PSA: Uninstall the Nexon Launcher
EDIT:
I now have a new blog specifically aimed at things like this, as well as general Vindictus knowledge/tidbits, located at http://shippuusblog.tumblr.com/
———–
This isn’t strictly the type of thing I made this blog to post about, but for the time being, I don’t have a more general blog. So here it shall be.
I have been telling friends/guildmates from the beginning to not use the Nexon Launcher, due to suspicions of its poor security (it’s Nexon). It turns out, I was right, a major security flaw still exists as it did over a year ago.
Here’s an image of the post, since I fully expect it to be deleted for “FUD”, and to credit the poster:
Basically, anything that exerts even the slightest degree of effort has access to at least a portion of your log in information. You are more at risk of being hacked, just for using this software. You might be able to avoid this information being stored if you choose to not use the auto-login, but this isn’t confirmed, and with Nexon, they might store it anyway.
Unfortunately, Nexon has left you no real alternatives if you have more than one account. Steam forces you to tie one Nexon account to your Steam account, only one. You could have two Steam accounts, but I would imagine that’s a profound hassle as well.
If you happen to want to switch to Steam, here’s the general process (NOTE: Steam Vindictus doesn’t work on Windows XP, I’m told):
Find where you installed Vindictus to. Leave this window open.
Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common. If the common folder doesn’t exist, just create it. That only means you have no Steam games yet.
In \common\ create a folder called Vindictus.
From your Nexon Launcher install, go to \vindictus\appdata and copy the entire en-US folder, as well as the BDMPEG1SETUP.EXE file.
Paste them into \common\Vindictus.
Your full file path to the exe should be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Vindictus\en-US\Vindictus.exe.
Go to Steam, find Vindictus, and click Play, which should begin install. It will say that it’s discovering existing files, or similar. Let it finish doing this.
It will say that it’s now downloading, at 0% of like 10 GB to download. Don’t worry. Click pause, and then resume the download. It will check the folder again, and skip all the way to 99%. Let it finish.
For good measure, go to your Library -> Games list. Right click Vindictus, and select Properties. Go to Local Files, and select Verify Integrity of Game Cache. It will probably find no issues, but it’s a good extra pass for any oddities.
Log in. The account you log in with will be tied to your Steam account, a process that’s very difficult to undo. Make sure it’s the right account.
Uninstall Vindictus from the Nexon Launcher, and then uninstall the Nexon Launcher afterwards, if Steam Vindictus works. You must do it in this order, because going by the forums, uninstalling the Nexon Launcher does not uninstall its games.
Once you uninstall the Nexon Launcher, open Windows to where you are looking at any folder, and change the path at the top of the window to %appdata%, then press Enter.
Click on NexonLauncher to select it. Hold Shift, and press Delete. This will permanently delete the folder, and prevent the folder being backed up to a point where this folder exists. This folder contains your log in information in plain text, and uninstalling the Nexon Launcher does not get rid of it, because of course it doesn’t.
For reference for those applying extra settings with NVidia Control Panel, or AMD’s equivalent, you want to continue applying these to Vindictus.exe. You will need to redo the settings, since you relocated your installation.
Also note that the Steam version boots with nxsteam.exe, not Vindictus.exe. If you want a Desktop shortcut or Taskbar shortcut, it will need to be nxsteam.exe.
nxsteam.exe uses Internet Explorer, because Nexon has no comprehension of security, nor any concern for it. If you have issues logging in because of this, you will need to reset your Internet Explorer settings by opening it and going to Settings (gear icon) -> Internet Options -> Advanced, and then click Reset toward the bottom.
Alternatively, you can feel free to continue using it. Nobody has been hacked because of it…yet. I just wanted to make this post as the ugly mess that is the Nexon Launcher continues getting uglier and more frustrating. Especially in light of Nexon’s decision that they will never return direct launch, because screw us players, right?
germansingergirl
jacobvanloon
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
gummygunk
janainaart
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
