I downloaded a bird identification app and it crashed my laptop

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
One reason I rarely download stuff is because it leaves one open to viruses and the like.
Someone suggested to me the App - Merlin -was excellent for bird identification.
So against my better judgement I downloaded it.
Within minutes my laptop went bung.
The Google search engine was removed, replaced by Yahoo. So much was not working.
I tried removing Yahoo and restoring Google. No luck.
I rang Geeks to you. They came and fixed my laptop for a fee of $200.
I don't mind paying as long as the problem is fixed.
I will not be downloading any apps in the near future.
 

Last edited:
Bretrick said:
The Google search engine was removed, replaced by Yahoo. So much was not working.
I tried removing Yahoo and restoring Google. No luck.
Click to expand...
Something I added to my computer did the same thing to me in the last week. Google is still there, but replaced by Yahoo. I can get to Google by left clicking on my search bar, which gives me a menu of recent searches with "Google search" at the top of the list. If I click on that, the search bar becomes a google search.

The Yahoo search is a horrible experience. Half the time it just gives me hits that only gives me more hits, none of which have anything to do with what I want, but heavily loaded with things to buy. Recently my pages are filled with links that say "CONTINUE" like I want to continue with a news article or something, but continue leads me to downloading something that makes no sense. I fear I may have followed up on one of these fake links that got rid of my google.

Software designers are going out of their way to fool people, at least as far as I can tell. Just what we need; More internet chaos. The internet is becoming the shopping channel, not a great link to the world as it was first proposed.
 
When you started the download were you prompted to install other apps before the download ? Many third party apps such as Yahoo do this trick and pay the website that you are downloading from for this option. Many people do not pay attention when downloading an app and click YES to everything.

I'm not saying that this was what happened to you but it does happen often to others. Yahoo is notorious for this along with a few "anti virus" companies
 
Bretrick said:
One reason I rarely download stuff is because it leaves one open to viruses and the like.
Someone suggested to me the App - Merlin -was excellent for bird identification.
So against my better judgement I downloaded it.
Within minutes my laptop went bung.
The Google search engine was removed, replaced by Yahoo. So much was not working.
I tried removing Yahoo and restoring Google. No luck.
I rang Geeks to you. They came and fixed my laptop for a fee of $200.
I don't mind paying as long as the problem is fixed.
I will not be downloading any apps in the near future.
Click to expand...
I went back to the Merlin app and read all the reviews.
It seem that the latest update has caused problems. Many reviews were about frustrations vis a vis location input, unsatifactory sound recording identifications, many glitches.
One review
Was a very nice app before this "Location" update. It won't even remember location between recordings. I mean....seriously? It's very buggy and won't survive other android notifications if not dismissed immediately. Playing back recordings rarely matches the birds it has ID'd. Can't share list of birds captured, only single birds. If recording is corrupted, can't see just the actual full list of birds. (just the first birds, then "+xx more...) Could be so much more but falls short.

I will not be donwloading this app.:(
 
Bretrick said:
I went back to the Merlin app and read all the reviews.
It seem that the latest update has caused problems. Many reviews were about frustrations vis a vis location input, unsatifactory sound recording identifications, many glitches.
One review
Was a very nice app before this "Location" update. It won't even remember location between recordings. I mean....seriously? It's very buggy and won't survive other android notifications if not dismissed immediately. Playing back recordings rarely matches the birds it has ID'd. Can't share list of birds captured, only single birds. If recording is corrupted, can't see just the actual full list of birds. (just the first birds, then "+xx more...) Could be so much more but falls short.

I will not be donwloading this app.:(
Click to expand...
Ah, then Google Lens probably won't give you the information that you are looking for. It is only good at identifying things, not giving location and all of that. I'm sorry this app didn't help you much. I have a friend who is on a Birdwatching" group over on FB. I will ask her tomorrow to post there about a good app that people use and let you know if anyone suggests anything.
 
MarkinPhx said:
Ah, then Google Lens probably won't give you the information that you are looking for. It is only good at identifying things, not giving location and all of that. I'm sorry this app didn't help you much. I have a friend who is on a Birdwatching" group over on FB. I will ask her tomorrow to post there about a good app that people use and let you know if anyone suggests anything.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mark - in Phx. :)
 
Bretrick said:
I went back to the Merlin app and read all the reviews.
It seem that the latest update has caused problems. Many reviews were about frustrations vis a vis location input, unsatifactory sound recording identifications, many glitches.
One review
Was a very nice app before this "Location" update. It won't even remember location between recordings. I mean....seriously? It's very buggy and won't survive other android notifications if not dismissed immediately. Playing back recordings rarely matches the birds it has ID'd. Can't share list of birds captured, only single birds. If recording is corrupted, can't see just the actual full list of birds. (just the first birds, then "+xx more...) Could be so much more but falls short.

I will not be donwloading this app.:(
Click to expand...
Trivial Karen complaint on a free app and zero to do w your issue.

Sorry the "song playback rarely matches the recording." That's bird watching for blind people! And is she a sound engineer or some kind of savant that can make a bird sing with her dumb phone 5' from it's perch? I use the app all the time, I have too much pride in my skills to have ever even considered using the song id feature anyway.



You got $200 sunk in some bs malware w the previous download. At least get the app from a known good source.
 
@Bretrick My friend did get a few responses but all of the apps were for phones. I don't think any seem to be for PC's either. If someone comes up with something I'll let you know.
 
You have to be careful about downloads. You get to a download page, and the actual download is surrounded by other downloads that you can easily mistake for the right one. Maybe that happened.

And many "free" downloads push other products that you must opt out of or they can make changes to your machine like replacing your search engine. The really bad ones can include malware.
 
Michael Z said:
You have to be careful about downloads. You get to a download page, and the actual download is surrounded by other downloads that you can easily mistake for the right one. Maybe that happened.

And many "free" downloads push other products that you must opt out of or they can make changes to your machine like replacing your search engine. The really bad ones can include malware.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your comments. I will be more careful in the future.:)
 
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