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Question

Bundling Google Chrome and Toolbar???

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
August 23, 2012
16 replies
88833 views

Has anyone noticed that the latest Flash update automatically installs Google Toolbar and Google Chrome? What a horrible business decision Adobe. Force installing software like you are Napster. I would fire the product manager that made that decision. As a CTO I will be informing my IT staff to set Flash to ignore updates from this point forward. QA staff cannot have additional items installed that are not part of the base browser installation. Ridiculous that Adobe snuck this crap in. All I can hope now is to find something that challenges Photoshop so I can move my design team away from Adobe software as well. Smart move trying to make pennies off of your high dollar customers.

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A

Anonymous

Nor will I install an update until Adobe removes this unwarranted intrusion. Fortunately I saw the install progress dialog and killed it before it screwed my machine up. Just to confirm I didn't receive any opt out option ( I went back to check again). Opt out is NOT appropriate in any case. This should be opt-in only or not even offered. I choose the browser on my computer and it's defintely not Chrome.

G

gdollrw

New Participant

Really a violation of the trust we put into Adobe. The backlash will go viral as overworked IT staffs have to run around and undo this. There's a lesson here that Adobe needs to absorb. One would hope Adobe wouldn't be stupid enough to repeat this fiasco with AR Reader. This will fan the no-Flash flames and accelerate HTML5 adoption.

A

Anonymous

No update till an opt-in!!

4

4_Dawg

New Participant

I also got Google Crome (NOT at my request) when I updated my Adobe last night. I am VERY unhappy. I did NOT see anywhere to opt out of it and when it was all done all my favorites were gone and my computer was a MESS. I tried uninstalling Chrome and when I did none of my shortcuts would work. Can anyone help me get my computer bach to where I had it?? I have some trouble with all the technical terms but can navigate my way through medium difficulty stuff.

R

rschletty

Participating Frequently

I am equally frustrated by the default installation of Adobe Reader including Google Toolbar and Google Chrome. The option to exclude this "software from select Adobe partners" is cleverly hidden in a small checkbox and a flyout box. Shame on Adobe for not making the default installation Reader only. I had to cancel my installation twice before I figured out how to download an installer with just Adobe Reader.

Keep making noise, everyone!

A

Anonymous

This just happened to me - chrome only, no toolbar. I am second generation computer nerd married to a computer nerd and I just can't believe this issue has been going on for this long and you haven't tracked it down. It is really horrible and offensive. I can't believe there is an adobe staff member sitting on this forum saying they can't repro the issue when this many people have posted screenshots. Just admit it is happening and stop asking the community to fix it for you. Have your staff do their job and repro it themselves and fix it.

I have chrome on many of my computers, I just didn't want it on the one I was patchin with your flash update and I certainly didn't agree to it - nor did I miss any checkbox.

Adobe, get it together!

The problem is twofold:

1. Each time you update flashplayer, it gives you 3 options, where the default option is to have Adobe automatically update flashplayer. If you choose this I don't think you can unselect Chrome. Choose the middle ground - let the application look for updates, but set that it has to ask your permission before installing them. This is always the best option, no matter what the "experts" try to fool you with. Take control yourself!

(Btw, you need to specify this every time it is being updated - it always resets to default, which is fully automated updates)

2. As Chris has stated, if you do a manual update, you need to uncheck the Chrome installation (and it being set as default browser) to avoid this.

Adobe continues to be sneaky and forcing you to choose NOT to have Chrome being default browser when updating flashplayer. I am still dreaming of a world where Adobe change their stupid philosophy, and instead let people actively choose to install Chrome if they want to, instead of this crap solution they have chosen to keep.

As long as there is no good alternative, and we keep using Flashplayer they way we (the internet community) do, I guess we have to live with their ways...

But they're not the only ones. Even Java updates can bring unexpected surprises if you do not watch out.

chris.campbell

Community Manager

Thank you for the feedback and I understand your concern. For regularly scheduled Flash Player releases, such as our 11.4 release, users are notified of new features included in the release and may opt to download the latest player via http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer. This workflow allows users to optionally download software from select Adobe partners along with Flash Player. Adobe offsets the ongoing development costs of Flash Player, which is made available for free, by offering users these options. To protect users from immediate, zero-day vulnerabilities, Adobe will continue to provide security updates to those who have opted into our automatic update service.

I'd like to suggest two alternatives in your case. First, after the download page appears, if you want to pass on the optional software, simply uncheck the checkbox before clicking the download button.

Second, because you are in an enterprise environment, you might want to investigate our redistribution agreement (http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribution.html). With this, you can roll out Flash Player releases using standard deployment methods and even implement your own internal auto update server (http://blogs.adobe.com/spohl/2012/04/24/it-admin-deploying-flash-player-via-background-updater/)

Thanks,

Chris

L

Luc4800

Participating Frequently

I rebooted and it says there's a flash update. Do you want to install (y/n). I say yes and after installation Chrome and Google toolbar was installed and my default browser was changed to Google Crome.

I don't think this is legal in the US without consent. What's going on here?

L

Luc4800

Participating Frequently

I also noticed that I could not open any hyperlinks anymore in Outlook after this supposedly flash only update.

The fix is in this article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310049

I had to go to registry and change GoogleChrome string value in Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html to htmlfile.

After that it worked again

pwillener

Brainiac

What update? Was it a background update, or was there any user intervention involved?

I have definitely not seen any bundled installs on any of my computers.

[topic moved to Flash Player forum]

J

JDuran45

New Participant

What software are you using to provent these notices and updates. These updates do not allow to view unless I update adobe. Even at this point I am forced to install parts of google into my yahoo. THIS IS CRAP!

Lew

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