Sudden pop-up for Opera browser installation

taijutsu
taijutsu Member Posts: 1 New User

Hi,

Suddendly I got this pop-up for installation of "Opera" browser, which I had never used in my life nor in this notebook.

Checking the folder installation, I see other folders from Acer.

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\OEM\Hermes\classes
\acer.firefox.8
\acer.oobe.dbx.7
\acer.universal.6
\acer.wns.1
\amunds.opera.1\OperaOne.exe

The executable signature says "Acer Incorporated" which is a child certificate from "GloblaSign GCC R45 EV CodeSigning CA 2020". Seems to be an Acer push installation to which I did not request.

Did anyone had a similar issue?
Is Acer silently pushing unwanted software?

Regards,
Diego

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 14,515 Trailblazer

    I recommend to uninstall all bloatware and vendor promos on new computers, even Acer Care Center as you don't need any of those apps (you need Acer Quick Access) and may even cause system issues. Uninstall Norton, McAfee, Adobe and those browser, set Edge as your default browser. Also uninstall Office365 1-year trial version, there are many Office legacy alternatives (even Professional) for a fraction of the 365 costs.😉

  • ProfHoneydew
    ProfHoneydew Member Posts: 1 New User

    literally just happened to me.

    On my Nitro desktop.

    Pop up to install Opera.

    I thought it was Steam as it was the only application I opened.
    sounds very suspicious.

  • AntonioCa
    AntonioCa Member Posts: 1 New User
    edited August 2023

    It is Acer software. If you look at the digital certificate you can see that it's signed by Acer.

    Acer is a Taiwan company at least.

    Chinese would be much worse.

    But it's super scary to see this.

  • LeandroFrutuoso
    LeandroFrutuoso Member Posts: 1 New User

    Hey, Guys!

    The exactly same thing happened to me too. Lost some hours trying to figure if it really is something pre installed in acer notebooks or something like that. How can I be sure of that?

    Antonio, how can I check the digital certificate of the installer?

    Also, I found another software installed in my acer notebook: PhotoDirector for acer

    I was completly unware of it's existence in my machine until I started diging for strange files after the Opera installer episode. Did anyone found this software as well?

    Can anyone give us a hand on this, please?

  • Azura720
    Azura720 Member Posts: 2 New User
    edited August 2023

    Been happening to me as well from last week. These are the worst kind of ads. Never ever going to install Opera after seeing this.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 14,515 Trailblazer

    This is triggered in Task Scheduler, check those browser names in the library and in OEM under Windows, either disable the tasks and trigger actions or delete the tasks. Mozilla (FireFox) also has an update and agent service in Services (Services.msc) that you should disable. Acer Care Center "Updater" app may also trigger these events, for that and other reasons I have uninstalled ACC.