Spyware in Paint Shop Pro XI

[Steve Conway]

Anyone know of a type of spyware called PSIService.exe that gets installed with PSP XI?

Seems it's for checking that you are using a registered version of the software. But it can't be deleted or disabled or the program won't work.

Anyone else hear about this.

I am about to get XI, but may have second thoughts.

Steve C.

[Doug Nelson]

It's not spyware by any definition I'm familiar with:
http://www.protexis.com/support/support_PSIService.htm

[Steve Conway]

Originally Posted by Doug Nelson

It's not spyware by any definition I'm familiar with:
http://www.protexis.com/support/support_PSIService.htm

Ran across a discussion site that was discussing this software in connection with PSP XI and some were saying that their spyware programs were detecting it as being a threat.

Not familiar with it myself, except briefly going over the site of the supplier which you pointed me to.

I have picked up so much junk from seemingly well-known software that I am a bit leary of anything I have not heard of.

Steve C.

[Steve Conway]

Check this out. This is where I read about all this mess.

http://ussenterprise.blogdns.net/blo...02/16/316.aspx

Steve C.

[Doug Nelson]

I saw that, and simply don't understand the hysteria. It's similar to the hoohaw over the "bonjour" service that Photoshop CS3 installs (although bonjour is a totally different type of service).

I suspect the primary complainers have ulterior motives (ie: want to illegally share). No one that simply wants to use the software to make art should care.

[Gary Richardson]

This is what Castlecops and Bleeping Computer (two of the best Spyware Databases) have to say about it.

http://www.castlecops.com/o23list-2432.html
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/star...exe-16772.html

Only concern I have is

While idle it requires 2.1 MB of system memory.

quite a bit for an idle process. How much does it suck up when active?

Probably not too much of a problem to someone with a lot of RAM, but to those without that luxury it may effect performance for no particular gain to the user.

[Kraellin]

steve, i use psp 9, 10 and 11 and have never had any concerns about spyware with it. yes, there is a registration process and yes, there is an upgrade process, both of which allow psp to connect to the internet for registration and/or upgrades, much the same way windows does for their upgrades.

and if i remember correctly, psp isnt quite as bad as ps on the whole verification process. psp would like you to register and offers you an incentive for doing so, where ps requires it or it will shut you down, much the same way windows xp requires it or it will shut windows down.

so, from my experience, this doesnt qualify as 'spyware'. and, you can always just block psp xi from accessing the internet through your firewall settings if you're really concerned with it. it does try to connect to the Corel site when you first start it up each time, but i believe that's the auto-update feature trying to see if there's a new version out there. just block it if you're concerned with it.

[Steve Conway]

Thanks all!

Appreciate the input.

If you can't get an answer to a question here, you can't get one anywhere.

Steve C.