Ad blaster pop ups

[Guest]

I have thousands of ad blaster pop up ads appearing on a dial up account that I have and I don't know how to eliminate the problem. Can anyone direct me to a program or something that can block the pop ups?

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Try any/all of the following programs to see if there is any spyware on your system:

Ad-Aware - www.lavasoftusa.com
Spybot - http://www.safer-networking.org/
CWShredder - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


| I have thousands of ad blaster pop up ads appearing on a dial up account that I have and I don't know how to eliminate the problem. Can anyone direct me to a program or something that can block the pop ups?

 

[Darren]

As mentioned in the first reply use spybot to find and
delete any adware/spyware already installed. Another
program to help keep you safe after cleaning is spy
blaster. it can be downloaded here
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Both are freeware. Good Luck.

-----Original Message-----
I have thousands of ad blaster pop up ads appearing on a

dial up account that I have and I don't know how to
eliminate the problem. Can anyone direct me to a program
or something that can block the pop ups?

 

[Guest]

Greetings --

There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the
solutions vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is
troubling you?

1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger
Service?"

This type of spam has become quite common over the
past several months, and unintentionally serves as a valid
security "alert." It demonstrates that you haven't been
taking sufficient precautions while connected to the
Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised by
these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this
exploit, you may well be open to other threats, such as
the Blaster Worm that recently swept cross the Internet.
Install and use a decent, properly configured firewall.
(Merely disabling the messenger service, as some people
recommend, only hides the symptom, and does little or
nothing to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or
just "putting up with" the security gap represented by
these messages is particularly foolish. A free good
firewall you can get is ZoneAlarm.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-
us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet
Advertisement Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communic
ate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Whichever firewall you decide upon, be sure to ensure
UDP ports 135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and
445 are _all_blocked. You may also disable Inbound
NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). You'll have to follow the
instructions from firewall's manufacturer for the specific
steps.

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?
langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to
do nothing more than disable the messenger service.
Disabling the messenger service, by itself, is a "head in
the sand" approach to computer security. The real problem
is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're actually
providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as a
security alert. The true problem is the unsecured
computer, and you've been advised to merely turn off the
warnings. How is this helpful?

2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the
free 12Ghosts Popup-killer from
http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm, Pop-Up Stopper from
http://www.panicware.com/, or the Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/. Also a good firewall can stop
these(such as nortons internet security).

3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort
of "adware" and/or "spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors,
Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or KaZaA, and their remnants, that
you've deliberately (but without understanding the
consequences) installed, two products that are quite
effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware)
are Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search &
Destroy from www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free
versions. It's even possible to use SpyBot Search &
Destroy to "immunize" your system against most future
intrusions. Use both and generally perform manual scans
every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

-----Original Message-----
I have thousands of ad blaster pop up ads appearing on a

dial up account that I have and I don't know how to
eliminate the problem. Can anyone direct me to a program
or something that can block the pop ups?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the solutions
vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is troubling you?

1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger Service?"

This type of spam has become quite common over the past year or
so, and unintentionally serves as a valid security "alert." It
demonstrates that you haven't been taking sufficient precautions while
connected to the Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this exploit,
you most definitely open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm
that still haunts the Internet. Install and use a decent, properly
configured firewall. (Merely disabling the messenger service, as some
people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does little or nothing
to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or just "putting up with"
the security gap represented by these messages is particularly
foolish.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement
Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Whichever firewall you decide upon, be sure to ensure UDP ports
135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and 445 are _all_ blocked.
You may also disable Inbound NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). You'll
have to follow the instructions from firewall's manufacturer for the
specific steps.

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service, by itself, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer
security. The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups;
they're actually providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as
a security alert. The true problem is the unsecured computer, and
you've been advised to merely turn off the warnings. How is this
helpful?

2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the free 12Ghosts
Popup-killer from http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm, Pop-Up Stopper
from http://www.panicware.com/, or the free Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/, which is what I use.

3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort of "adware" and/or
"spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors, Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or
KaZaA, and their remnants, that you've deliberately (but without
understanding the consequences) installed, two products that are
quite effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware) are
Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search & Destroy from
www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free versions. It's even
possible to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system
against most future intrusions. I use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have thousands of ad blaster pop up ads appearing on a dial up
account that I have and I don't know how to eliminate the problem.
Can anyone direct me to a program or something that can block the pop
ups?

Popups and Home Page Hijacks come in several flavors.. However, if
you use most of the items in the list I am about to give you, you will
lessen your popups, security holes and spam all with one list. Your
problem may be Messenger Popups (you should follow the firewall
advice and do a Google search on 'disable messenger service in
windows xp' to fix this) or web page popups (you should follow the
Google Toolbar advice section for these.) You may have
spyware/adware infesting your machine, follow the appropriate
section for that, making sure you use at least THREE of the tools
I list to scan and clean your machine AFTER updating them.
Cleaning up spyware/adware/malware usually solves home page
hijackers as well.

Please Notice that if you use AOL, you should at least upgrade to 9.0 or
greater before doing any of the fixes. I know you can get AOL 9.0 at almost
any convenience store, gas station, super market or other retail outlet in
the world, so this should not be a problem.


Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp
(It has been reported that it now works with AOL 9.0+)


Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)


Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
- http://www.moosoft.com/
- http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. I like SpywareGuard for those with enough processor
to have something running like antivirus software - and it prevents browser
hijacking quite well.

And Assortment of Others:
http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html


After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php


Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the
"Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to
"Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.


Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.


Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/


Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.


Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
SpamBayes
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net
or
Spamihilator.
http://www.spamihilator.com