How do I remove Banner Ads on Outlook homepage?

T

Tim Boyer

Hello, My MS Outlook email has recently started posting
a banner ad entitled "Wild Hot Dates". Does anyone know
how to turn off banner ads within Outlook?

Thank you.

Tim Boyer
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Sounds like you installed spyware like Hotbar - look in add/remove programs
and see what is installed - google for the names of unfamiliar programs and
uninstall any that are spyware.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours

http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com

Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30
 
D

Dwight Stewart

Diane Poremsky said:
Sounds like you installed spyware like Hotbar - look in add/
remove programs and see what is installed - google for the
names of unfamiliar programs and uninstall any that are spyware.


Good grief, Diane. I can't believe the stories I'm reading in these
newsgroup. I'm a relatively new Windows user (very long time Mac user, and
other computers before that) and what I read here is enough to scare the
heck out of me. The last thing in the world I want is for porno ads to start
showing up in my outgoing email messages. In other messages, I read about
virus problems. My computer is only two months old and I've already had one
virus on that computer (thankfully, a very minor one). This is a nightmare.
I'm glad to see Microsoft is doing something to address this problem, but
clearly much more has to be done. What is Microsoft doing to make it easier
to go after the people who write and spread virus programs? Perhaps the
problem is with the internet itself, but surely Microsoft can do something
to push the internet towards a safer environment. I don't honestly expect
you to have the answers to all this - I'm just letting off some steam.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Hotbar is an addin that many users install so they can add smilies to their
email... it has nothing to do with porn. It's an annoyance... not a true
virus (although many people consider it a virus).

The problem is the internet and the users- When people drive through a seedy
unfamiliar neighborhood they think nothing of locking the car doors and
rolling up the windows a little more, just to be safe... the internet should
be treated the same way - with firewalls and AV software.

MS really can't do anything about virus writers - no more than Apple would
go after then. (If apple has 98% of the market you can bet it would be a
target of viruses - as it stands, too few people use Macs to interest most
virus writers.) It's up to law enforcement to go after the virus writers -
and users need to take responsibility to protect themselves by using
firewalls and AV software and keeping them updated.
 
M

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Tsk, tsk Diane. That tired old horse "if xxxxx had 95% of the market, blah,
blah, blah" again.

Face it, any other OS could have the lion's share of the market (say, like
Apache for web servers does) and would not get the viruses, worms, etc.
written for it.

It is precisely *because* it is a Microsoft product that it is attacked,
moreso for the fervent Microsoft haters than for the ease with which
Windows, SQL, IIS, etc are regularly hacked, attacked and wormed to death.

If Apple wrote Windows, it would be a lesser target. Simply attach the name
Microsoft to any product, program, or protocol and you have an instant
audience of drooling, slack-jawed, imbecilic, ne'er-do-wells just waiting to
pounce.

Just my opinion.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.


After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer
Diane Poremsky [MVP] <[email protected]> asked:

| Hotbar is an addin that many users install so they can add smilies to
| their email... it has nothing to do with porn. It's an annoyance...
| not a true virus (although many people consider it a virus).
|
| The problem is the internet and the users- When people drive through
| a seedy unfamiliar neighborhood they think nothing of locking the car
| doors and rolling up the windows a little more, just to be safe...
| the internet should be treated the same way - with firewalls and AV
| software.
|
| MS really can't do anything about virus writers - no more than Apple
| would go after then. (If apple has 98% of the market you can bet it
| would be a target of viruses - as it stands, too few people use Macs
| to interest most virus writers.) It's up to law enforcement to go
| after the virus writers - and users need to take responsibility to
| protect themselves by using firewalls and AV software and keeping
| them updated.
|
| --
| Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
|
|
| ||| Sounds like you installed spyware like Hotbar - look in add/
||| remove programs and see what is installed - google for the
||| names of unfamiliar programs and uninstall any that are spyware.
||
||
|| Good grief, Diane. I can't believe the stories I'm reading in these
|| newsgroup. I'm a relatively new Windows user (very long time Mac
|| user, and other computers before that) and what I read here is
|| enough to scare the heck out of me. The last thing in the world I
|| want is for porno ads to start showing up in my outgoing email
|| messages. In other messages, I read about virus problems. My
|| computer is only two months old and I've already had one virus on
|| that computer (thankfully, a very minor one). This is a nightmare.
|| I'm glad to see Microsoft is doing something to address this
|| problem, but clearly much more has to be done. What is Microsoft
|| doing to make it easier to go after the people who write and spread
|| virus programs? Perhaps the problem is with the internet itself, but
|| surely Microsoft can do something to push the internet towards a
|| safer environment. I don't honestly expect you to have the answers
|| to all this - I'm just letting off some steam.
||
||
|| Dwight Stewart (W5NET)
||
|| http://www.qsl.net/w5net/
 
D

Dwight Stewart

Diane Poremsky said:
(snip) The problem is the internet and the users- When people
drive through a seedy unfamiliar neighborhood they think nothing
of locking the car doors and rolling up the windows a little more,
just to be safe... the internet should be treated the same way -
with firewalls and AV software.


The "seedy neighborhood" visited was Microsoft's and Symantec's web sites.
Somewhere in the process of looking for updates, and downloading those
updates, Blaster found it's way onto my computer. It was the very first day
on the internet with the new computer. I had AV software installed (which
told me about Blaster after it was on my computer) and I hadn't even thought
of a firewall (heard about it, but not a big concern for Mac users).

MS really can't do anything about virus writers - no more than
Apple would go after then. (If apple has 98% of the market
you can bet it would be a target of viruses - as it stands, too
few people use Macs to interest most virus writers.) It's up to
law enforcement to go after the virus writers - and users need
to take responsibility to protect themselves by using firewalls
and AV software and keeping them updated.


You're probably right. But I would be trying to figure out something if I
were Microsoft. Perhaps a lawsuit against some of these people. Regardless,
I don't entirely agree with passing the buck on to the users. Like me, most
new users don't know enough to even think about anti-virus software,
firewalls, and so on. When it comes to OS software, Microsoft is supposed to
be the expert, not the users. The users are simply buying a product to get
something done and usually expect products to work without much extra effort
on their part. If AV software and firewalls are needed, there should at
least be a strong warning to that effect.

Well, I didn't intend to start a huge discussion on this, so you want to
drop this, that's certainly fine by me.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/
 
D

Dwight Stewart

Milly Staples said:
If Apple wrote Windows, it would be a lesser target. Simply
attach the name Microsoft to any product, program, or
protocol and you have an instant audience of drooling, slack-
jawed, imbecilic, ne'er-do-wells just waiting to pounce.


I don't know about that, Milly. If Apple had the same market share, most
would have the same opinions of them as they now have for Microsoft. As
such, Apple would be a similar target. And it is probably true that some are
just looking for the largest target, making Microsoft a more appealing
target. Finally, some are not targeting Microsoft at all - they're after the
users (and after the largest group of users possible).


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/
 

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