Automatic Warning If You're About To Install Unwanted Software [1]

Welcome to 2014 and, if you celebrate such things, I hope you had a great Christmas.  Here's to another year of great free software, which the tireless contributors to this web site continue to seek out on your behalf.

Of course, free software has to be financed somehow, and many authors now add additional routines to their installation system in order to persuade you to install extra software.  For every browser toolbar you choose to install (or forget to untick the checkbox when you're offered the opportunity to decline), the freeware program's author gets a small kick-back.  

Programs which "trick" you into installing additional software like this are a common cause of complaint among Gizmo's readers, which is why I was so pleased when regular contributor Panzer told me about Unchecky.

The program sits silently in the background on your PC, waiting until you install new software.  At which point it springs into action to check that you're not inadvertently about to install an additional unwanted module.  If it thinks that you are, it pops up a warning.

Unchecky is free, malware-free according to Web of Trust and VirusTotal, and runs on Windows XP and above.  It's only a 0.6 MB download (presumably because it doesn't carry any additional toolbar installers!).  

You'll find it at http://unchecky.com/ [3]