I also had a problem with Google not pulling down credit card menus. Asked them three times for help with no answer. So I uninstalled it and it broke the Java feed from Internet Explorer permanently and IE still does not work with Java.
JJK

I just installed Firefox and it corrected all the Google problems.
JJK

I think you can kill off updates vie START UP stuff found via msconfig or ccleaner.

I "UNDERSTAND" the privacy hang up people have, yet I no longer care about it, and it never affects me. In the past, we were listed in the phone book, we have a physical address, we HAVE TO be listed somewhere some how to exist and work with others on the planet. I don't care if google collects where I surf or who I call - let them waste memory storage for worthless info. *I* control me, not the information controls me.
And I am an old f4rt now and am supposed to fret over privacy. I just don't. Just my perspective.

I think you can kill off updates vie START UP stuff found via msconfig or ccleaner.
===============
I tried that. The registry overrides it. Zone Alarm Free can be set to block Google auto update, but Google update resets it. Same with Hijack This. Attempt to remove it and you can't.

I did this:

Set the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Update\AutoUpdateCheckPeriodMinutes to the REG_DWORD value of "0".

But then you can't update it manually unless you download the latest version. Install it and change the registry again.

My solution (for me anyway) is foolproof. Get rid of it and let Google go stuff itself.

John

Daughter showed me a cool Android feature the other day. If you misplace your phone, just type "find my phone" and Google will track it down on a map and ring the phone for you if you wish. She used this feature to find her phone (buried in cushions) the other day.

Then I thought, so Google COULD be continuously tracking your location. Not that they do, but they could. And that info could be given to others.

I've used other "lost phone" apps in the past, but allowing one gigantic octopus company access to EVERYTHING is creepy and Orwellian.

Update:

Even though I uninstalled Google Chrome the other nag is STILL THERE.

It is called "Native Hosts For Apps" which STILL wants permission to connect to the internet. I blocked it with Zone Alarm and it overrode the settings. If I find a registry disable key, I will post it here.

John

EDIT: What is appnhost.exe?

appnhost.exe is part of AppNHost and developed by Mixesoft Project according to the appnhost.exe version information.

appnhost.exe's description is "Native Host for Apps"

appnhost.exe is digitally signed by Vladislavas Jarmalis.

appnhost.exe is usually located in the 'c:\users\%USERNAME%\appdata\local\mixesoft\appnhost\' folder.

It may be removed under Add and Remove Programs. Then clean up the Google induced registry residue with CCleaner.

Just did a virus scan following the Google Chrome removal procedure. (Did one just yesterday by the way and nothing was found).

Scanner found "Win32 bundled toolbar Google D" potentially unsafe applicati0on.

Must have been when I made the mistake of filling out the "Why did you uninstall Chrome" survey I was redirected to when I uninstalled the program. Disgusting company.

John

" I don't care if google collects where I surf or who I call - let them waste memory storage for worthless info. *I* control me, not the information controls me."

I said something similar back in the days of the tracking cookie debacles. So, all these websites are keeping track of where i visit and allowing other websites to how targeted ads. The complete and total net end effect to me is that i might end up seeing a higher proportion of ads that might just barely be of interest to me (THE HORRORS!!!!! *gasp*) instead of random ads of pretty much no interest whatsoever. And since i really don't even notice the ads on the screen anyway, i can't see how this affects me at all. It's really just a big "so what?"

Companies and agencies have been collecting data on all of us for centuries. So what?

I was a faithful Firefox user several years ago until they had those months where they broke it and couldn't fix it for months. Terrible performance, corrupted whole machines. I switched to Chrome. I've never had a bad update, and it is much more powerful than any other browser I've used.

Every morning, I open up 3 Chrome windows, and with one click in each, about 180 tabbed websites open up (about 60 in each) for my daily reading. All sites open up in about 10 seconds. I can't imagine using this technique in IE, and Firefox didn't like > 15 tabs, super slow. I use Firefox for a few extensions that are good, and IE for those sites that only work fully under that browser.

>>>>I "UNDERSTAND" the privacy hang up people have, yet I no longer care about it, and it never affects me. In the past, we were listed in the phone book, we have a physical address, we HAVE TO be listed somewhere some how to exist and work with others on the planet. I don't care if google collects where I surf or who I call <<<

Your phone book example is just as mistaken as examples of digital file sharing vs. old time cassette copying. Completely different things. With a couple of clicks you can "share" a song with millions of people. Try making a million copies of a song on physical media and then mail it to a million people.

Phone book is just your name and address. In the digital age, if you're using your real name they will know whether you've been checking ( for example ) symptoms of XYZ disease. Then you go and apply for health or life insurance and it's denied or they force you to pay higher premiums. You don't know why. Well, it's because they bought all of this info from all these other companies who track your browsing. If it were just ads who cares, but it's not just ads.

Firefox 38 is as fast as Google Chrome was for the week I had it.

If some of you don't care about privacy, that's fine.
But why should those of us who do care about privacy NOT be given a choice? Google makes it impossible to choose manual updates. And then as a goodbye present for filling out a goodbye survey they slipped me a Google toolbar without my knowledge. Plus, sharing my personal information with whomever they like.

I would suppose complacency fuels more of the same.

John

EDIT: Two days ago, I received a "privacy update notice" for my Macy's credit card.
It listed eight different ways they would be sharing my personal information with whomever they choose only two of which I could temporarily stop if I called. It also said that even if I discontinue the credit card they were legally allowed to continue sharing my personal information. I discontinued the credit card but I am still screwed (legally). Should I be annoyed about that?

Just from a performance perspective, Chrome is now a bloated mess and huge memory hog. Recently I finally got sick of this; was using Chrome at work and at home on multiple computers and it just kept slowing down mid-level PCs (core i5)...memory leaks all over the place.
The last straw was that the bookmarks syncing kept screwing up.
Two weeks ago I switched back to Firefox after a long hiatus.
FF is super snappy and the bookmarks sync works as advertised.
If I didn't need gmail or YouTube I would say goodbye to Google.

Chienworks, I don't look at ads, either--because I use AdBlockPlus on Firefox. I am often bemused when I temporarily use someone else's PC--so many websites look lit up like Times Square. Yecch. But on Firefox, all I get is a web page with the actual material I want to read. And off to the side, there is a nice quiet white area with the tiny word "(advertisement)" inside.

And now, recently, web news pages are being infested with a matrix of tiny little images with non-matching inane captions, such as, "Your DMV is desperate that drivers don't find out about this trick." These web page pimples are promoted by Taboola, who no doubt gives $0.10 to the web site owner every time some idiot clicks on a link. But AdBlockPlus can kill those, too.

AdBlockPlus is a good thing.

For Firefox, in addition to AdBlockPlus, I use Disconnect and Ghostery. While they may not keep me totally private, at least I feel like I've done what I can.

Posted by: prairiedogpics, Date: 6/20/2015 5:38:05 AM
Just from a performance perspective, Chrome is now a bloated mess and huge memory hog.
I noticed this too. Used to use Firefox but it became fat, bloated and slow so jumped ship to Chrome. For a long time I used Chrome to watch youtube vids in 360 and 480 on my old AMD XP laptop.

Now Chrome is fat and bloated, doesn't play anything at all and the laptop is very slow browsing. Loaded Firefox and I can at least watch youtube vids at lower resolution and browsing is faster than Chrome.

I'm waiting for Firefox to fall off the fat girl diet and becomes fat and bloated again. (:

I have no problem w/ chrome on my i7 quad core and hex core machines. But that's like needing a Mac truck to carry a bag of groceries LOL!

>>>>>AdBlockPlus is a good thing.<<<<<

No it's not. Sites providing free content depend on ads to make money. There is no difference between illegal music/movie download ads and adBlock use and the very same excuse is used in all of those examples: "But I wouldn't buy those songs/movies anyway, or "but I wouldn't click on those ads anyway."

Well maybe they wouldn't, but others would and we have already reached the point where most people think it's OK to "share" files and where adBlock ( or something like it ) is being installed by default by some browsers or anti virus/security programs. That affects everybody including people who would pay for music/movies and people who would click on ads, but now they won't because "everybody's doing it"

It has been verified through discussion that AdBlock is open source. This should let you trust AdBlock more.

The real risk are malicious ads that prompt you to install software on your computer. Adblock prevents these. So while some ads may be legitimate, others may not be. The comparison of AdBlock usage to to "piracy" seems a bit of a stretch to me.

John

I don't think it's a stretch at all. You want people to buy your songs or videos. People who provide free content on the web want you to see and hopefully click on ads in exchange for that free content.

It's the same thing really. You get what you want in exchange for whatever they want. If you don't agree with their terms you don't try to get around it, you simply don't buy/use their content.

What a lot of nonsense about ad blocking = piracy! I've never heard such a daft comparison. Who cares if some idiot who wants to spam me with ads doesn't get 0.0001 pence because I blocked his/her ad? They can take those invasive adverts and stick them where the sun don't shine. Whatever next, ignoring Coke hoardings will trigger the fall of capitalism? Get a grip with this neoliberal nonsense! No one has the right to impose adverts for commercial music, videos or any other product on web surfers. If a website owner doesn't want people visiting his/her site without paying ad money then either use a pay wall or shut down. The only people who should be locked up are those who want to turn the internet into one big shopping mall. If you offer "FREE" access to music/videos don't expect payment via webverts. That is NOT free and incredibly dishonest marketing.

My other concern with this adblock = piracy equation is what does this say about the quality of the music/video products if the creator is dependent on webverts to make a living? The risk is changing the reputation of upcoming music/video creators into clickbait scammers where the primary purpose is making money through advertising. We have enough trouble with being viewed as interns, bottom-feeders and disposable commodities in the industry without adding to that unfair impression.

Adblock, I use it on everything too.

Equating it to piracy or whatever is like saying I can NOT press MUTE on my TV and go get a drink when commercials come on, I have to watch them? Say what?

It's MY data line... I can control whatever I want coming down it. Too bad for blocked ads.

I ran from FireFox when it got bloated. Chrome is still good to me - faster surfing... did they FIX FireFox recently?? Because IT turned to horrid bloated, slow mess - even on fresh installed machines. I gave up. Ain't nobody got time for that! :D

+1 in favour of ad block!!!

any comparison to piracy is simply ridiculous - otherwise every time i averted my eyes from a billboard i'd be committing an act of piracy?

>>>>>What a lot of nonsense about ad blocking = piracy! I've never heard such a daft comparison. Who cares if some idiot who wants to spam me with ads doesn't get 0.0001 pence because I blocked his/her ad? They can take those invasive adverts and stick them where the sun don't shine<<<<<

And what does it make you? You still insist on visiting that idiot's site? May wanna look up common sense on wikipedia ( no ads there either )

>>>>any comparison to piracy is simply ridiculous - otherwise every time i averted my eyes from a billboard i'd be committing an act of piracy? <<<<

A billboard does not provide content. You think reporters who write for sites do it for free? You don't think they are paid from ad revenue?

Some of these sites I'm defending here actually support file sharing, yet cry foul when people use AdBlock. Then on this Vegas forum we have supposed content creators who are against people pirating their work, but can't see that other people's work/content is supported by ads. It's sad really.

This is why we are in this mess. Nobody wants to look at themselves honestly and admit they are nothing more than just another a$$hole who wants $hit for free.. That's all it really is.

I use TivoToGo to download recorded shows to my PC.... use VideoRedo and ComSkip to edit out the commercials then serve to back to the TV with Serviio.

Lock me up.