You can check this out for yourself by downloading and running any NCH Software installer on the NCH download page. For a long time, this was certainly the case, but as of July 31, 2015, all toolbar downloads ceased. NCH Software utilities no longer come with any form of browser toolbar or other bundleware. 'In the past, NCH Software has offered consumers the option to download an Ask or Google toolbar along with their software application.' Similarly, a separate bug caused some NCH Software utilities to overpopulate the right-click context menu. NCH Software fixed the file extension hijacking bug in January 2016, nearly two years after our original review.

Since then, NCH Software has acknowledged that 'a bug in a few of our programs was changing file associations,' adding that it was 'completely unintentional' while 'apologizing for any frustration and difficulties' the bug caused. Our first review of NCH Software many years ago took a dim view of NCH Software's business practices at the time.

'The insidious creep of NCH Software will spread across your PC slowly at first.'

In that case, you should head to the NCH Software List of Old Versions site, which lists a huge number of old product versions for download. Unfortunately, this can cause problems if you delete your NCH Software utility but want to reuse it at a later date. And you now know to upgrade as often as possible during those six months. That's admittedly not a long time, but it does explain this particular issue that users seem to have. In that, you can upgrade your license and the product version for up to six months following your purchase. 'Our program versions are updated regularly and your serial number purchased is valid for the version available for download at that time, and new releases for six months after.' When you buy an NCH Software license, you are purchasing a license only for that specific product version: You can find numerous forum posts wondering why a particular piece of software refuses to accept a paid-for license after an update. One common complaint against NCH Software is that their licenses seem to expire when software versions change. NCH Software sells licenses for its products. When that period ends, you have two choices: pay for a license to continue using the full version, or fall back to a restricted-but-functional free version.

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