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"Steam" and "Value" brand games warning

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Smartmom
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So if you have ever purchased a "Steam" or "Value" game you might have had issues installing it. I know about 6 months ago I purchased the game "Left 4 Dead" for my one son and couldn't install it. Why couldn't it be installed well it seams that "Steam" and "Value" have issues with a number of programs. Some of those programs it requires you to not just disable the program but they tell you that you need to uninstall it from your pc - yeah I don't think so.

So why does "Steam" or "Value" games have you uninstall programs? Well basically why you play those games they can be gathering info about you on your computer.

Criticism of Steam


Privacy

Steam collects and reports anonymous metrics of its usage, stability, and performance,[39] all, with the exception of Valve's hardware survey, without notifying the user at the time of collection or offering an opt-out.

Steam is also used to report similarly anonymous and non-identifying data by several of its games.[40] While some forms of this data are reported back to the public in aggregate form, for instance the results of the aforementioned hardware survey and gameplay statistics, other non-identifying data has been known to be collected without any indication (as is described in Valve's privacy policy[39]). The only known example of this undisclosed collection of data has been that of the level of fragmentation of Steam's files. The data was used to justify the development of a defragmentation option within Steam to reverse the performance-degrading process. "Rather than having to guess or estimate performance bottle-necks", a Steam Update News entry said at the time, "Steam gave us the ability to precisely solve the real-world problem."[41]

Forced auto-updates

By default, to play a game offline, Steam and the game itself must be fully updated. When Steam starts online, the system checks to see if there are updates available. If there are, the user is forced to wait for update process to finish before being able to play again, though games can be streamed online.[55] These updates cannot be rolled back by the user, which prevents users with unusual or unrecognized issues reverting their software to its previous, functional state.

Phishing

Since Steam accounts give their owner access to all of their games on any computer, phishing is common. Usually, a user will pose as an administrator of Steam. They will inform a user that their account is to be closed unless they reveal their password for validation purposes. Valve has taken action to prevent this. The top of all Steam Friends chat windows has a note informing users to never tell their password to anyone. If a user types their password and attempts to send it, another box appears warning the user of the security risks and asks them to confirm that they want to send the message.

Despite this, phishers are often successful and accounts are stolen regularly.[citation needed] Valve has systems in place to return accounts to their rightful owners if contacted through their support system, but if a phisher uses cheats on the account whilst it is stolen, the account can be irreversibly banned by Valve Anti-Cheat.

Ok here is from Steam's site itself

Programs Which May Interfere with Steam

Software to Look Out For

The following applications have been known to cause issues with Steam and playing games:

Anti-Virus Applications

  • Avast!
  • AVG Anti-virus *
  • Kaspersky Anti-virus
  • McAfee Anti-virus
  • Nod32 Anti-virus *
  • Norton/Symantec Anti-virus
  • VIGuard Anti-virus

Anti-Spyware Applications

  • Ad Aware
  • CA Pest Patrol
  • Spycatcher Express
  • Webroot Spy Sweeper *

Firewall/Security Applications

  • Comodo
  • CYBERsitter
  • ESET Smart Security
  • Netlimiter
  • McAfee Personal Firewall
  • Nvidia Network Access Manager/Firewall *
  • Nvidia ForceWare Intelligent Application Manager
  • Peer Guardian
  • Tiny Personal Firewall
  • Verizon Internet Security Suite
  • Zone Alarm

Other Applications

  • Alcohol 120%
  • ATI Hotkey Poller
  • BitTorrent/UTorrent (all clients)
  • Catalyst AI
  • Daemon Tools
  • Download Accelerators (all clients)
  • GhostSurf 2007
  • Google Toolbar, Google Updater
  • K-Lite Codec Pack
  • LimeWire, BearShare or other Peer 2 Peer applications
  • nProtect GameGuard *
  • Skype
  • Slysoft AnyDVD
  • TeamSpeak (can lead to mic issues)
  • Total Recorder
  • Tuneup WinStyler Theme Service
  • UPEK Protector Suite
  • Ventrilo (can lead to mic issues)
  • VirtuaGirl 2
  • WindowBlinds
  • Xfire

* We recommend that applications listed in bold with a ( * ) symbol are fully uninstalled from your system if disabling them does not resolve the issue

___________
For me that ended up being 7 programs

I Averaged: 0 | 0 votes

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