The product itself, "pdfforge" is an excellent PDF printer if your system doesn't provide one out of the box.
However, be aware that automatic software updates will try to silently download and install additional adware/spyware without notification or user consent.
Windows Defender identifies the adware downloader as "PUA:Win32/InstMonetizer".
For a product also intended for professional/commercial use, this is definitely not acceptable.
Anytime I need to uninstall a piggy-backed toolbar from one of my customers, a site is going to be rated so-so. Folks, unwanted software is a very poor marketing plan.
I've been using this software for a few years with no problem until now when I tried to update to the new version 1.7.2.
After download my AV and Malwarebytes-PRO detected "Open Candy" [PUP] and quarantined this. Only AFTER the download did an Agreement page appear telling me that "Open Candy" was included in the installation.
I refuse to support a company and use their products if they resort to these tactics to spread malware containing software.
This is an excellent tool, but uncheck any opencandy installations. You can install it if you want to, but thankfully, it doesn't install it even when it is unchecked.
UPDATE: I thought there was a toolbar? Maybe they don't have it anymore.
UPDATE: There is in fact a toolbar. Apparently pdfforge wants you to install PDF Architect which installs a toolbar no matter what. So whatever you do, DO NOT install PDF Architect. To avoid this, use compact installation instead of the default.
The official version is now a Malware ridden piece of software. Do NOT install. Like many i have used this software for many years without issue. After upgrading to the latest version various pieces of unwanted software were installed both in the browser and on the PC in general.
The virus checker did not give any warnings. After installing other malware detection software problems have now been found.
Why the authors of a fine piece of software would do this i have no idea.
Useful software but installs adware/spyware (claro-search.com) which monitors and resets the browser homepage and default search engine. The option of not installing the adware is well hidden in a EULA accepting page. If installed, the adware cannot be removed from the computer by regular means (program uninstall), requiring expert computer knowledge or specialized tools such as AdwCleaner. It is particularly worrisome since the software is also distributed by sourceforge, which my fool users into thinking it is safe. It is NOT SAFE!
UPDATE 21 Sep 2012: Installer for version 1.5.0 attempts to add AVG toolbar. There is no apparent way to avoid the installation of this unwanted toolbar.
Latest installer downloads something called InstallManager.exe , then attempts to install CrapWare toolbar. Tried on multiple machines and seems that this InstallManager rotates between several junky and useless toolbars. Also hijacks IE homepage. (Did not test on Firefox)
The software provided on this site continues to use non-standard installation dialogs to trick users into installing additional 3rd-party software. While "Phillip" (ostensibly the only active developer) has clearly read/responded to complaints, he has persisted in including this unwanted software despite many user objections. See also:
http://www.pdfforge.org/forum/open-discussion/8973-sweetim
Don't download anything from this site unless, you want to spend an hour or two tracking down and removing adware. Not to mention that the software doesn't work very well at all. Definitely not worth the hassle.
Generally good and useful software, but tries to install a toolbar that can be considered adware and is hard to uninstall. Be sure to check all options during installation carefully and uncheck anything related to the toolbar or unnecessary browser plugins.
It's very nice software ... basically it does the job & it is free :)
But be careful when you install it don't install any toolbar comes with it.
Whenever I install the PDFCreator my antivirus software displays a warning message:
File Name: C:\Users\.........\AppData\Local\Temp\is-U2TBI.tmp\OCSetupHlp.dll
Threat: Win32/OpenCandy potentially unsafe application
NOTE:
In addition to that, I have noticed that whenever I use the software & create some pdf documents, my PC CPU get utilized 100% & keep the processor busy until I go & kill the PDFCreator processor !!!!
This is a trojan laden website. It loads Yahoo, Dealio, Widgi Toolbars. It shows WOT as a Green circle (safe), I don't think so. I had 47 PUP trojans. Fortunately, Malwarebytes was the only one to pick them up. Please mark this site with a Red circle.
If you install PDFCreator, without asking, the program installs a program called PDFforge toolbar. Afterwards, if you get a 404 error (webpage not found) when surfing the web, the PDFforge toolbar hijacks your browser and automatically redirects you to urlseek20.vmn.net using mybrowserbar.com.
Birgt Gefahr einer Infizierung durch Viren/”driveby”downloads/Trojanern/backdoor bots/Schadprogramme
!!!!!!Malicious Content!!!!!!
Site carries the risk of infection with viruses/‘driveby’ downloads/Trojans/backdoor bots, rogue programs (PUP’s)
Trotz deaktivierung von "yahoo toolbar installieren"wurde sie installiert..
Helpful
«
12
»
About this site
PDFCreator The FREE PDF Converter Tool and FDF Architect the PDF Editor Create PDF files from any application with PDFCreator. Best of all, PDFCreator is absolutely free for anyone to use.