Posted on 10/21/2011 6:51:14 AM PDT by pabianice
Can someone recommend a good pop-up stopper (preferrably free)? I have one installed but pop-ups have nearly stopped my PC from downloading anything.
Thanks.
IT would help if you told us what browser you’re using. Suggest you switch to FireFox and use the NoScript plugin.
Spybot Search and Destroy
Find an old copy of AtGuard, look for FOSI Atguard on google.
In the meantime, you might want to try a different browser. Many (most? all?) browsers have a "no popup" checkbox which should solve your problem.
We need more system info. Tell us what you are running, machine type etc.
Sounds more like you need some virus killing
Download.com has lots of free software.
Using Explorer 6 with XP.
What kind of toaster are you using?
yea it really does sound like you have malware infections. What is your antivirus? for spyware I like superantispyware.com.
That's your biggest problem. IE6 is a HUGE bug magnet now that MS stopped support for it. You need to be on IE8, at a minimum.
Every browser iteration since IE5 has had built-in pop-up blocking. If you're using a third part solution, uninstall it and see if the built-in pop-up blocker does the job.
I use Microsoft Security Essentials...it’s a free download from Microsoft and it works fine for me. Got rid of Norton, etc., and I’m happy.
Using Explorer 6 with XP.Internet Explorer 6 is way out of date! It was also a disaster regarding vulnerabilities to malware.
The quickest solution is to go to http://www.mozilla.org, download and install Firefox and see how that works for you. I'm pretty sure that Firefox has a setting to prevent popup windows. There are also add-ons that will lock down the web browser to avoid getting malware.
Also, as someone else on this thread mentioned, there is a good chance you have viruses or other malware on your computer. There are several free anti-virus programs that can help you clean up your system. I don't normally run Windows, so I haven't kept up with the latest reviews, but I'm sure others on this forum can provide suggestions.
If you use Messenger, pop-ups can circumvent it.
Firefox has several add-ons that might work, if you use that browser.
Years ago, I used a program called Pop-up Stopper. It worked pretty good at first. Then the advertisers found ways to get around it.
Some browsers have Flash stopper add-ons.
You might try a Google search, depending on your set-up.
Download malwarebytes from malwarebytes.org and scan/clean your computer. If you can’t get to the site (some malware will prevent it), download the malwarebytes install file to another computer, burn it on cd, and then move it over that way.
I’d bet a beer that you have over 100 infected files if your computer is grinding to almost a halt. Once malwarebytes does its thing, install a real time antivirus product. Microsoft Security Essentials is a good one and it’s free.
If you are still infected, you may have something called a “Rootkit” virus. I’ve found that downloading an app called “combofix” from a site called bleepingcomputer.com will help clear out some really nasty embedded malware.
Sometimes cleaning this stuff will mess with your internet browser settings, so you may need to reset those when the cleaning is done.
You may also only be able to run some or all of these anti-malware products in “safe mode”. You can try to run them in safe mode by rebooting your computer, press the F8 key a few times while the computer is booting up, then select “safe mode with networking”
If you just can’t punch through and get the problem solved, there is probably some dude like me nearby that would clean it for $50 and get it back to you within 24-48 hours.
It may be, but 7 and 8 are pretty much junk.That may be true, but IE6 is dangerous.
The only reason to continue to use IE6 is when it's the only supported browser for some legacy web app. Many businesses have crappy in-house web sites that won't work with anything more modern than IE6.
Using a non-supported, out-of-date web browser like IE6 is a great way to get a computer full of malware.
Since the original poster was complaining that his browser had become almost unusable, the quickest way for him to work around the problem is to switch to another browser.
I started using an image program a few years ago on XP. I have my OS on a 30gb partition, so the image is pretty small and the files can easily be put on a USB external HD.
The beauty of image programs is that, if you do need to re-image your OS due to crash/corruption, you don’t have to reinstall individual programs or spend a day redoing the settings. The ‘image’ puts your system to the configuration it was at the time of the imaging. [I keep data on a separate partition — and back up to a USB hard drive, so even if the OS becomes corrupted, I don’t lose my data.]
Clonegenius [now Spotmau Data Backup http://www.spotmau.com/data-backup.html] is a nice imaging program I use on my XP desktop.
My Samsung Win7 laptop came with a Samsung imaging program as one of its standard programs.
Imaging programs can save many hour of reinstalling and reconfiguring.
[/end soap box]
you might try microsoft’s stand alone security sweeper, just to make sure you have no infections. Its free you make a cd or bootable usb stick
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.