Careful with Outbyte! Untrustworthy company just like Malwarebytes warns about. I wish I had known sooner!

[Alice Twolices]

Hi,

so, I did a clean install because I regularly do that to keep things fresh and clean.
And I've decided to try their PC Repair and their Drivers Updater.

So I've run the scan in PC Repair and it found some things which I supposedly needed to "fix".
A few of them seemed reasonable so I approved.
Contrarily to other similar software there was no offer to create a System Restore point, nor any kind of backup file.
It just corrected those things and period.

I also found some drivers which apparently needed to be updated.

Soon after, the system started becoming sluggish, the Bluetooth (which had always worked perfectly with the same exact drivers and everything) didn't connect any new devices, and some things got stuck, like frozen.

I rolled back the drivers and restarted but it was the same.
So I went to PC Repair to undo those changes, and I was surprised to find no way of doing that.
There wasn't even a record of what I had changed! The program doesn't show it in the UI and doesn't create a log about it anywhere.

So I used the contact form and I got an automatic reply "We received your call back request. Unfortunately, phone support is only available in English.
Please use the chat for support in other languages".

Now, first of all I didn't request any call back and the program didn't mention anything about it either, it was just a contact form where I had to give my email address and say what was my problem.
So this was already weird.
Also, the program was in English, I wrote in English, my Windows is in English.
Anyway I clicked on the link for the chat.

First thing, I am requested to give the email registered with my purchase.
Again weird, I'm using the free version and there was no mention of support for paying customers. Anyway I give the same email of before.
Somebody answered immediately.
I told him what happened and asked him to tell me where's the undo function or the log of the changes made.
He answered that I had to buy the software to get assistance to have "this issue" solved.

As a seller myself I immediately understood what was going on, and why they even organized this fake offer of email support to direct people to a live call or at least a live chat to increase the chances to pick a fool who would actually buy their coarsesheet...

I said that I don't want to pay to get assistance for an issue created by their software. I just want to know where tf is this undo function if there is one, or the log with the changes so I can investigate how to revert them by myself if they must be so absurd about it.
He refused to give any assistance unless I paid.
It was completely irrelevant for them that the problem started with their software, and that it is their fault for not even organizing a restore point or something.
It was like talking to a crazy stubborn seller with questionable ethics, who just wanted to sell me something.

I ended having to do a clean install again.
Somehow I was lucky, as it happened right after the clean install and I still had all my personal things backed up.
It was "just" a COLOSSAL waste of time.
But if it had happened in any other moment, it would have been very problematic.

Now, I discovered that Malwarebytes classifies their softwares as "PUP" of the "Scareware" category and explains that these people systematically create situations to make you feel that you have some issue and need their help, to sell you something.
And fock, that's so exactly my experience!
It's really true! If only I had known sooner.


So, do NOT use their software!
Not even for free!
Very problematic products and highly questionable policies.
I so much want to just say "scam".
But whatever.

Don't say I didn't warn you!


Edit:
I forgot to say, at some point I grew frustrated and I told him I'll post screenshots of our chat to show how they "do business".
I got immediately disconnected!
I logged again, the previous chat was gone, and he said I was the one who disconnected.
Unbelievable... So shameless.

 

[Frick]

Any software with driver or repair in their name is essentially useless at best.

 

[ShiBDiB]

http://imgur.com/6Vrg02k

Ya no, that's every SEO buzzword to trick someone who knows nothing about computers.

 

[Alice Twolices]

Any software with driver or repair in their name is essentially useless at best.

Nah, I believe that SDIO is really well done, the new fork of SDI.
You are presented with several options, you can see name and signature and date and version and also compatibility and compare what you have with those offers and decide.
It's by far the most transparent and complete and reliable that I've found among the free ones.
Never had a problem with it.

I don't know why I decided to try this crappy one.


For repair, what about CCleaner?
Or you never repair the registry?

I find at least the uninstall function in Ccleaner interesting, as sometimes it has voices that aren't present in the Windows Apps or Programs blah blah.
And I use WinRise to turn off the automatic startup of things that don't show in the Task Manager start up tab.

 

[R-T-B]

Or you never repair the registry?

It doesn't need it, honestly.

 

[Kyan]

Nah, I believe that SDIO is really well done, the new fork of SDI.
You are presented with several options, you can see name and signature and date and version and also compatibility and compare what you have with those offers and decide.
It's by far the most transparent and complete and reliable that I've found among the free ones.
Never had a problem with it.

I don't know why I decided to try this crappy one.


For repair, what about CCleaner?
Or you never repair the registry?

I find at least the uninstall function in Ccleaner interesting, as sometimes it has voices that aren't present in the Windows Apps or Programs blah blah.
And I use WinRise to turn off the automatic startup of things that don't show in the Task Manager start up tab.

Since I've swicth to Windows 10 back in 2019, I've never use a "repair thing in my pc" tool. And everything is working as intended. I've just made a reinstall in 2021 or 2022 when I get problem with a new graphics card but that's it.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Since I've swicth to Windows 10 back in 2019, I've never use a "repair thing in my pc" tool. And everything is working as intended. I've just made a reinstall in 2021 or 2022 when I get problem with a new graphics card but that's it.

I'll emphasize this is a relative Windows noob as I switched from primarily Mac to Windows around 2017 and I've never need to clean my registry of my PCs, ever. And I have a lot of them so ample opportunities for problems to occur. The same BS "cleaner" products exist on the Mac side too and they are equally infamous.

 

[Caring1]

This type of warning is better served up on social media, not a Tech site where users usually know better than to use these scam services.

 

[Annayake]

Hi,

so, I did a clean install because I regularly do that to keep things fresh and clean.
And I've decided to try their PC Repair and their Drivers Updater.

So I've run the scan in PC Repair and it found some things which I supposedly needed to "fix".
A few of them seemed reasonable so I approved.
Contrarily to other similar software there was no offer to create a System Restore point, nor any kind of backup file.
It just corrected those things and period.

I also found some drivers which apparently needed to be updated.

Soon after, the system started becoming sluggish, the Bluetooth (which had always worked perfectly with the same exact drivers and everything) didn't connect any new devices, and some things got stuck, like frozen.

I rolled back the drivers and restarted but it was the same.
So I went to PC Repair to undo those changes, and I was surprised to find no way of doing that.
There wasn't even a record of what I had changed! The program doesn't show it in the UI and doesn't create a log about it anywhere.

So I used the contact form and I got an automatic reply "We received your call back request. Unfortunately, phone support is only available in English.
Please use the chat for support in other languages".

Now, first of all I didn't request any call back and the program didn't mention anything about it either, it was just a contact form where I had to give my email address and say what was my problem.
So this was already weird.
Also, the program was in English, I wrote in English, my Windows is in English.
Anyway I clicked on the link for the chat.

First thing, I am requested to give the email registered with my purchase.
Again weird, I'm using the free version and there was no mention of support for paying customers. Anyway I give the same email of before.
Somebody answered immediately.
I told him what happened and asked him to tell me where's the undo function or the log of the changes made.
He answered that I had to buy the software to get assistance to have "this issue" solved.

As a seller myself I immediately understood what was going on, and why they even organized this fake offer of email support to direct people to a live call or at least a live chat to increase the chances to pick a fool who would actually buy their coarsesheet...

I said that I don't want to pay to get assistance for an issue created by their software. I just want to know where tf is this undo function if there is one, or the log with the changes so I can investigate how to revert them by myself if they must be so absurd about it.
He refused to give any assistance unless I paid.
It was completely irrelevant for them that the problem started with their software, and that it is their fault for not even organizing a restore point or something.
It was like talking to a crazy stubborn seller with questionable ethics, who just wanted to sell me something.

I ended having to do a clean install again.
Somehow I was lucky, as it happened right after the clean install and I still had all my personal things backed up.
It was "just" a COLOSSAL waste of time.
But if it had happened in any other moment, it would have been very problematic.

Now, I discovered that Malwarebytes classifies their softwares as "PUP" of the "Scareware" category and explains that these people systematically create situations to make you feel that you have some issue and need their help, to sell you something.
And fock, that's so exactly my experience!
It's really true! If only I had known sooner.


So, do NOT use their software!
Not even for free!
Very problematic products and highly questionable policies.
I so much want to just say "scam".
But whatever.

Don't say I didn't warn you!


Edit:
I forgot to say, at some point I grew frustrated and I told him I'll post screenshots of our chat to show how they "do business".
I got immediately disconnected!
I logged again, the previous chat was gone, and he said I was the one who disconnected.
Unbelievable... So shameless.

Dear Alice,

My name is Vera, I represent Outbyte.

I’m very sorry to see that you have experienced issues using our software.
I apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Based on your description, I understand that the problem occurred upon applying certain PC Repair tweaks which you were unable to roll back after.
To clarify, PC Repair functionality includes automatic creation of backups and restore points. The lists can be found under Help => Restore => Backups, or Help => Restore => Restore points. Restore points are created by the program after each scan and repair, backups are made according to applied tweaks.
This functionality works with an exception - if junk or large files are cleared out using the program, they will not be backed up (the point of deleting the files is freeing out some space which a backup would take back up).
I would really appreciate you letting us know if you were able to find these settings.

Regarding the circumstances of your communication with our team, please note that Outbyte does provide remote technical support, the service is only available to paying customers. The service is provided via phone or live chat, while the email support is available to all our users. The fact that you were able to obtain technical team contact information was due to a bug that has now been resolved. We thank you for drawing our attention to the problem and apologize for any misunderstanding.

We have every desire to investigate how your request has been handled by both our teams seeing that you were supposed to get assistance via email. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate your request without an email address. If you could provide us with any details (date, specified name, etc.), we will make sure to have the matter checked and resolved accordingly.

 

[W1zzard]

I represent Outbyte.

I have verified that, custom user title given

 

[Ruru]

It doesn't need it, honestly.

Agree, after WinXP days, I haven't seen any use for those.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Agree, after WinXP days, I haven't seen any use for those.

I suppose software like this (or its competitors) just aren't aimed at the audience of a tech forum. I don't necessarily think they're a scam company, but at the same time, it's not a service I need. I feel awful enough installing garbage like Armoury Crate - and I only installed that to get my free copy of (non-pirated, for once) AIDA64... (see the audience shift there). For the same reason, too:

Registry cleaners are no longer necessary (and even back then, their usefulness was rather debatable, I suppose it helped when system resources were extremely limited).