Pop ups

[Nerwin]

hey guys its me again with another problem, I keep on getting Pop-ups And they wont stop even with a pop-up Blocker (Google Toolbar).

Any reasons?

[TheFlash428]

Sounds like spyware to me.

[Nerwin]

yeah thats what i thought. Do you think i should run Ad-aware? Or some kind of a spyware program?

[Zxian]

When in doubt, run the big three of AS: Ad-Aware, Spybot, and MS AntiSpyware.

To help prevent spyware from returning, use the immunize feature in Spybot as well as SpywareBlaster.

Also, check your IE pop-up blocker settings.

Tools->Internet Options->Privacy->Pop-up blocker Settings

It should be set to Medium by default. If it was at Low without you having set it there, then you've got something malicious on your computer. Set that to high and see if you still have problems.

[Nerwin]

i'll Try that

[Siginet]

I would get Ad-Aware Personal edition and Microsoft Anti-Spyware.

They are both free.

Make sure you get the updates for both of them.

Disconnect your computer from the internet and run a Full System scan with Microsoft Antispyware.

Remove anything it finds.

Reboot the computer and do the same thing again.

If it does not detect anything... reconnect your internet and start browsing around for a bit. If you get no more popups you may have gotten it. But if the second scan detects anything run a scan with adaware and remove any critical things it finds. Always reboot then scan again. Do not reconnect your internet if something will not go away unless you know what is not being removed. If you have to do a google search on the Spyware that won't go away and there may be a special way to remove it. Sometimes the only thing you can do is reinstall the computer.

[Nerwin]

it's working so far. it found a toolbar that downloads trgen horses and other severe spyware.

[net_user]

yeah thats what i thought. Do you think i should run Ad-aware? Or some kind of a spyware program?

thats like "my house is on fire....should i get out?"

common sense people

[JRosenfeld]

Also disable messenger service (not related to Windows messenger; it's the one admins use on corporate networks; but some malware uses it also).

[wizardofwindows]

i hate them 180 search assistant hooks or cool search ya thxz jerk lov your stupid looking toolbar and your search engine looks weak lol.

[Tarun]

This should be in the Malware Prevention forum.

[ripken204]

do what zxian said. also, do you use IE? if you do then switch to firefox, or even better, Opera. and do it now! you also may want to consider making an nlited xp and reinstalling windows if its still a problem, with IE not being installed.

[JoeMSFN]

Another possibility, if they appear when you do google searches or use msfn, then yes I'd say it is spy/adware.

The other though, if you don't get them visiting the two aforementioned sites, is a new class of popups I've read about that make an end-run around pop-up blockers is....

FLASH....

Yes that's right, from what I've read, flash can create popups and there's not a darned thing a pop-up blocker can do. In which case, if you use Firefox or other such Mozilla browsers, you might install an extension such as FlashBlock. It doesn't load the flash, but gives you an icon to click on if you wish to view the flash.

Just suggesting two possibilities