Oh drhayden1,
Where are the good ol' days of postcard ware. You had a nice open source free proggie that worked brilliantly on Windows, it came without crap, adware or spyware, you got a key to use it for sending a picture postcard to the maker in Belgium, you were allowed to re-engineer it, post the enhancements back to the maker, had to mention him, and you lived happy ever after.... A fairy tale? No reality, not super but common reality.
The situation has changed so completely, that you first have to tag the additional bonus adware not to be installed, if you only want the genuine part of the bundled install. Everyone wants to earn a bit on the side from your tracked clicks (Google etc. malware ridden adware pays). It is almost impossible for the "average" person to keep his machine free from slowing down adware, additional tracking installs, spyware etc in the long run. and even the makers of M$ do not make your life easier with all their vulnerabilities and FIASCO upgrades in their constant yearning for growth and growth and growth.
But there are some things that weigh in the balance: Avast and extensions from enthusiasts, and security scripts from malware fighters, and crap artist blockers, and elegant creative programs. So always stay on the look-out for these little rays of sun-shine in the dark underworld of ego-driven greed-ware.
polonus