How do I stop those annoying painter marketing / advertising pop ups?
I can find no setting in Painter 2021 to turn them off.There is no "Do not show this again" checkbox on the pop up.And the Windows trick of disabling the CorelUpdateHelperTask and CorelUpdateHelperTaskCore tasks does not work because it sometimes causes problems with starting Painter.
It's not that they pop up during Painter usage - I would expect that.
But they pop up when using other applications when Painter hasn't even been run on the system!
Plus, they sometime pop up in the lower right of the monitor in such a way they are partially off the screen and I cannot click an "X" to get rid of them.
I have actually lost work and time in other applications because they pop up over the Save button (like in Photoshop) and the only way to get rid of the pop ups is to reboot the system - WITH ALL THE WORK I HAVE DONE IN PHOTOSHOP LOST!
They are beyond annoying and far too frequent.
HOW do I STOP them?
I don't know how to stop the popup ads, but if you're in a different program such as Photoshop and need to save your work, does it work to click CTRL+S to save it without clicking the save button?
The file name is CUH.exe (Corel Update Helper - what a delightfully named description for something that is nothing more than adware). I use Process Lasso and have registered CUH.exe as a Disallowed Process, so it is never allowed to start up. Alternatively I suppose you could rename CUH.exe to say, CUH1.exe, and that would prevent it running (sorry, can't remember where it's located, you'd need to search for it).
Like as not there will also be a Corel service that runs it, so if you disable that it will have the same effect. I've not looked for one so can't tell you which it is. There might be other options for disabling too.
CUH.exe will force this spam onto your desktop even if you're not running Painter, and it is even running after the supposed 'offer' has expired. It's also interesting to read the text of the 'offer'; it reads like one of those fraudulent websites offering you some tat for '$97 ONLY! Reduced from $1878.21 if you order NOW!!'
After 18 years using Corel Painter exclusively, 11 years of that professionally, I've now transitioned to Paintstorm. Corel have no idea how to develop Painter; they don't have the will, they don't have the technical knowledge, they don't have the user knowledge and they don't have the desire to listen to feedback from the users. They're taking the customer for all they're worth before the product croaks.
Thank you both for your replies.
Emiarden,Thank you for your suggestion. However I only used photoshop as an example. The irritating corel pop ups affect many apps. As an example, when using photoshop and then employing a plugin, often the only way to send the modifications back to photoshop is to click a button. Ctrl-S does not work. And the frustratingly irritating Corel advertising pop ups obscure any method of sending the work back to photoshop. Thus, work and time is lost.
SimonDB,Thanks for the hint on the cuh.exe. I will look for it and try disabling it. It sounds a lot like the tasks I tried disabling, but it is a direction to go and certainly worth a try. Thanks again.
As to the rest of what you said, I hear you and agree with you. However, this disease has not only infected Corel. It has infected many companies. There used to be a time when the Product Development Department used to tell the Marketing Department when they are ready. Nowadays it's the other way around - the marketing departments run the companies. I will not name them, but as a photographer I see and experience this with many products from many companies. They are full of bugs and not ready for prime time, but are brought to market anyway because the marketing department commanded them to.
The sad thing is that although the Corel pop ups may be clicked and generate a few sales, overall there are many others who are alienated by them. And the general feeling (and chatter) out here in user-ville is that Corel is hated for 1) their lack of support 2) their lack of bug fixes, 3) their lack of responsiveness to user suggestion and needs, and 4) their incessant, irritating, and frustrating chronic marketing.
The marketing departments at many companies, such as Corel, have become scummy, bottom of the barrel salesmen whose only goal is to sell, sell, sell and who don't give a damn about the experience of those who purchase their products.
It's sad, really, because they don't realize they are actually destroying user loyalty, and in the process, the product itself. They will learn. Unfortunately, as they stand in the unemployment lines, it will be too late.
Thanks again for your hint. This irritating marketing behavior by Corel is frustrating but I WILL find a way to defeat it.
Agreed. For me, the pop-up ads were just the icing on an increasing horrible cake (although to be fair I'd stopped using Painter before they showed up). I was involved with Corel for a long time, was on their advisory council and even did art for their packaging, but every decision they've made in the past ten years was, IMO, on a marketing basis and input from long-term customers regarding functionality was broadly ignored. I am also convinced that much of the original coding is still present from 20+ years ago, and Corel don't want to touch it in case the whole thing collapses like a pack of cards.
The next 'update' needs to see the whole kaboodle redeveloped from scratch. It's huge, unwieldy, in parts archaic and riddled with bugs and only a re-write can save it.
You're definitely not the first to complain. I've been quite vocal about this for years. Corel has made it pretty clear that this is just how it's going to be. Vote with your wallet.https://painterfactory.com/painter_product_discussion/f/corel-painter-products/29233/hey-corel-your-bull-pop-up-ads-are-unacceptable