While I am affiliated with Malwarebytes, please note that this is a personal request based on the various users who I've had to walk through cleanup, and that it is not a request from Malwarebytes Corporation. I don't want anyone to think that Malwarebytes has an issue with Safer networking or their software.
Also note that I was one of the people who beta tested Spybot S&D's immunize features for Opera back when those were first in beta. Back then I made it clear that the feature was not ready, but no one listened to me and the new version with the new immunize features were released anyway. That is one of the reasons why I moved on from Safer Networking, and why I got involved with Malwarebytes. While I expect this request to get the same attention as my warnings about the issues with Opera support in the immunize beta tests, when I have a problem with a software I like, I am the type who does not hesitate to make that issue know, even when I know that no one will listen to me.
As a technical support representative, I get to see a decent number of people with infected computers (just as some of you here do). What always bothers me is when someone has Spybot Search & Destroy installed, and didn't know to uncheck TeaTimer during the install, because usually when I see TeaTimer installed the anti-malware software that they were using could have cleaned up their system, but they had no clue how to answer the prompts from TeaTimer during removal, and it wound up preventing the malware from being removed.
In my experience as a technician and a tech support rep, there are (for the most part) two types of average users. Those who always click yes, and those who always click no. Since TeaTimer makes the user decide what should be done, it cannot protect someone who has a tendency to always click yes, and on the flip side someone who always clicks no will never be able to install new software, remove malware, or remove bad startup entries.
Of course, there are users who try to read the prompts, and try to select the correct action, but how can they be expected to select the correct thing? "Do you want to allow some file to create some registry entry" is never going to be answered correctly by the average user. They don't know the file names of the programs they use and install, and they certainly don't know anything about registry entries. For these people, TeaTimer is going to cause them far more problems than it will prevent.
TeaTimer is a great tool for security experts, IT admins, and even higher-level techs who know what they are doing. They are the type who love to have that kind of info available. The average user will never use TeaTimer right, and it is my belief that having TeaTimer as a default option in the installer is a very bad idea, and is causing more harm than good.
Also note that I was one of the people who beta tested Spybot S&D's immunize features for Opera back when those were first in beta. Back then I made it clear that the feature was not ready, but no one listened to me and the new version with the new immunize features were released anyway. That is one of the reasons why I moved on from Safer Networking, and why I got involved with Malwarebytes. While I expect this request to get the same attention as my warnings about the issues with Opera support in the immunize beta tests, when I have a problem with a software I like, I am the type who does not hesitate to make that issue know, even when I know that no one will listen to me.
As a technical support representative, I get to see a decent number of people with infected computers (just as some of you here do). What always bothers me is when someone has Spybot Search & Destroy installed, and didn't know to uncheck TeaTimer during the install, because usually when I see TeaTimer installed the anti-malware software that they were using could have cleaned up their system, but they had no clue how to answer the prompts from TeaTimer during removal, and it wound up preventing the malware from being removed.
In my experience as a technician and a tech support rep, there are (for the most part) two types of average users. Those who always click yes, and those who always click no. Since TeaTimer makes the user decide what should be done, it cannot protect someone who has a tendency to always click yes, and on the flip side someone who always clicks no will never be able to install new software, remove malware, or remove bad startup entries.
Of course, there are users who try to read the prompts, and try to select the correct action, but how can they be expected to select the correct thing? "Do you want to allow some file to create some registry entry" is never going to be answered correctly by the average user. They don't know the file names of the programs they use and install, and they certainly don't know anything about registry entries. For these people, TeaTimer is going to cause them far more problems than it will prevent.
TeaTimer is a great tool for security experts, IT admins, and even higher-level techs who know what they are doing. They are the type who love to have that kind of info available. The average user will never use TeaTimer right, and it is my belief that having TeaTimer as a default option in the installer is a very bad idea, and is causing more harm than good.
