Piracy Alert - Can anyone plz help :(

[tmlfan]

Ok so all of a sudden my computer restarted on me..and when booted back up i got this pop up from gamegain saying i did something illegal and all this stuff. Now i'm not gonna lie, this has scared me senseless and i am extremeley worried. After that happened i reformatted my hard drive and it was gone. I have never seen nor have i ever used this program before in my life. Can someone please help me out...can anything happen?..I looked it up and its only an $11 program but i'm still extremely scared. So yeah if anyone can help me out it would be much appreciated

[Dark Nova]

did you do anything illegal??
do you remember the message and did it look professional?

i think you were attacked by a virus, cause the pc would'nt restart. next time it happens run an Anti-Virus and run some Anti-spyware programs before you reformat.

[tmlfan]

Originally Posted by Dark Nova did you do anything illegal?? do you remember the message and did it look professional? i think you were attacked by a virus, cause the pc would'nt restart. next time it happens run an Anti-Virus and run some Anti-spyware programs before you reformat.

i didn't do anything...and yeah it seemed pretty professional. I checked out the problem..and in their terms of use it says they would install that if anything happens. I never installed the program though..its just shut down my computer and there it was. It showed me my IP and sayed they might contact my ISP and that the messgae would go away if i buy their program. I'm just really scared because i don't know if anything will happen. I mean yes its only an $11 program and its not made by microsoft, adobe, or macromedia..no big name company.

[Statica]

Firstly, just because a program is not by Microsoft or Adobe (incidentally Adobe and Macromedia are the same now) or because it's only a $11 program does NOT mean that you are free to pirate copyrighted material. I suggest you either pay for the software or stop using it. This forum will not help you with pirated material.
To stop the popup after UNinstalling the program - this has been posted on the forum before: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=112877

[tmlfan]

i never downloaded it..and i never wanted to pirate it. It just appeared. I just wanted to know if anything would happen...i'm completely breaking down from all this worrying heh...thanks for the link though

[blue60007]

Were you even interested in the program? Sounds like some ad-aware trying to trick you into buying that product - or steal your idenity.

[tmlfan]

Originally Posted by blue60007 Were you even interested in the program? Sounds like some ad-aware trying to trick you into buying that product - or steal your idenity.

not at all...i didn't even know what it was...my computer just rebooted and there it was. I'm at the point where i think i should just buy the thing for the 11 bucks and save all this worrying

[Dark Nova]

if i were you i would'nt buy it. anyway it works fine now right??

[tmlfan]

no... i completely got rid of it...after that happened i reformatted my hard drive so its all gone

[tmlfan]

here the pic from the other thread which is basically the same thing

http://forum.pcmech.com/attachment.p...7&d=1097298955

I was looking on it...and if it was serious, wouldn't they have said my ISP..rather than just saying they obtained it? If they can display my IP address which is easy to figure out...why not show my ISP too?

I dunno if this is fake..if its real..i dunno what to do...but in the end the safest thing to do would be to just buy it i guess

[blue60007]

Well if you got rid of it and it's gone, don't worry about it. Especially if you've never heard of it before. The name itself sounds like ad/spy-ware.

[tmlfan]

well thats kinda comforting heh...but the thing is..is that it is an actual program...from pgware.com ...thats where i found it when i researched it. I'm just completely scared senseless because i don't wanna get charged or anything like that

[Panama Red]

I just checked it out on Google. Looks like a very legit operation PGWare.com. A free trial is downloadable at Snapfiles.com and it does sell for $11.99. Sure sounds like someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/gamegain.html

[Statica]

If you didnt install it, but yet you were able to remove it (and keep in mind that this is not a rogue piece of software that forces itself in), then you should be looking around at who could've installed it on your system.

[tmlfan]

Originally Posted by Statica If you didnt install it, but yet you were able to remove it (and keep in mind that this is not a rogue piece of software that forces itself in), then you should be looking around at who could've installed it on your system.

hmm...now that u mention it my friend was on his email the other day and installed some attachment. I didn't care because my computer was so full of spyware and stuff...but thats when it shut down..right after he finished installing it...it shut down on him...so then he left...i came back down stairs and that big warning came up. I didn't think the attachment would have done that...but now thats u just mentioned it...thats probably what happened.

[Dark Nova]

tell your friend never to download anything if he dosent know what it is

[Mac Medic]

Are we sure that the trial version doesn't pop up these threats after it has expired to try and extort $11 by scaring users?

[Statica]

It's shareware, and its not extortion. The idea of shareware is that you TRY it for whatever number of days and if you still have it installed after the trial period has expired you need to remove it.

[J1978]

Conclusion:dont let your friend/s use your pc

j

[trulad]

I will loan you my toothbrush but not my PC.
trulad

[Mac Medic]

Originally Posted by Statica If you didnt install it, but yet you were able to remove it (and keep in mind that this is not a rogue piece of software that forces itself in), then you should be looking around at who could've installed it on your system.

So if it is the case that the Trial has expired and is popping up this message the advice to the original question should surely be to un-install the trial version, rather than jumping to the conclusion that he's a software pireate. It seems that would be the first course of action.

[tmlfan]

Originally Posted by Mac Medic So if it is the case that the Trial has expired and is popping up this message the advice to the original question should surely be to un-install the trial version, rather than jumping to the conclusion that he's a software pireate. It seems that would be the first course of action.

exactly...i never have done anything like that and never plan on to. I think i over reacted a bit tho. I mean i definatly had sleepless nights over this heh. But i mean it happened..and if they choose to contact me then so be it. I have gotten rid of it..i have reformatted my hard drive because it needed to be done anyways because it was filled with spyware and virus'. I know i haven't done anything wrong. I didn't go searching for a serial or a crack or anything like that. I'm still curious as to the fact that they can show me my IP but only state they have my ISP and stuff. And they said that it would be concidered as attempting to pirate not actually pirating. So even if i bought the program that would not change at all.
I just wanna say thanks to the guys that have helped me in this crisis heh.

[doctorgonzo]

Originally Posted by tmlfan exactly...i never have done anything like that and never plan on to. I think i over reacted a bit tho. I mean i definatly had sleepless nights over this heh.

Yes, you did over-react. No company is going to hunt you down over an $11 piece of software. Do you know how much they would have to pay in legal fees to get the paperwork to get your name from your ISP? It wouldn't be worth it for $11. They were probably just trying to scare you, and it worked.

[tmlfan]

Originally Posted by doctorgonzo Yes, you did over-react. No company is going to hunt you down over an $11 piece of software. Do you know how much they would have to pay in legal fees to get the paperwork to get your name from your ISP? It wouldn't be worth it for $11. They were probably just trying to scare you, and it worked.

yeah it def. worked lol...thanks again to everyone!!!

[RazorDX]

That's one hell of a marketing scheme.