After last update, Opera isn't standard browser
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
For years I never received any automatic updates to Opera because I had opted out of them.
But a couple of hours ago I found an upgrade foisted on me, an upgrade that has completely upended my user experience with Opera.Upgrade from which version to which version?
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linuxmint7 last edited by
You agreed to the auto-update service when you installed Opera Blink for the first time. It is stated in the licence agreement that is shown on first installation.
I pasted it here on the forum for another user who was complaining about the very same thing.
Here are the relevant parts, but the full text can be found in the resources folder of your Opera installation.
End-user license agreement and terms of service for Opera for desktop
Please read this carefully. This software license agreement and terms of service (“Terms”), including the privacy provisions in section 7 of these Terms, form a binding contract between you and Opera Software ASA (“Opera”), whose principal place of business is Gjerdrums vei 19, 0484, Oslo, Norway. By acceptance of delivery of the software and services you (“you”) hereby agree to be bound by these Terms. Otherwise, please discontinue the use of the software and services.
1 Acceptance of terms
You can accept the Terms by selecting to accept or to agree to the Terms during the installation process or when the dialog is displayed in the user interface, or by your use of the Software and Services.
You declare by acceptance of the Terms that you are of legal age to use the Software and Services.
2.3 "Services" means the various services to which Opera provides users with access, including without limitation, the Opera Turbo feature, Discover feature, search services, automatic updates, personalized content and branded offerings.
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blackbird71 last edited byFor years I never received any automatic updates to Opera because I had opted out of them.
But a couple of hours ago I found an upgrade foisted on me, an upgrade that has completely upended my user experience with Opera.Upgrade from which version to which version?
One can only guess, until/unless @upgradevictim responds. However, based on his complaint about "an upgrade that has completely upended my user experience with Opera," after describing that he used Opera "for years" without auto-updating, one can readily surmise that he was using a Presto Opera version and now he's being presented with Blink Opera when he starts up "Opera". This is very symptomatic of elements in a couple of user complaints about "forced Opera upgrades from Presto to Blink" in past forum threads here. In those cases, a Vipre program "feature" that is intended to keep all of a user's Internet-facing programs "fully current and updated" apparently deals with a user's Presto Opera (since it can't technically "update" Presto to the latest Blink version) by simply installing Blink Opera on the system and either converting the old shortcuts to point to the new program or by replacing those shortcuts with new ones. This all occurs in the background, so an unaware Presto Opera user is suddenly presented with an entirely new Opera version that he did not manually request or authorize. Net result: Opera gets unfairly blamed for "auto-updating" its Presto version, when the reality is that something else (Vipre, etc) installed the new Blink version and switched the shortcuts to point to it.
Whether the old Presto is left alone, as Opera's Blink installation normally does, is uncertain. I haven't yet figured out if the Vipre (or similar) program, after installing the new Opera version, goes ahead and messes with the old Presto or removes anything related to it. If, as I suspect, it leaves the Presto version alone, the user can simply find the folder where it lives and create a new shortcut to the opera.exe executable and be back in business. Otherwise, if Vipre (or whatever) messes up the Presto installation in some way, that is a question that has to be put to that software maker.
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upgradevictim last edited by
I was using Presto 12.17. Indeed, now looking at my program folders, it seems I still am. I couldn't check the version from Opera itself because Help and all those other useful buttons at the top have disappeared.
I started Opera yesterday and was presented with a splash screen. I don't have the exact wording, but it said that an upgrade was available. I wanted to skip the upgrade, but there was no option I could find on the page to skip the upgrade. So I stopped Opera and restarted it. Same no-way-out splash page. So instead of proceeding with the upgrade, I just put an address in the address bar and started browsing, expecting to browse with old Opera as usual. I then found that everything had been upended, with the top bar showing Home, Bookmarks, Tools, Help and such gone. I could get bookmarks and few other things back in a confusing sidebar, but that was it. It looked like a new version of Opera, but based on what's in my program folders it's actually a completely different look of the old one.
So it seems there was an attempt at an upgrade which didn't succeed, but which somehow nonetheless completely upended the customised look and feel of my browser. That's wrong. I just want to browse, and not waste time digging in Program Files to see what Opera files I have. And I don't feel like wasting more time trying to get my custom settings back.
Finally, I had specifically opted out of automatic upgrades, so please don't insult my intelligence by waiving those TOS.
(And no, I am not running Viper or anything like it; I'm only runnng PrivateFirewall 7, which didn't block or catch anything since I have an exception for Opera.)
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
I was using Presto 12.17. Indeed, now looking at my program folders, it seems I still am. I couldn't check the version from Opera itself because Help and all those other useful buttons at the top have disappeared.
Just for curiosity, do you have a screenshot of this new Opera?
I started Opera yesterday and was presented with a splash screen. I don't have the exact wording, but it said that an upgrade was available.
How did it look like? You said that you've disabled autoupdate on Opera 12.17 so you shouldn't be seeing anything like that.
Btw, how did you disabled autoupdate?I then found that everything had been upended, with the top bar showing Home, Bookmarks, Tools, Help and such gone. I could get bookmarks and few other things back in a confusing sidebar, but that was it
Which sidebar? What's on it?
On your %appdata% directory do you see any "Opera Software" and or "Opers Stable" folder?
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A Former User last edited by
Check the properties of your Opera launcher. I guess it must probably be the opera.exe file. Right, Leo?
(And yet again - maybe there are more than one Opera on your system still? Try your system searcher for opera.exe files to find out. (You can also see what folders they are in - if several.)) -
blackbird71 last edited by
...
Finally, I had specifically opted out of automatic upgrades, so please don't insult my intelligence by waiving those TOS. (And no, I am not running Viper or anything like it; I'm only runnng PrivateFirewall 7, which didn't block or catch anything since I have an exception for Opera.)@upgradevictim, there is currently no Opera-authorized update for Opera 12.17 that would indicate its presence in a genuine Presto Opera (12.xx or below) "update" screen. At present, Opera 12.17 installations are blissfully unaware that a higher version exists, and Opera's update servers are equally unaware that Opera 12.17 exists, for updating purposes. Whatever occurred was either the result of a malfunction (within your original Opera installation or your system) or something else on your system is invoking the "update" screen you encountered (a legitimate program or malware). The point remains that Opera has not and currently is not attempting to update Presto Opera installations into Blink Opera installations; neither the technology nor the software to do that presently exists. You are the one who invoked threats of legalities and such in your rather hostile posting; I was simply replying within that same paradigm in that part of my post.
@leocg and @joshl are trying to help decipher what caused that 'update' screen and what has happened since. Questions exist: how did you originally set the update blocking, what new software did the system actually install (if any), what did that activity (aborted or otherwise) do to the old Opera installation, etc.
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upgradevictim last edited by
I have only one version of Opera on my computer.
I don't have a screenshot of the splash screen "offering" the upgrade, but I was upset that I could not seem to find any button on it for "Install Later" or such.
In Program Files/Opera, none of the files have been modified for months.
In D&S/Owner/Opera (same as %appdata%), the following files were modified at the time of the aborted upgrade:
http://i59.tinypic.com/xvfxc.jpg
(Other files may have been modified at that time as well, but if they were modified again later, they aren't on that list.)
Here's what my Opera looks like now, when that side panel is showing:
http://i62.tinypic.com/288xidg.jpg
Bookmarks work completely differently than before: a panel fills the left-hand side of the screen and it must be clicked close after going to a bookmarked site. Very clumsy compared with the IE-Firefox-Old Opera slide-down menu.
I don't have a screenshot of pre-disaster Opera, but it looked pretty much like IE and Firefox, with the usual Tools-Bookmarks-Home etc navigation bar at the top. Nothing I click on the latest Opera seems to be able to bring those back.
In Security somewhere I'd checked Do Not Check for Updates; I don't like browsers "calling home" without my permission, and I'd NEVER had an update offered before. I always checked manually from time to time.
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upgradevictim last edited by
I did not see your 2:51 post before making my post.
As you can see from the link, my Opera %appdata% file shows several files created or modified at the time of the attempted upgrade.
Do I understand your note correctly: that the creation and modification of these files is NOT the result of any activity by Opera's servers?
This is a very important point.
I was not aware of any malware which could install by mocking itself as an Opera upgrade.
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linuxmint7 last edited by
Go to 'Help / About Opera' to see exactly what version you have currently install, though it is definitely a Presto version going by your screen shots.
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A Former User last edited by
Are you the administrator of your system? Are there any kids around, perhaps? :rolleyes:
Just in case... -
upgradevictim last edited by
Opera 13?
This is how my Opera now logs, same as before:
Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 5.1) Presto/2.12.388 Version/12.17
Opera.exe and opera.dll both show version 12.17.1863.0.
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linuxmint7 last edited by
Do you know what version of Opera you were on before this 'suspicious' update activity occurred ?.
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upgradevictim last edited by
can't go to Help > Opera because it doesn't show.
No one has physical access to my machine. I am the sole user.
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upgradevictim last edited by
As I said, the version number of Opera has not changed. I have website logs showing the same version before and after the event, and there has been no change to any of the files in Program Files/Opera (at least according to Windows timestamps). The only change seems to be in the Opera %appdata% files.
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blackbird71 last edited by
@upgradevictim, I'm trying to reconstruct a picture of what first occurred, especially the update splash screen. Per your second post, you stated that you were presented with a splash screen upon starting Opera; you then stopped Opera and restarted it and again got the splash screen; next you: "instead of proceeding with the upgrade, I just put an address in the address bar and started browsing, expecting to browse with old Opera as usual. I then found that everything had been upended, with the top bar showing Home, Bookmarks, Tools, Help and such gone."
Perhaps it's just the way it's worded, but it conveys an impression that up to and including the moment of entering the address in the address bar, the format/appearance of the Opera screen appeared "normal" in terms of what you expected for bars, buttons, and screen-frame; and that it changed only right at the point of starting to browse.
Was the update "splash screen" first displayed within the Opera page viewing area or overlaid on top of the Opera screen like a Windows message pop-up, etc? At the moment when you first entered browsing data into the address box, did the Opera appearance seem like what you normally expected? If so, at what point did it suddenly (?) change to what you currently have?
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A Former User last edited by
...or try accessing
opera://help.Linux, that's been probably the files, do you think?
(Just reported a weird behaviour with this user's (in particular) postcount - do you, guys, see the "1" too there?) -
linuxmint7 last edited by
As I said, the version number of Opera has not changed.
Yeah sorry, saw that but slipped my mind when I was replying.
This definitely does not sound like activity from Opera or its update process, as there was nothing to update, as you say, you already had the latest version.
Are you sure there is nothing running amok on your computer, or maybe some software that offers the ability to update software for you automatically ?.
Any anti virus software installed, other than PrivateFirewall 7 ?.
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blackbird71 last edited by
...
I was not aware of any malware which could install by mocking itself as an Opera upgrade.While malware still must obey the laws of physics and the protocols of software, never underestimate the cleverness or creativity of hackers... nor the permutations of possible outcomes if a hack "goes bad" in midstream.
I realize memory is not always reliable, but it is important to try to recall exactly (as much as possible) what occurred at the beginning of the whole episode, particularly before memory shifts and/or gets colored by later thoughts and questions. Details of the initial experience of the update splash screen may shed light on where it might have actually come from, which in turn may give light on what it might have later done (and how).
