Spyware toolbar still installing despite INF file

PDFCreator PDFCreator English
1

I'm deploying PDFCreator 1.0.2 silently via saved INF file. My INF file contains the following:

[Setup]
Lang=english
Dir=C:\\Program Files\\PDFCreator
Group=PDFCreator
NoIcons=0
SetupType=custom
Components=program,ghostscript,comsamples,languages,languages\\english
Tasks=
Printername=PDFCreator
ServerInstallation=0
Win9xPrinterdriver=0
WinNtPrinterdriver=0
Win2k32bitPrinterdriver=0
Win2k64bitPrinterdriver=0

Despite this, when installed with the following command line, the installer still attempts to download the toolbar.

My command line is /SP- /VERYSILENT /LOADINF=pdfc.inf

ESET prevents this download but the installer hangs in the process.  pdfforgeToolbar-stub-1.exe can be found running in the task manager.  Ending this process allows the installer to finish properly.

2

I just went back to version 1.0.0 and confirmed the same behavior.

3

I've created a workaround which I will share here for anyone else who has this issue.  The following is a batch/cmd file which will execute the installer and then, up to 12x over the next 2 minutes, try to kill the toolbar stub process.

```

@echo off
start pdfcreator-1_0_2_setup.exe /SP- /VERYSILENT /LOADINF=pdfc.inf
for /l %a in (1,1,12) do @(sleep 10
taskkill /im pdfforgeToolbar-stub-1.exe && goto success)

:success

<hr /><p>This is for XP and uses the <tt>sleep</tt> command from the 2003 Resource Kit.&nbsp; If you don't have the Resource Kit and can't use the <tt>sleep</tt> command, you can fudge it with <tt>ping localhost</tt>. On Win7 (and Vista, I think) you need to use the <tt>timeout</tt> command in place of the <tt>sleep</tt> command.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
4

Hello,

I've managed to install the pdfcreator without the toolbar:

"%~dp0PDFCreator-1_0_2_setup.exe" /verysilent /lang=\\"dutch\\" /DontUseYahooSearch /components=\\"!toolbar,program,ghostscript,helpfiles,helpfiles\\english,helpfiles\\dutch,languages,languages\\dutch,languages\\english\\" /tasks=\\"!desktop_icon\\"" /f
 

Michel

5

[Setup]
Lang=english
DefaultDestDir=16426
Group=PDFCreator
NoIcons=0
SetupType=custom
Components=program,ghostscript,comsamples,languages,languages\\english
Tasks=
Printername=PDFCreator
ServerInstallation=0
Win9xPrinterdriver=0
WinNtPrinterdriver=0
Win2k32bitPrinterdriver=0
Win2k64bitPrinterdriver=0

If you are using a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit systems, changing the "dir=" to the DefaultDestDir above will result in proper install location on 64-bit systems. I don't have any 32-bit systems to test this on however. Could someone please test this inf on a 32-bit platform and let me know if this works.

6

Make that 0.98.  It seems this behavior may have always been present but it wasn't being caught by Symantec.  I switched to ESET a few months ago and that led to me discovering this issue.

7

I think you responded to the wrong thread.

8

It would be wonderful if someone with the tools and knowledge would start making "clean" builds of PDFCreator.

9

This only further bolsters the arguement some are claiming that the toolbar cannot be turned off even if you deselect it.