The bundled-bloat installer
Also searched as: bundled software · bundled bloat · extra software · opt out checkbox · toolbar bundle
The pattern
The installer for one tool quietly tucks in two or three others — a browser toolbar, a different "optimizer," an antivirus trial — with the consent boxes pre-checked. Click through fast and you've installed a small crowd you never wanted.
The tell
The setup has extra pre-ticked checkboxes and "recommended" partner offers you have to actively decline on each screen.
The honest version
An honest installer installs the one thing you asked for and bundles nothing you didn't choose.
The Compy Blackbook holds 174 graded entries like this one, judged against your hardware — and every change it does make is reversible, with the receipt to prove it.
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