pop hell

[Kirk]

Please help me, I'm living in pop-up hell, in addition,
I'd like to eliminate and block spyware and adware.
Can anyone recommend a single software to handle all 3
requiremnts?

 

[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.
*above court bruce c*

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/

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware, Spybot,
etc., before each and every use, even "right out of the
box". But even they can't catch everything, 24/7. When
all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe)
is the preferred tool to use. It will help you to both
identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post your
files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert
analysis,
not here.**

 

[Loren]

Welcome to the hidden misery of the IE's poor security.

I went through this problem a few weeks back. Bottom
line: No single program will solve your problems. I
tried spybot search and destroy, adaware, etc. None of
them could find a nasty little self-executable that kept
hijacking my home page and changing my links. I finally
found a program called winhelp that was the culprit.

The only way to get a handle to this problem is to
recognize the following facts:

- Microsoft's IE and Windows is full of security holes.
Get a good firewall and protect yourself.

- Learn how to search through your computer and manually
delete the many spyware and other malicious code your
computer will have on it. Use google to begin your
learning curve.

 

[Mike346]

As you can see, no single utility will give protection over the "full"
spectrum of vulnerability. However, "Spybot - Search & Destroy" is nice in
this respect. It

1) Scanning: manual scan to search for and detect "malware";

2) Blocking: the "Immunization" feature blocks some "malware" from ever
getting into the system (by changing IE settings such as "restricted sites")

3) BHO: gives further protection over 2;

4) Continuous monitoring: the "TeaTimer" option can be initialized to
continuously monitor your system for any "suspicious" changes the registry
and the like (NOTE: make sure to disable this feature during an intentional
"install/uninstall" of software).

I use Spybot. But: to compliment 1), I also use Lavasoft's "Adaware" (the
free version); to compliment 2) I use "SpywareBlaster" (free); and to
compliment 4) I use "SpywareGuard"(free).

Spybot - Search & Destroy
Home:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
Downloads:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Adaware (free version):
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

SpywareBlaster 3.2 / SpywareGuard 2.2:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/downloads.html
(SpywareBlaster 3.2 is new; it appears to me that some download sites may
still have the older version)

A great site for general security information is GRC (Gibson Research
Corporation), but reading through the information there can be quite time
consuming. In particular, GRC's ShieldsUp!! is great for checking the
functionality of your computer's firewall as well a wealth of information on
"port security" issues:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

 

[Guest]

I use Safeworld Anti-virus and it's accompanying pop-up b
locker. I haven't had a pop-up in over two years. Get
it now.

 

[Mike]

There are people out there who try to find ways to breach Microsoft
operating systems 24/7.. it is their sole purpose in life.. ANY security
system, whether it is protecting files on a computer, your home, car,
whatever, can be breached by somebody if they give enough time and effort to
it.. your statement "Welcome to the hidden misery of the IE's poor security"
could apply to any security system, so quit with the dogma..

If you need to eliminate ants from your back yard, you go to your hardware
store and find stuff specifically for ants.. see http://www.livetrap.com/
for the traps to catch differing animals.. note that one trap does NOT catch
all animals..

The majority of home page hijackers are deliberately loaded by the user,
though they may not realise it at the time.. this is hardly the fault of
Microsoft..

It is good that you suggest using a firewall, but where are the links to
sites where you found cures to the problems?.. wouldn't info like that be
more useful than <sigh> griping about Microsoft security or lack of <sigh>
how Microsoft don't care <sigh>.. dogma serves no purpose other than to
spread half truths or non-truths..