the recent Microsoft buyout.

It asked me before installing the program, I told it no, it’s not installed.  This is not something that happened by stealth.

Seems a lot of us actually got no information about it being installed. Skype asked me to grant it permission and I said no, only to find out it was already installed :/

Just who in the heck does Skype think it is? For real? Wow.

http://www.privacy-web.no.tc

The only thing I’ve got going is Last.FM.  I never did see it ask me to install or anything else. :/

This is for the games application on skype… And it has been there for ages now. I think the “crapware” is the support for playing them. But I don’t play the games anyway

It’s the price of using Windows. Sorry, but you suck.

Ummm, but it only affects the Microsoft OS. All of those shitty vendors like Dell and HP started this trend of CrapWear and Skype are simply going with the MS flow. Why isn’t it installed on Macs?

That not very nice.

Ermm really u Suck?

Is this the first genius act of Microsoft as the new Skype owner?

They have not officially taken them over from a management perspective, so this is all Skype’s and EasyBits’ doing.

The same happened to me; Skype installed this software without asking me. It is an absolute disgrace that they are allowed to do this. Thanks for the fix though – much appreciated!

“ For such a reputable company like Skype, it really is a shame that they went ahead with such a plan, and I do hope it was more of an accident than intentional.”

How can you make the assertion that Skype is a reputable company? Ever noticed how purposely misleading and confusing their web site is about the rates and fees paid for their services? Ever notice how they purposely try to circumvent security and firewall implementations?

Skype has always been shady.

It’s pretty much impossible for this to be Microsoft’s fault. But that’s almost immaterial at this point – Microsoft’s reputation is so poor that most people *expect* this kind of thing to be Microsoft’s fault, even when there’s no way it could have been.Microsoft has nobody to blame but themselves for earning such a poor reputation. It’s going to take a loooooong time (and most likely a change in leadership) before the average person stops expecting Microsoft to be responsible for things like this.

Then why is it so popular? If it were so bad, there are other alternatives which people can turn to.

Big Brother is watching us all in so many evil ways !

That’s the 64 mil question you and us will have to answer.

By the way, I had to post as guest since I just found out for sure that my disqus account “maxpayne2005″ has been running into issues with Akismet regardless of what disqus powered site using Akismet I post on. I’m not a spammer and I can prove it. Could you email me as I might need your help?

I whitelisted your email address. Hopefully that fixes things but usually the blacklisting management is handled at the Akismet level :/

Hi Bradley,

Sorry to reply here since there’s no more room for reply further down. I’m afraid I’ll still have to post as mpguest to reply. I logged in
under my regular maxpayne2005 disqus account (same email address) but it
appears that the Akismet plugin overrides DISQUS regardless. Akismet
recently replied and had me do a test on its blog but everyone can pass
through that wordpress  blog so no telling if my email address is
“blacklisted” or simply being misunderstood. Thanks though for your
support. By the way, if you do a filter search on email:”email address
here” and look up the results, you should see my two posts that Akismet
marked as “spam”. I dunno what the solution is but I’m afraid I’ll have to do some more research on Akismet before I can see where things went wrong. Thanks again and all the best.

Yea, I checked on my end and it definitely isn’t blacklisted, and to my knowledge, blacklisted users are only listed if a moderator on my end does it manually. If it is done automatically, then blame Akismet. Once again, you’ve been added to the  whitelist because I have no problems with your comments.

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Think you might like some of my blog posts and articles posted, feel free to check them out: http://support.onlinesys.in

My computer keeps on freezing and hanging while I have Skype running, I think since Skype went and installed this piece of crapware on my PC without asking me first. Not impressed, at all. Even BitDefender didn’t pick it up, I’ve emailed them complaining why they don’t have this thing marked as malicious software in their virus logs.

It’s not a virus, just a big screw up on their part… because Easybits is a gaming platform that is part of Skype. Their recent update accidentally installed it onto PCs without any info.

http://skypejournal.com/blog/2011/05/31/skype-extras-partner-easybits-releases-game-uninstall-tool/ has interesting article and I love how they insinuate users are to blame for the installation!  “Unfortunately the user interface in the update installer has defects
causing confusing user experience that leads to unintentional
installations.”  Plus side there is an uninstall tool link.

for you, maybe, for me it was by stealth

Will anything happen if I just don’t remove Easybits Go from my computer? People keep saying they think it’s malware, but I haven’t seen any evidence of this, or what it might do to my computer.