Pop-Ups

Hi, Somehow my PC has become infected with pop-ups from AOL advertisements and misc. others. Every time I go on the internet and go to any page, they pop-up. I have some pop-up stopper software that I tried, but, that blocks out all pop-ups and anything looking like a pop-up. That is not good. Anytime I visit a business site or try to use virtual tours when viewing houses, the pop-ups there that I do want to see are blocked out. In fact, since just posting this message, several unwanted pop-ups have shown up again. It's funny that one of them is related to "Stopping Pop-Ups".

How can I get these pop-ups out of my PC ? They must be located on my hard drive and that is why they show up all the time. They do not show up in my "Add/Remove Programs" area and they don't show up on my Start Menu list of Programs.

Does anyone know what could be done to get rid of these ?

Thank you.

Go to Tools, Internet Options and Delete Files... including those in the temp folder - as the pop up asks. While in Internet Options, click Advanced and scroll down to Security. Make sure to check "Empty Temp Internet Files folder when browser is closed."

Go to the Windows folder (Using Explorer. That's Windows Explorer NOT Internet Explorer) and have a look in the Temperary Internet Files folder. If there is anything in there, delete it.

Delete all cookies.

Make sure your default home page - the page the browser brings up when launched - is a popup free page either on your computer (such as a page full of links of your favorite sites) or online (such as this discussion board).

Close the browser down. Reboot.

If you have cookies you want to keep, manually go through your cookie file and delete anything that you don't understand.

The above is my first course of action for any unwanted pleasantness. It does me fine. And only takes a couple of minutes.

Michael Ross


Want this?

Ken,
If what Michael suggested doesn't work, click the URL below and download Spybot.

The scumware people are getting trickier, even to the point of altering your registry so that whatever you do to get rid of it, it just won't work.

You may be surprised at the number of sneaky little programs that have put themselves on your hard drive.

Marye


This might help get rid of it

You should search for an anti-Spy Ware program to scan your computer. I use AdAware. It searches out all the spy ware programs that may be residing on your harddrive.

The more sophisticated spy programs will match the pop-up ads to the sites you visit. If you click on priceline.com, you'll see pop-ups for travelocity, expedia, hotwire, orbitz, or other travel advertising.

Once you get rid of the embedded spyware, you should see an immediate drop in pop-ups.

One spyware progam that people purposely download is gator.com. They offer a few different software programs to entice you, such as a password reminder, and then keep track of all the sites you visit. They get paid by the advertisers for putting the competing ad pop-ups on your screen.

Dennis Bevers

Dennis Bevers


Real world Advertising tools to keep your name in front of your customer!

> Hi, Somehow my PC has become infected with
> pop-ups from AOL advertisements and misc.
> others. Every time I go on the internet and
> go to any page, they pop-up. I have some
> pop-up stopper software that I tried, but,
> that blocks out all pop-ups and anything
> looking like a pop-up. That is not good.
> Anytime I visit a business site or try to
> use virtual tours when viewing houses, the
> pop-ups there that I do want to see are
> blocked out. In fact, since just posting
> this message, several unwanted pop-ups have
> shown up again. It's funny that one of them
> is related to "Stopping Pop-Ups".

> How can I get these pop-ups out of my PC ?
> They must be located on my hard drive and
> that is why they show up all the time. They
> do not show up in my "Add/Remove
> Programs" area and they don't show up
> on my Start Menu list of Programs.

> Does anyone know what could be done to get
> rid of these ?

> Thank you.

I use a combination of things to keep my system free of popups and other debris.

Spybot, of course. Be sure to take time to investigate the advanced tab and the tools etc as it can be very educational.

Lavasoft Ad Aware Plus which includes Ad Watch. If you set the configuration correctly you won't get anything in that CHANGES your registry without your permission because Ad Watch will popup and tell you about any registry changes and ask what you want to do. Ad Watch does not always warn you of registry additions, however.

Of course you should have a well-configured and effective anti-virus program. I use grisoft AVG but Norton is also good.

Most importantly don't forget a great firewall. I use Agnitum Outpost. For those who can use it, Zone Alarm Pro is also very good.

I tried a couple of popup killers but they didn't work like I needed them to. One of them contained their own little nasty which created headaches when it came to uninstalling it.

Other things are to check carefully what you have allowed or disallowed in your browser settings. Read the ? tip if you can't decide on something or post a question if it's really something you don't understand.

Hope this is some help.

Sandi

Many softwares like gator, kazaa use popups to show ads. And they use it legally. Before you install such softwares - you have to click on "accept" after reading a 20page disclaimer which has 1 line that says you will receive popups.

Hardly any one reads them. But no one can take legal action against these software makers.

I had a similar problem of popups and I used ad aware. Ad aware scanned my hard drive for all the files which show ads and popups. And deleted them. Its free. Can be downloaded from download.com




Ad Aware download.com link

Thank you to all for your advice. It works !

What an excellent Forum !

> Many softwares like gator, kazaa use popups
> to show ads. And they use it legally. Before
> you install such softwares - you have to
> click on "accept" after reading a
> 20page disclaimer which has 1 line that says
> you will receive popups.

> Hardly any one reads them. But no one can
> take legal action against these software
> makers.

> I had a similar problem of popups and I used
> ad aware. Ad aware scanned my hard drive for
> all the files which show ads and popups. And
> deleted them. Its free. Can be downloaded
> from download.com

..."Spybot - Search and Destroy" from
http://spybot.safer-networking.de/

It's free and very good. Read the tutorial first though; it's very thorough.

Cheers,
Ken

> Hi, Somehow my PC has become infected with
> pop-ups from AOL advertisements and misc.
> others. Every time I go on the internet and
> go to any page, they pop-up. I have some
> pop-up stopper software that I tried, but,
> that blocks out all pop-ups and anything
> looking like a pop-up. That is not good.
> Anytime I visit a business site or try to
> use virtual tours when viewing houses, the
> pop-ups there that I do want to see are
> blocked out. In fact, since just posting
> this message, several unwanted pop-ups have
> shown up again. It's funny that one of them
> is related to "Stopping Pop-Ups".

> How can I get these pop-ups out of my PC ?
> They must be located on my hard drive and
> that is why they show up all the time. They
> do not show up in my "Add/Remove
> Programs" area and they don't show up
> on my Start Menu list of Programs.

> Does anyone know what could be done to get
> rid of these ?

> Thank you.

Hello Ken,

> Does anyone know what could be done to get
> rid of these ?

I too was plagued by these popups and was at wits end. These new popups are being used by marketers now that regular popups can be blocked.

I use a product called messenger blocker from
http://www.how2stop.com.
Its pretty inexpensive at 12.95 and has solved my problems.

HTH
Cheers,
Charles




Messenger Blocker