Issues, Workarounds & Localization

After one of the latest patches my EVE became unplayable, random crashes / disconnects at best within 5 minutes, at worst, after 5 seconds. I tried everything, reducing GFX settings. etc. Nothing. I then checked my Processes, and voila... Pando Media Booster. The malware of choice for certain games, usually such as League of Legends, Lord of the Rings etc. Mostly used by Free to Play games.

It is a program that installs silently with those games, and now even EVE uses it. Shame on you CCP. It will constantly be in the background siphoning your bandwidth, its original purpose is malevolent as it helps to upload/download game-files/patches. However, it is malware, as you are not given an option for it, not even any information that it is being installed.

I was close to cancelling my subscription as EVE had become unstable an unplayable. Now that I removed the malware, EVE works smoothly as before. And surprise, Firefox don't crash all the time either. Try to Google the program and see for yourself. There is a lot of people that it causes problems for.

You should all check your computers task-list for PMB.exe and remove it. And uninstall it. It will at best, drain your bandwidth, unless you have a really fast connection, then by all means leave it. Or at worst, like in my case, drain bandwidth and **** EVE, it is a program that has conflicts with several other programs.

So as a Warning to all. Beware of this program. If you experience random disconnects and have limited bandwidth, remove it. If not, keep it.

But in any case, CCP you need to check the program with the coding of EVE. As in my case and several others I have found, they conflict. Why I don't know, maybe the combination of OS and other things. I use Windows 7 64bit. My laptop with Vista don't have the problem. But I removed it anyway. I don't like uninvited malware.

Eve online doesnt install Pando Media Booster.

I stand corrected.
Thats pretty bad on ccp's part to say the least.
I actually class all bandwidth leechers as malware, even utorrent comes with a form of it now called DNA, but is easily turned off in the options.
Im guessing that guy who came up with aurum and the nex store, came up with this idea too.

Malware: Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system. In Spanish, "mal" is a prefix that means "bad," making the term "badware," which is a good way to remember it (even if you're not Spanish).


"Unwanted actions" yes it does do that.

Malware, short for malicious software, is software (or script or code) designed to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. It is a general term used to describe any kind of software or code specifically designed to exploit a computer, or the data it contains, without consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software.

And again, it disrupted my system, it certainly gained unauthorized access to my system, as I did not have an option for it, nor any information about it whatsoever during install. It did in fact exploit my system, and bandwidth, WITHOUT consent. It may not be hostile, but it is certainly intrusive, and annoying software.

So my definition of malware stands.

I did not make this post to sue anyone, or get other to sue. (I am not american) I did it to warn others, that they may have an intrusive bandwidth-sucking and potentially EVE-killing application running on their computers. It certainly messed up my system, killed my limited bandwidth and really did a number on EVE. In addition, after removing this. My Firefox now works flawlessly again, and Skype don't disconnect all the time. Only Pando Media Booster caused this.

Didn't I mention in my last post that I don't care about lawsuits? I am not american, I have no interest in suing an american company, if I was living in the land of lawsuits, maybe I would. But I don't, and I don't care about lawsuits just to sue for the sake of it. If that is all you care about, become a lawyer. Why you seem to think this is an argument to be won at all is just weird. You started to argue the definitions of malware. I explained the definitions. Simple as that. But if you want to tell yourself that this is an argument to win, and you won. Grats. You won the internet. This post was only written to warn unsuspecting users about a deceitful program that can potentially ruin gaming experience and bandwidth use. I ask you to find other topics to flame.

Windows media player does not qualify as malware, it may be annoying, but it was not installed without consent, nor without knowledge, it is part of Windows installer, and is informed of such during the installation. It does not siphon bandwidth in the background without your knowledge, it can be removed just like most other programs.

Pando Media Booster on the other hand, was installed in the background, silently with no information that it was being installed, I was never asked if I wanted it. It uses bandwidth without the users knowledge. That is malware. Please, google this, the definitions are out there to read.

Yes, you can in fact remove Pando Media Booster, and if you read my original post, that is exactly what I suggest people to do.
Find it in the task manager, kill it. Then open the control-panel and uninstall it. It did wonders for my system. And I post this to try to help others that might have the same problem.

I investigated more about PMB.exe, and found that a number of people reports it to mess up Firefox, Skype, EVE and other assorted programs. If you never had problems with it, fine by all means, let it stay.

And at the very least, I would ask CCP to inform better about this program, and make sure it is compatible with EVE on all the systems. As it stands now, it is not.

League of Legends installs it. My wife's machine was crippled by it and continually dropped from EVE after installing; I made a post about it somewhere on the old EVE-O forums.

Edit: shouldn't leave a window open for half an hour and then post without refreshing