computer pop-ups

[lisa]

PLEASE HELP ME ! My computer is getting tons of pop-ups
from internet explorer and it's freezing my screen

 

[Kaylene aka Taurarian]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/using/howto/restrictedsites/stoppopups.asp
Prevent Pop-up Ad Windows When Browsing with Internet Explorer

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

Enable or Disable Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;283673
NB: AOL is not compatible with Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall (ICF)
If you have AOL, you should contact AOL and/or get a 3rd party firewall.

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

Spyware Programs links:-
www.lavasoftusa.com Ad-Aware
www.security.kolla.de Spybot
Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

 

[Rick]

In addition to the excellent advice by Kaylene I suggest you download and
install either the Google or MSN toolbar (I like Google) which has popup
protection.

Then go about cleaning up your system per Kaylene's advice

Rick

 

[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 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.

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 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

 

[Guest]

Hello all.. I have read just about everythi8ng on here... I have had these (microsoft exploror ) pop ups for about 2 months now... I get these pop ups that are colorful and say "stop pop ups now" bla bla bla... i had dl spybot.. spywwareblaster ect... i do a scan everyday.. i clean disc and delete cookies every day... These things are driving me insane.. I cant do anything on my pc without having to stop every 10 sec and push "x" to get them off my screen.. If I walk away and come back 15 min later I will have about 25 pop ups to individually deltete...I get them right when i turn my pc on..I DONT HAVE TO BE ON THE INTERNET to get them.. They just start coming... I renewed my subscription to norton antivirus yestereday.. It still says "scripting error" and it will not let me "enable" auto protect???? Someone please help lol How can I get somebody to take over my pc and fix this... thank you in advance

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hello all.. I have read just about everythi8ng on here... I have had
these (Microsoft explorer ) pop ups for about 2 months now... I get
these pop ups that are colorful and say "stop pop ups now" bla bla
bla... i had dl spybot.. spywwareblaster ect... i do a scan
everyday.. i clean disc and delete cookies every day... These things
are driving me insane.. I cant do anything on my pc without having to
stop every 10 sec and push "x" to get them off my screen.. If I walk
away and come back 15 min later I will have about 25 pop ups to
individually deltete...I get them right when i turn my pc on..I DONT
HAVE TO BE ON THE INTERNET to get them.. They just start coming... I
renewed my subscription to norton antivirus yestereday.. It still
says "scripting error" and it will not let me "enable" auto
protect???? Someone please help lol How can I get somebody to take
over my pc and fix this... thank you in advance

So you are saying you have done everything in my list related to
spyware/adware/malware (the rest would help as well) and you still have
spyware/adware?

Do you update SpyBot Search and Destroy and LavaSoft AdAware each time you
run them?

Same for HijackThis! and CWShredder..?

Is your firewall on?

SpywareBlaster does a few more things to immunize than SpyBot's immunize
feature, but it too needs to be updated before applying the "immunization" -
I usually do both and let them cover all bases. It's also better if your
machine was JUST cleaned before you immunize.

In case you have no idea what list I am talking about:

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