Unwanted automatic background download and update without notice.

[Josef W]

Hi Dr. Blip,

Thanks for the prior support. I had an issue with the new version 7 and had rolled back to the earlier version 6, which ran fine. (I am using Win 7 Pro 64 bit on Lenovo X230 with an Intel SSD).

However I just noticed that PC-Doctor had automatically downloaded and updated to the newer 7 version in the background without any notification or request. All of sudden an immense PC-Doctor Icon appeared in my taskbar, dwarfing all other icons I like to keep there.

Since I am on a data-limited metered connection I really didn't appreciate this unwanted download. I dislike and distrust any software that makes major changes, installs or updates without prior notification and approval. I am very upset with this feature.

How can I set PC-Doctor so it doesn't automatically download and update itself in the background without my knowledge or permission? I still want to be notified but have some choice.   

I am still running PC-Doctor 6 on my older Lenovo X61 with Win 10 Home and a Samsung SSD. This was the computer I had notified you about having issues with PC-Doctor not populating the Performance Box, and not being able to find the SSD under "Storage".

I don't want to install the update on this computer, since I had not received any notification or announcement that the issues covered in that post had been fixed.

I also don't like the fact that PC-Doctor automatically installs a Toolbar selection in the Windows Taskbar Toolbar menu list. I prefer the existing option of being able to personally pin the icon to the "Task Bar" (by right clicking it in the Start menu), or to select it when I right-click Taskbar > Properties "Notifications > Customize"  menu.

On my Lenovo X61, when I re-installed the earlier version of version 6 over v7, it added another PC-Doctor Toolbar in that list. I now have 2 PC-Doctor Toolbars in the Windows Taskbar Toolbar menu list. How can I remove one or both of these?

One last issue that I am very unhappy with is the "PC-Doctor Updater" icon that gets  added to the Notifications Customization menu. I had this selected to notify me which it obviously didn't.

I would suggest getting rid of this updater icon and just have a small PC-Doctor Toolbox icon (instead of the overly huge icon that gets automatically installed with the update) allowing the user to open PC-Doctor and that would also show any update notification that user can view and agree to proceed with.

At least provide the choice of having a smaller icon and the option of uninstalling the PC-Doctor Toolbar selection from the Windows Taskbar Toolbar menu list.

Thanks, Josef

[PCD_James]

Hello,

I am sorry for the trouble and can understand the frustration in having a software download and install without your approval.

If you go into the settings menu there is an option to disable auto-updating to the newest version.

As far as the fix for the SSD's in the new version, we have the fix complete and are just doing a little testing. It should be released any day now.  

To disable or remove the toolbar:
1.Right Click on the taskbar
2.Go to Toolbars
3.Uncheck the unwanted toolbar

[Josef W]

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. I am a little confused about 2 things

1) In the the Settings menu there is a selection "Allow access to online resources",
then under Additional Options are 2 selections - "Check for program updates and support messages" and "download special offers"

Do both of these need to be unchecked in order to stop automatic updates without any notification?

What does "special offers" refer to?

The problem is I do want to check for program updates and support messages, but I don't want stuff downloaded automatically without notice, so what does "check for programs and support messages" actually do?

There is no check box for "download and install new updates".

2) I know how to uncheck the PC-Doctor Toolbar in the "Toolbars" menu. I want to know how to completely remove that selection since the program is no longer installed.

For example, I have completely uninstalled PC-Doctor Toolbox for Windows on my X61 (Windows 10), but the PC-Doctor Toolbar is still in the Toolbar selection list. Nothing happens when I try to check it.

So how do I remove it?

Thanks, Josef

[PCD_James]

Hello Josef,

1.You will not need to uncheck the special offers, I believe this is so we can push notifications when sales run etc. If you uncheck the option it will stop checking and notifying you when an update is available. Unfortunately there is no way around this. It is my understanding that the software should never update without approval, just notify you, but clearly this is not the case as I have had multiple reports of this. I will have someone take a look into this to get it fixed.

2.If the software is uninstalled and the toolbar remains it sounds like there is a leftover registry key that needs to be removed.I will take a look into this and report back.

-James

[PCD_James]

Hello,

Unfortunately the way Windows stores the Reg Key for the toolbars does not lead to it being easily found.

I was able to find it in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID but from there it is all garbled and I am not sure if it is universal or system specific.

I was able to find it by searching for "PC-Doctor for Windows" and then deleting the key in  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\"some random letters"

The other option would be to reinstall and then uninstall the software as it looks like your first uninstall was corrupted/incomplete.

Another option is I can send you the Uninstaller, however depending on how "Uninstalled" your previous install is it might not run.

[Josef W]

Hi James,

Thanks for looking into the unannounced installation issue and the the leftover Toolbar issue.

FYI - I simply used the Windows > Programs > Uninstall option to uninstall PC-Doctor.
There didn't seem to be a separate Uninstall option under the PD-Doctor Toolbox Program
in the Windows Start Menu Programs listing.

I will try installing and then uninstalling.

After the unannounced upgrade, PC-Doctor Toolbox 7 on my Lenovo X230 with Windows 7 Pro is running very well.

I does seem that with the upgrade the "System Changes" records that were recorded prior to the upgrade were lost, but some "System Events" and "Restore Points" were kept.

In analyzing problems that pop up I found it very useful to have these specific "System Changes" records.

But I also noticed that after the upgrade some things were not recorded.

For example, I use a VPN service named "Private Internet Access" which installs an app on my computer and makes changes to the TAP driver. "PIA" had just updated their program and had a download and installer to do this.

I downloaded and installed the new update but AVG also flagged this as a threat and quarantined it.

I had to uninstall AVG to finally allow the install to work. PC-Doctor recorded the removal of AVG, but not the re-installation of PIA.

By the way, Lenovo seems to have been busy fixing the flaws in their "Lenovo Solutions Centre" which they developed to replace PC-Doctor Toolbox. It works much better now and seems to be very specific in tracking changes in computer programs and drivers. 

Thanks again,

Josef