Summary: viewmgr.exe is installed with recent versions of AOL, and most people feel that is a form of malware. However, it can be dealt with and removed.
What is viewmgr.exe?
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From what I have been able to gather, it's a component of something called "Viewpoint Media Player" that most people feel is some sort of malware. It is apparently installed when you download and install recent versions of AOL Instant Messenger.
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The consensus seems to be that you can uninstall Viewpoint Media Player if you want to. Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, select it and hit Remove. It seems that the uninstall is less than complete, however, and you'll probably still need to go looking for the files - search for viewmgr.exe and delete it. (If you can't delete it, you may need to fire up Task Manager and end the task first: right click on the clock in your task bar, click on Task Manager, locate viewmgr.exe in the Processes tab, right click on it and select End Process. Now you should be able to delete the file.)
Important Update: Much more information on this topic, including comments from a Viewpoint representative, can now be found in the article Is Viewpoint Spyware?.
Article C2041 - June 14, 2004
I got Viewpoint player as a drive by download after visiting a web site called Space.com.The site ask if I wanted to download the player and I checked NO. I got it anyway.
Posted by: Gary at April 1, 2005 7:33 PMRemoval was a pain. I uninstalled through the control panel then went to program files and deleted the installation folder. Used Registry First Aid to remove the registry entries. My firewall alerted me that a program called vmgrremok.exe was still trying to call home. I ran a file search and found it in temp files. Could not delete it but could rename it to Vmgrremok.old. I could then delete the file. I hope I have seen the last of this program but will continue to check my firewall logs to make sure. I was really annoyed that this program installed after I refused the install. Only malware or spyware would go to great lengths to get installed on on an unspecting user. The program might serve some usefull purpose, however the underhanded way it was installed turned me off.
People slow down. No reason to place the scarlet letter on viewpoint and create mass hysteria.
Viewpoint was installed on your computer by adobe acrobat (install or update), Aim, Aol, preinstalled by OEMs, or installed when viewing vet content. It accesses the Internet to receive updates. It is the most sophisticated plug-in available. I wish all my apps updated themselves! AOL paid viewpoint corp. 10 million dollars twice to license their tech and Microsoft also paid them 10 million to license their tech for future versions of their OS. The longhorn OS graphics rendering engine is based on viewpoint tech - code named Avalon.
Viewpoint is not spyware, malware, adware, etc... lol - it is like calling flash, real player, quicktime or windows player spyware. The viewpoint manager is a mini app that runs off the viewpoint media player.
http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/technology/viewpoint_manager.html
The VMP is and has been the fortune 500 graphics delivery engine of choice. Also people this is a public company - not some bottom feeder. You all should really spend some time on their site and read all about them. Even call the company if you want. They are a real company - not some hokey pokey shit! I have been a developer for the web ever since aol was on a floppy disk and I have never been more impressed than I am with viewpoint technology. It makes flash look like an animated gif. I am not kidding either. Also, within 3 to 5 years it will be a household name.
This is thread is proof that people are sick and tired of crapware! So am I! It drives me crazy but Viewpoint is not in that category. As far as graphics go this is the Ferrari of the group.
Posted by: michael_tzez at April 7, 2005 7:30 PMBest solution - People check out what they do. Here is a perfect example.
Tag Heuer
Posted by: michael_tzez at April 7, 2005 7:33 PMhttp://www.tagheuer.com/multimedia/3d.lbl?ref=CR5111_FC6176
Once it has loaded make sure you click on the link that says “Hyperview”. It wows me ever single time!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: I'm closing comments here, as much more information on this topic can now be found in this article: http://ask-leo.com/is_viewpoint_spyware.html
Posted by: Leo at April 8, 2005 1:21 PMViewpoint was used to send trojans into one of my computers, most anti-virus/spyware programs didnt pick it up as a corrupt file. However finally Norton picked up the trojans and AVG anti virus. Needless to say by the time i started to remove the trojans it was too late, once i removed the trojans the day after the hard drive was shot. This is not the first time Viewpoint has messed up one of my computers.
Posted by: Chris at November 27, 2009 5:53 PM