Has anyone else had visitors complaing about Viewpoint toolbar being downloaded with their updates for VMP? Personally I have not had this problem so I'm not sure how they are getting it. Is the toolbar included, by default, with Viewpoint updates?

Your question is a good one and I'm looking foward to seeing a reply. I got this update and the corresponding 'toolbar' in IE. I didn't want it and wasn't given the chance to say no. That's bad. I have no idea where it came from. Many of my friends have seen this pop up to and no one knows where it came from - we think that maybe it came with AOL?

Summary of reply from Viewpoint:

- Option to decline toolbar is one level down from option to accept (you have to click more info)
- If you want to remove the toolbar you can download the uninstaller http://search.viewpoint.com/help/uninstall_2.html

Reply:

Hi John,

The Viewpoint toolbar was offered as an opt-in experience based
on your Viewpoint Manager Preference settings. You can change
these settings by opening the Viewpoint Manager Control Panel
(Start>Settings>Control Panel) (switch to Classic View if you
are using Windows XP)>Viewpoint Manager) and checking "disable
auto-update for the Viewpoint Manager."

While we stand behind the Viewpoint Toolbar as a free and
effective graphically enhanced search application, we fully
understand your desire to opt-out of the experience. If you
declined our invitation using the "No, Thanks" button on the
"Details" or "More Info" page, the toolbar did not install and
no settings were changed on your computer.

If you opted-in by clicking "Update" and would like to
completely remove the Viewpoint Toolbar, we offer a guide here:
http://search.viewpoint.com/help/uninstall.html -- This guide
can also be accessed by clicking on the Viewpoint logo in the
upper right of the Viewpoint Toolbar and selecting Uninstall.

We apologize for any inconvenience the installation of the
Toolbar may have caused you. Please feel free to contact us if
you have additional questions.

Best Regards,

Dana

Good...I'm not the only one who was upset with the silent install of the toolbar during a player update. Hiding the toolbar opt-out underneath a "more info" link is a total copout. I guess we just get to put Viewpoint in the same category as other the countless other slimy sneaky software companies out there.

Dear Tim,

The viewpoint software you received either comes with certain features of your machine already installed or was installed by someone using your machine. The Viewpoint Media Player is a plug-in that enables the viewing of 3D content on the internet. It is akin to products such as Macromedia's flash player (www.macromedia.com/flash) and Apple's Quicktime (www.apple.com/quicktime). Just like these products, it is a plug-in that enables extremely immersive multimedia experiences on websites with animation, sound, and video. But beyond these products, the viewpoint media player also has the capability for fully interactive 3D (virtual reality -- like a video game). It is also the engine that drives AOL's 3D Super Buddies, AOL Instant Messenger Themes and many popular web applications such as Scion's car configurator(http://www.scion.com/scion/bys/main.do). The Viewpoint Media Player and Manager is bundled with AOL, AIM, versions of Netscape, certain Adobe products and most retail computers sold today.

If they were not already on your machine from the delivery methods described above, then neither the viewpoint search bar nor the viewpoint media player plugin can install themselves on your machine without the permission of someone using your computer -- EVER. Neither the viewpoint media player plug-in nor the toolbar are spyware. Many programs run on people's machines every day that they are not aware of and that power certain features on their system that are not spyware. If you were to scan your system using most anti-spyware programs such as "Ad Aware" or "Spybot Search and Destroy", our software would not be detected because it is on their white lists. We, like you, find spyware to be reprehensible and stand firmly behind our commitment to no spyware (see link "our position on spyware": http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/privacy_commitment.html).

We understand that many people become nervous when they see software on their machine from a company they're not aware of which is why we keep a very open and honest dialog about this on our website (try going to the website of any spyware company and see if you can have an open and honest dialog with them about their software). As a rule of thumb, just because you are not familiar with certain software running on your machine does not mean it is spyware (if you looked in your processes list in "Task Manager" on your machine right now you would see MANY softwares running on your machine that you may not be familiar with but that are most likely perfectly legit). Personally, whenever I see processes on my machine I'm not familiar with I look it up in the WinTasks process library. The WinTasks process library is an independent website that keeps track of processes so people can know what's running on their machine. Their main website is at http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary. If you look up our process "ViewMgr.exe" in the WinTasks library, you find this description: http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/ViewMgr/.

Lastly, we will provide here a detailed description on how to completely remove viewpoint software from your machine. If, after following these instructions, you believe remnants of the software remain, please email us at support@viewpoint.com and we will be more than happy to work with you to resolve the matter.


-----------------------------------
UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Close all your Internet Explorer windows
1.b. If by chance you also have AOL and or AIM installed on your computer, then you must also close their windows
2. Open "Add or Remove Programs" in your Control Panel window (found in Start>Settings>Control Panel)
3. Find the Viewpoint Toolbar entry and click the "Change/Remove" button. All associated files and folders will be removed from your computer.
4. Repeat the above step for the viewpoint media player if it is on your machine.

Please note: If you have any browser windows open during the uninstall, you may still see the Toolbar in those windows. Any new browser windows opened after the uninstall is complete will not show the toolbar.
Also, Viewpoint software is installed through applications such as AOL or AIM and if you have them on your machine, they will re-install the viewpoint media player because it is a necessary component for their operation.

If you have any problems uninstalling the software, please send an email to support@viewpoint.com and we'll work with you to make sure that the software uninstalls correctly.

We apologize for any inconvenience the installation of our software may have caused you. Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.

Regards,
Viewpoint Support

Hi...

We too have had several customer complaints about the Viewpoint toolbar. We have enough trouble convincing our clients to display content that requires the VMP plug-in - NOW it's worse that when once VMP is installed, they feel they are forced to install the toolbar on top of that.

If we HAVE to have the toolbar option after install, then surely the option to decline MUST be made more obvious.

If you have the VMP plug-in and do not want the pop-up, you can change these settings by opening the Viewpoint Manager Control Panel (Start>Settings>Control Panel) (switch to Classic View if you are using Windows XP)>Viewpoint Manager) and checking "disable auto-update for the Viewpoint Manager." The Toolbar is an addendum to the update pop-up that some of you have run across.

I remove VMP because AOL installs it without my permission. And there never is an icon in Control Panel.
How can AOL be allowed to install your software in a manner other than you prescribe? Unless you don't want the software to be obvious?

Hi Neil,

The Viewpoint Media Player is the basis for many of the cutting edge graphics and applications one uses today on the web. If you’ve ever looked at a 3D car model, a virtual room, a 3D server, or any of the other interactive content we’ve created for our clients, then you’ve needed the Viewpoint Media Player. We’re an integral part of the AOL operating system enabling AOL users to choose desktop themes and 3D Super Buddies for their desktops and IM’s. The Viewpoint Media Player is bundled with AOL, AIM, Netscape, certain Adobe products, and newer computer purchases through the manufacturer. Please review AOL's EULA for more information regarding 3rd party software.

Best Regards,
Tech Support