Pokki is advertised as a Windows-based shell with a start menu. Lots of free apps. Lots of games. It's the best thing since sliced bread.
Not. What it is is a very invasive piece of software that acts just like a virus. It gradually takes over your computer.
I have a Toshiba laptop that I'm running Win 8.1. Every once in a while I get downloads from the Toshiba Service Station to help make the laptop run better, have better security. When this one came in this afternoon talking about security problems, I thought maybe I'd better download and install it. What a mistake.
It had Pokki as part of the download. And suddenly, there it was, out of the blue. And suddenly, I lost my wireless mouse. I knew this wasn't good. It took me a good two hours, but it's finally gone. Lord, I was every where in that computer. All over the Registry, I was in all the hidden files and folders and well, I was all over the place. As fast as I'd delete it, it would come back. It's not as simple as uninstalling a program. Nope. Not at all. It has a bunch of different programs, all bundled in with it, and you need to get rid of all of it. Everything. Or it just keeps coming back, every time you restart the computer. I had to go into Chrome and kill the extension there. And I finally reset Chrome to default. Every darn time I would reboot, it would come back. I was beside myself. Kaspersky didn't catch it, but my understanding is that it acts like a shell for Windows, so maybe that's why. I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes and that got rid of a lot of the files. But not all of them.
The interesting thing is that during the time I was dealing with this, I got a phone call from somebody (the usual male suspect with an accent) who said that he knew I was having some computer problems and he could help me. I told him I had a Mac and that I wasn't having any trouble at all. And then, after mouthing off a bunch of
epithets, I hung up on him. Now, I know it was just a coincidence. He didn't say he was from Microsoft; he didn't say he was from Windows. Very unnerving. Rick didn't know what the heck to think.
I have finally re-started my laptop now for the fourth time without finding Pokki. Did a search for Pokki. And came up with nothing. Finally. And once I got the laptop to reboot without Pokki, I regained my mouse, too. Ran a scan with Kaspersky and then ran another scan with Malwarebytes again. Neither program caught anything at all.
The thing is, from what I've been reading about it, people either like it or they hate it. Some think it's absolutely wonderful; others feel that it's very invasive and that it will gradually work its way through the system, taking over the task bar, taking over your browsing habits, giving you a ton of ads, all kinds of stuff. I just wanted it gone. Period. People are calling it a virus, at the least, it's a form of adware.
I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful. I'm not amused at all that I got this from Toshiba. In an important security update. That's simply unfathomable to me. I doubt I will ever install another Toshiba update at all.
Not. What it is is a very invasive piece of software that acts just like a virus. It gradually takes over your computer.
I have a Toshiba laptop that I'm running Win 8.1. Every once in a while I get downloads from the Toshiba Service Station to help make the laptop run better, have better security. When this one came in this afternoon talking about security problems, I thought maybe I'd better download and install it. What a mistake.
It had Pokki as part of the download. And suddenly, there it was, out of the blue. And suddenly, I lost my wireless mouse. I knew this wasn't good. It took me a good two hours, but it's finally gone. Lord, I was every where in that computer. All over the Registry, I was in all the hidden files and folders and well, I was all over the place. As fast as I'd delete it, it would come back. It's not as simple as uninstalling a program. Nope. Not at all. It has a bunch of different programs, all bundled in with it, and you need to get rid of all of it. Everything. Or it just keeps coming back, every time you restart the computer. I had to go into Chrome and kill the extension there. And I finally reset Chrome to default. Every darn time I would reboot, it would come back. I was beside myself. Kaspersky didn't catch it, but my understanding is that it acts like a shell for Windows, so maybe that's why. I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes and that got rid of a lot of the files. But not all of them.
The interesting thing is that during the time I was dealing with this, I got a phone call from somebody (the usual male suspect with an accent) who said that he knew I was having some computer problems and he could help me. I told him I had a Mac and that I wasn't having any trouble at all. And then, after mouthing off a bunch of
I have finally re-started my laptop now for the fourth time without finding Pokki. Did a search for Pokki. And came up with nothing. Finally. And once I got the laptop to reboot without Pokki, I regained my mouse, too. Ran a scan with Kaspersky and then ran another scan with Malwarebytes again. Neither program caught anything at all.
The thing is, from what I've been reading about it, people either like it or they hate it. Some think it's absolutely wonderful; others feel that it's very invasive and that it will gradually work its way through the system, taking over the task bar, taking over your browsing habits, giving you a ton of ads, all kinds of stuff. I just wanted it gone. Period. People are calling it a virus, at the least, it's a form of adware.
I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful. I'm not amused at all that I got this from Toshiba. In an important security update. That's simply unfathomable to me. I doubt I will ever install another Toshiba update at all.
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