pop-ups opening even when internet explorer is not open

[friesian]

My nephew is having a problem on his computer that I just cannot figure
out.

He got the computer last Christmas and uses dsl for connecting to the
internet. It was fine until a couple months ago.

Now, anytime he turns on the computer, even without any programs being
open yet, it starts opening pop-ups like crazy. He can have 10 or more
open in just a few seconds. He closes them and more open.

They all say IE in the bar, but he doesn't even use IE that often.

I've scanned for viruses and spybots.

I've tried to change settings, but it hasn't helped. I found something
in usenet that said to change the firewall protection. It said to go to
the start menu, choose run, and then firewall.cpl. It comes up file not
found.

I also tried the control panel, networking, and it says firewall
enabled.

This is a fairly new computer with windows xp and dsl connection.

Any ideas how I can get the correct firewall setup? Or is there a free
program to prevent pop-ups? I always thought those were for actually
surfing the net, and not for when the internet browsers are closed.

It has really disabled his computer so badly that he can't really do
anything. The computer freezes a lot, usually when trying to close the
pop-ups. Other programs run very slowly. And, I'm not sure if it is
related or not, but he hasn't had sound for the past couple months
either.

 

[Galen]

In (e-mail address removed) <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

My nephew is having a problem on his computer that I just cannot
figure out.

He got the computer last Christmas and uses dsl for connecting to the
internet. It was fine until a couple months ago.

Now, anytime he turns on the computer, even without any programs being
open yet, it starts opening pop-ups like crazy. He can have 10 or more
open in just a few seconds. He closes them and more open.

They all say IE in the bar, but he doesn't even use IE that often.

I've scanned for viruses and spybots.

I've tried to change settings, but it hasn't helped. I found something
in usenet that said to change the firewall protection. It said to go
to the start menu, choose run, and then firewall.cpl. It comes up
file not found.

I also tried the control panel, networking, and it says firewall
enabled.

This is a fairly new computer with windows xp and dsl connection.

Any ideas how I can get the correct firewall setup? Or is there a free
program to prevent pop-ups? I always thought those were for actually
surfing the net, and not for when the internet browsers are closed.

It has really disabled his computer so badly that he can't really do
anything. The computer freezes a lot, usually when trying to close the
pop-ups. Other programs run very slowly. And, I'm not sure if it is
related or not, but he hasn't had sound for the past couple months
either.

Adding a popup blocker wouldn't do any good. It might just mask the problem
for a while. Instead it's infested with malware and needs to be cleaned.

Malware Cleaners and Repair :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/malwarefix.html

Galen
--

"You know that a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his
trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will
come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all."

Sherlock Holmes