Potplayer

Potplayer is a multimedia player that works on the Microsoft Windows operating system. The player has been released by the Kakao company in South Korea. As such, the player is legitimate, and it has long been known for receiving positive reviews from its users due to the fact that it supports a wide range of media formats and does not take up a lot of disk space.

Is Potplayer Dangerous?

However, for the last two years since 2019, a number of concerns have been raised about Potplayer and its security. The main aspect of these concerns arises from the fact that the player has been bundled with third-party software, and it is now reported to display pop-up ads while running.

As such, Potplayer might sometimes be called adware, but it would be more accurate to call it a potentially unwanted program. A potentially unwanted program is still a regular application, but it may have certain features that users either do not want or need. For instance, you might need Potplayer to play various media files, but if you get it from a third-party website, the application could come with additional apps that are unnecessary.

In fact, sometimes, even downloading the application from its official sources may have you going through an installer that offers you additional content. If that is the case, you can always opt out. The sections of the installation wizard that allow you to deselect the unwanted content should work fine. Nevertheless, the fact that Potplayer comes bundled with additional software raises several eyebrows.

Are Potentially Unwanted Programs Like Potplayer Easy to Remove?

While computer-savvy users might say that it is really easy to deselect unwanted features, the question is, why should you do so in the first place? Let’s not forget about those who often breeze through the installation without thinking too much whether, that is wise or not. A lot of users end up installing software that is not necessary because they fail to read all the steps on the installation wizard.

Therefore, even though Potplayer may not be a threat in itself, it might come with some programs that could be annoying or intrusive. Also, as mentioned above, the application is now also known to display commercial ads when it is installed on the system. This means that Potplayer may collect some of your browsing data to generate custom commercial ads. Actually, that is not illegal because a lot of programs and even websites do that to provide you with customized content.

Should You Remove Potplayer From Your Computer?

The question here is whether you are aware of the fact that the program does so or not. If you had no idea that Potplayer could expose you to third-party content, you might want to reconsider using it. Also, if you installed everything the program’s installer had to offer, perhaps you should run a full system scan with a licensed anti-malware. There is a good chance that you have unnecessary programs on your computer, and you should remove them.

Whether you remove Potplayer or not, it is up to you. However, computer security experts emphasize that users should consider all the pros and cons before continuing to use any program. The same applies to Potplayer, too. If you find that you do not like certain aspects of this program, feel free to uninstall it.