RNDAL.exe
(Real Networks)
Real Networks Dynamic Application Launcher (RNDAL). Background task which is part of the Real Networks RealOne Player, their newest player and probably the intended replacement for Real Player. We are not quite sure of the role of this background task as, on PCs with a permanent connection to the Internet, it does not always appear in the Task List, sometimes it comes up, at other times it does not. What we are sure of is that we unambiguously object to the following paragraph from the RealOne Player License Agreement at the time of writing, 15-Jun-2002 : "However, as we describe above, certain updates to RealOne Player functionality will happen automatically and without advance notification". This is unbelievable with this single paragraph Real Networks effectively state that, regardless of how you configure RealOne Player, there will be times when RealOne Player will update itself and you will have no control over that nor will you be informed that software on your PC is being updated. We call this software vandalism : Real Networks effectively show no respect for your rights to be in control of software on your own PC.
Recommendation :
On the above basis alone we recommend categorically against the use of RealOne Player. De-install it immediately and use the "old" Real Player instead, or use WinAmp, Windows Media Player, or other software. Alternatively, if you absolutely want or have to use RealOne Player, then install an Internet firewall such as Norton Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm, and specifically configure your firewall to prevent RNDAL from communicating. Note that we have also seen RNDAL interfering with the use of CD-Writers, resulting in utterly unusable CDs in such cases doing an "End Task" on RNDAL and then re-creating the CD almost always solves the problem.