Hi Suzy,
I am not disagreeing with you, but a nasty by any other name is still a nasty (the inverse of: "A rose by any other name is still a rose." Tho' even roses have an underside of having thorns.)
Meanwhile: Trojans, tracking cookies, diallers, back-door stuff, "free offers", virusses and all other variants of "nasties" all boil down to the attempt of someone to take some advantage of you ... leastways that is what I have come to conclude, during my two years (nearly) of actually having a computer.
I have not suddenly become paranoid, but I have learned that at least the cyber-world must not be trusted (I would trust my neighbours with my very life).
That said:
At least in this cyber-world of Cnet forums, with one and only one exception, it is a virtual "neighbourhood".
You will only ever get (in my experience) the best and free advice about what to do if you encounter a problem ... though of course you have to decide for yourself in the end.
I personally think that if anything unusual crops up, e.g. after installing something, then BE PARANOID and ask for help.
Regards, Gerry