High Def Picture Album

High Def Picture Album from EK, Inc. was an interesting experience.

I downloaded it on Sept 22, 2006, installed it. Ran the program and entered a subdirectory containing high definition digital fotos. Nothing appeared fancy or earth-shattering, so I closed it out. I saw nothing special about it so, on the next day, I deleted it.

On Monday the 25th, I discovered ALL of my high definition digital fotos were deleted with the uninstall. Not only that, but four or five OTHER programs were zapped as well.

Sent a email of "concern" to their 'support'. No word yet from them.

BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS PROGRAM!

 

Dear Grandaddy,

This just goes to show the importance of on the one hand, backing up your data, and on the other, being very careful about downloading and installing software.

I don't always follow my own rules about downloading, installing, and backing up. I get careless sometimes -- I'm a computer expert, right?

Well, any time you try out a new application, you run a risk. "Caveat emptor," buyer beware. This is especially true if the thing is free.

There IS free software out there that is fantastic and carries no risk. For example, AntiVir Personal Edition Classic from H+BEDV Software, in Germany, is the best antivirus protection on the market, despite the fact that it's free. SpyBot Search and Destroy, I'm sure you've heard of, and it's free, too. AnalogX has a screen-capture utility that's free, and it comes with no strings attached. FilZip is a fantastic archive utility, also free, with advanced capabilities. None of these programs does anything bad to your computer.

On the other hand, there are "free" applications that want something in return, if you install them. The most common "give me something back" idea is spyware, or, you agree to send statistics about how you use the Internet back to the people who provided you the "free" application. That kind of software should always be avoided.

Another kind of software you may encounter, as a "free download," is shareware. There is nothing wrong with shareware, except that generally, if you download it and try it out for a set period of time, after the trial period expires, you're expected to either pay for it to continue using it, or uninstall it.

I guess what I'm trying to impress upon you is that you must, if you want to protect yourself, read the legal documentation, the "terms of service," before you install any new software, even software you've paid for. I have to admit that I don't always read it, but it's important.

Be sure you know what you're in for, before you install. Read the legal stuff.


Rick

 

Dear Grandaddy,

This just goes to show the importance of on the one hand, backing up your data, and on the other, being very careful about downloading and installing software.

I don't always follow my own rules about downloading, installing, and backing up. I get careless sometimes -- I'm a computer expert, right?

Well, any time you try out a new application, you run a risk. "Caveat emptor," buyer beware. This is especially true if the thing is free.

There IS free software out there that is fantastic and carries no risk. For example, AntiVir Personal Edition Classic from H+BEDV Software, in Germany, is the best antivirus protection on the market, despite the fact that it's free. SpyBot Search and Destroy, I'm sure you've heard of, and it's free, too. AnalogX has a screen-capture utility that's free, and it comes with no strings attached. FilZip is a fantastic archive utility, also free, with advanced capabilities. None of these programs does anything bad to your computer.

On the other hand, there are "free" applications that want something in return, if you install them. The most common "give me something back" idea is spyware, or, you agree to send statistics about how you use the Internet back to the people who provided you the "free" application. That kind of software should always be avoided.

Another kind of software you may encounter, as a "free download," is shareware. There is nothing wrong with shareware, except that generally, if you download it and try it out for a set period of time, after the trial period expires, you're expected to either pay for it to continue using it, or uninstall it.

I guess what I'm trying to impress upon you is that you must, if you want to protect yourself, read the legal documentation, the "terms of service," before you install any new software, even software you've paid for. I have to admit that I don't always read it, but it's important.

Be sure you know what you're in for, before you install. Read the legal stuff.


Rick


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Rick,

You are exactly right. I really only mentioned this here because it was offered here on MajorGeeks, and it had a "decent" rating, plus, it had been downloaded from here over 14,000 times.

As far as documentation, well, there wasn't any. The URL to the EK Inc., page was just the filename (with the URL to the file) in a very large font. The UI was almost nonexsistant, just a few icons on the bottom of the screen.

My purpose here was just to warn others of the problem with this program.

Yes, I neglected to run a backup first. Particularly gauling since I had a plethora of blank DVD's sitting nearby!

Thanks for your thoughts.

David