I'm sick of this ... EVERY GOD DAMMED TIME I download something, no matter what it is, no matter how big or how small, or how "innocent" the file might be.

Firstly, why is it that more often than not, when you want to download a file, the only link available is for a downloader to download the file you want?  These often will download a ton of other crap you don't need if you're not paying attention.

If downloaders don't mislead you into downloading stuff you don't want, modern installers will certainly try and mislead you into installing things you don't want.  When I run the "installer" for what I downloaded, there is a whole bunch of other stuff I DON'T NEED that gets installed along side with what I want.  In most cases I can choose to not install that other stuff, but more often than not, it's so cunningly done, that when I click that "next" button in the installer, I accidentally install that other junk, thinking that I'm actually installing what I want.  So, after I install my software, or even if it's just something like a self extracting "zip" file I get a ton of other crap I don't need as well.

It wouldn't be so bad if would just stop at that but nooooooooooooo, it can be much worse.  It can install mal-ware, stuff that puts ads all over your computer, messes up your web-browser and I'm not just talking about changing your homepage and search engine, sometimes it will put up fake pop ups saying that you need to update your software and there's nothing you can do to get rid of it.  For instance, on one of my computers, I cannot access ANY website without a "Flash Update" page coming up, this page is fake, and will mislead you into downloading even more bogus software. My flash player IS up to date but this still happens.

Lastly, when there is some software I want, unless I have an ad-blocker installed in my browser, there is always a huge ad on the download padge, and so many times I have been mis-lead into downloading the wrong file, thinking that the ad is the link for the thing I actually wanted.

Why can't downloads be simple again? I don't want useless stuff to be downloaded or installed alongside with the things that I actually want.  I don't want my homepadge changed, I don't want my search engine changed. I don't want anything taking control of my browser.  All I want is just a simple direct link to the file I want and nothing else.