Named & Shamed
Junk offender: Iobit Uninstaller Free 9.1
Junk Offender: Iobit Uninstaller Free 9.1
Ilike to think of myself as a fair person and I’m usually happy to give something a second chance.
That’s why I thought I’d give
Iobit Uninstaller Free another go. Iobit has a reputation for serving up a side order of junk when you install its free tools, and I’ve warned against Uninstaller in previous issues. But, with a new version of Uninstaller released last month, I thought I’d see whether Iobit had taken the opportunity to change its dubious ways.
Short answer: no. If anything, Uninstaller Free is even more cunning than before. Run the installer and it immediately throws an ‘optional offer’ at you – namely another Iobit tool, Advanced Systemcare. Many people will click ‘Accept and Install’ at this point thinking it’s for the main program – the one you actually want to download. To avoid it (and you should), you need to click Skip This (see screenshot).
During the setup process, you’ll see a screen that tries to bribe you into signing up for Iobit’s newsletter by offering even more junk as a “free gift”. Once set up, a web page launches to bombard you with yet more offers you can safely refuse.
Open Uninstaller and you discover the free version is little more than adverts, which wouldn’t bug me so much if I was getting something in return. But it turns out almost all the useful-sounding features of Uninstaller 9.1 – including the option to remove “stubborn” software and “malicious plug-ins” – are only available in the paid-for ‘Pro’ version. The tool’s ‘Action Center’, meanwhile, is just a series of links (disguised as features) to install other Iobit tools.
What gets me is the sheer hypocrisy. This is, after all, a tool that markets itself as a solution for keeping your PC “clean and light”. On the Uninstaller’s homepage, Iobit even goes as far as criticising programs that contain junk. I’ve given you two chances, Iobit – you won’t get another one.