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Irritating Pop-Ups

12:16 / 12.09.04

I'm being plagued by fucking annoying pop-ups ever since I set up broadband access for my laptop a couple of days ago. They all have Messenger Service on the top bar, and they almost invariably mention spyware. How do I get rid of these, as the spyware scans all show up negative?

Excuse my techspazzery.

12:37 / 12.09.04

Firefox? I've not had a single Internet-related problem since using that instead of IE. Free and easy.

You might also want to get hold of AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy while you're at it. They should find and kill anything that shouldn't be on your machine.

12:48 / 12.09.04

Fire fox is excellent, but if you want to contiue using IE you might want to get the google tool bar.

It has a pop up blocker built into it that seems to stop the majority of pop ups. It also lists the amount of pop ups blocked, im now at 3944 since june.

12:53 / 12.09.04

The Google toolbar does nothing to stop these fuckers, I'm afraid. I'll check your suggestions, Randy.

13:08 / 12.09.04

The Google toolbar does nothing to stop these fuckers
Yikes. Did you turn the pop up blocker on in the options? But anyways, spy bot and adaware work wonders.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:43 / 12.09.04

Windows SP2 also adds a pop-up blocker to IE, but the only reason to have IE on your computer is to go to Windows Update and Trendmicro House Call...

Download and istall Firefox, and select Tools - Options - Web features, then click on "block pop-ups".#

However, what you are getting is not from your web browser, I think, but from Windows messenger. You're running XP, yeah? Windows Messenger is meant to be a way to communicate across a network, but is now used almost exclusively for spamming. It's one of the many open doors WinXP ships with.

If you're worried about spyware (and you should be), use Spybot and AdAware. To deal with the Messenger notices, either turn Messenger off in your services menu or install SP2, which will, I think, turn it off automatically.

flufeemunk effluvia

13:45 / 12.09.04

Using a Mac like any clever person tends to help.

13:57 / 12.09.04

Haus is on the money. I've just disabled Messenger, so that should put a stop to that.

13:59 / 12.09.04

flufeemunk wins the unhelpful numptee of the day award.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:00 / 12.09.04

Oh good, somebody who pins their self-esteem to the brand of computer they own. I bet that will make for fascinating conversation.

15:33 / 12.09.04

I would be interested in learning about any spyware issue affecting macs though - Are there any mac equivilents of ad aware?

16:21 / 12.09.04

I've converted totally to Firefox. I was having problems with pop ups and decided to try it a few months ago... Since then, I've had no problems with pop-ups. As well, I appreciate web browsing with the "tabs", instead of having to open a bunch of new windows.

Also, I was reading an online column (I don't remember where) which stated that unprotected computers connected to the internet are affected with malicious software within 20 minutes (down from 40 from a year ago... i think). The article went on to say that the reason why this was so disturbing was that it takes a user longer than 20 minutes to download a software package to defend themselves against this malicious adware.

16:23 / 12.09.04

Most spyware seems to work through cookies, unguarded ports and malicious java scripts. Macs are just as prone to this as PC's. They do have an advantage with regards virus attacks, but that's about as far as it goes.

16:57 / 12.09.04

Firefox all the way. Been using it for about two months now, and I love it so much.
However, do not forget to periodically check for IE security updates. Because IE is so closely tied with the OS (Explorer), it doesn't need to be running for it to be vulnerable to attack.
Combination I use is (all free) Zonealarm, Firefox, and AVG Antivirus. About once a month I'll run Ad-aware and Spybot. Even on a system as glitchy as WinME, the switch to Firefox has improved stability dratically. Another handy thing you can do with FF extensions is to block ads on the page by right clicking and banning all pictures from the host. Hoorrah! All they need now is some way of blocking Flash ads without having to use a whiteluist and it'll be perect.

17:27 / 12.09.04

Most spyware seems to work through cookies, unguarded ports and malicious java scripts. Macs are just as prone to this as PC's. They do have an advantage with regards virus attacks, but that's about as far as it goes.

Cookies just enable ad companies to track your browsing habits. I'm not sure what you're referring to with "java scripts" but Javascript can't do anything to your computer, apart from annoy you or crash your browser. Unguarded ports aren't automatically bad, the problem is that there are ports that can be used to exploit certain Windows security flaws. This isn't much of a problem with Macs or other *nix systems as there are fewer holes.

There's also the issue that it's a lot easier to track down and eliminate processes in a *nix environment once you know about them, and the whole speed of open-source patching vs proprietorial patching - a hole in libpng was found recently and it was fixed in a few days. In fact, the whole open vs closed argument generally.

But it's not much help to someone who wants to use Windows to say "get a Mac".

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:55 / 12.09.04

if you want to contiue using IE

But why? Why would you want to?

Computer illiterate fuck that I am, even I can tell that replacing IE with Firefox has made things MUCH, MUCH better. It's a free download, and it rules.

(Thunderbird kicks Outlook's Gates-kissing ass as well).

18:14 / 12.09.04

Like I say, unless you're very confident and proficient at registry hacking, ALL post 98 Windows users are locked in to using IE (as part of the OS) whether you are using it to browse or not. Hopefully, someone will soon come up with a safe and easy way to disable it on demand, but they'll probably get sued to bits for hacking MS property.
Oh, and one more hint, if your firewall asks you if you should let EXPLORER.EXE acess the internet, tell it to get stuffed, it doesn't need to.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:18 / 12.09.04

The only time you need to use IE is when you are using a site that wants to use Active, and has a good reason for it. The only ones I can think of are Windows Update and online virus/trojan scanners. Otherwise, it may be a part of the OS, but there is no need to use it.

02:41 / 13.09.04

if you want to contiue using IE

But why? Why would you want to?

People have various reasons for doing all sorts of things. I have to use IE for the nature of my work. Other people maybe lazy. Other people might just be used to it. Hell, this guy I know uses netscape 3. Will never understand that one. Gave up trying.

nedrichards is confused

06:24 / 13.09.04

Also useful is disabling the Messenger Service (link goes to an MS page on doing said thing - it's not MSN Messenger but something much more underhand) and using a firewall. On Windows PCs I quite like the free ZoneAlarm but even the builtin Windows Firewall is a start. Love it and it will love you back.

But really it's about that time in the thread where I should say use TEH LUNIX. Unless you want to play PC games, in which case you may pass unmolested.