Drudge Pop Ups - Now More than spyware. Now downloading

Drudge ^ | December 31, 2004 | Pop Up Author

[BJungNan]

My computer is set to advise me if a site I am going to is trying to download something onto my computer and gives me the option to download or cancel. I just went to Drudge's site and got a warning about an attempted download.

Drudge has been dumping at 3 to 7 spyware programs on my computer each time I visit - I've checked by clearing all spyware and then going to his site and checking again. That's bad enough. But, now to have direct downloads from from Drudge, that is not alright.

Likely it is from the same pop-ups and not specifically from Drudge's page, one of his advertisers. Some will say you a pop up blocker but those get in the way of the some of the functionality of sites I use on the net. I tolerate the pop-ups because it is less trouble to click them away than to turn on and off a pop-up stopper program.

The questions are these: Is Drudge being careful enough with the pop-ups he is facilitating through his site? Was there malicious code in the download that was attempted? Will Drudge address this? I have found no such instance on any other site I frequent except those in Asia that seem to love this practice.

One other question: Is anyone aware of any sort of malicious code that can be delivered through a site that wants to download to your computer just by visiting it?

[BigSkyFreeper]

Make sure you use the "Add/Remove Programs" applet in Control Panel. If it's listed in there, it's installed on your system.

[NJ_gent]

No problem. A router is a box that basically sits between your computer and the DSL modem. Normally it's used to allow you to hook up more than one computer to a DSL or cable internet connection, but ones that have a built-in firewall also provide protection from hackers and such. If you're online through Verizon DSL, you may already have a router (combined with the DSL modem). You can call your DSL provider to find that out. If not, you can pick up a router from any computer place (CompUSA, Best Buy, etc).

Linksys and Netgear generally make pretty decent routers. Linksys products are listed here, and Netgear's router offerings are listed here. You can browse on their sites to see which ones you might be interested in, and then go check out what your local Best Buy or CompUSA has to offer. Do your own research though, as the people they have working in those places often don't know a hard drive from a hamburger, but will act like they do to make the sale. :-)

[Clara Lou]

Wow. 49 processes. That's impressive. It would be interesting to see what they are.

[Radix]

"What happens to the IE browser if/when you download Mozilla?"

I switched several weeks ago. It is definitely an improvement when it comes to the pop ups. Every once in a while I have to use the IE browser, but only for a few sites.

When I do use the IE, the pop ups really jump out and I notice them much more than I used to. I get absolutely no pop ups when I use Firefox! I disabled my pop up killers on IE a while ago, because I began to realize that they were simply not trustworthy.

You can use different browsers all that you you like. The download was quite simple and only took me a few moments with a broadband connection.

[Clara Lou]

It fits over your IE browser.
Ummmm, dude, the whole idea is not to use IE, which is what Flash Speak does.

[cmsgop]

Safari is Great, No more Pop-Up's for me

[Bahbah]

SUCCESS! Now I know how to uninstall. I guess I'll stick with IE for the time being. I have panic attacks when I think I might not be able to access FR. 8^)

[BigSkyFreeper]

Does anyone have that link handy for the website that has a long list of start-up applications you can safely turn off?

Black Viper? Right here

[BigSkyFreeper]

Now you should be able to install Firefox successfully in the future. :)

[mercy]

Gee, I dunno. I use a Mac and don't even know what spyware is.

[jackbill]

Long ago I quit going to Drudge because of all the pop-ups.

Me too. I have a pop-up killer, but Drudge's get through. So does his father's on refdesk.com. They can both go to where-ever.

[Beckwith]

I never visit Frudge anymore. It's like going to a leper colony.

[holymoly]

I've experienced the same thing, and I honestly don't know why it happens.

[BigSkyFreeper]

You could call it a bug in Mozilla. I'm sure future revisions of Firefox will address the problem. IE used to do that in the early days.

[TomGuy]

What I do in tabbed browsers is open the Post window in a new tab. Fill it in, check it, edit it, and finally post it and close the tab. That way, the screen goes back to the previous tab (FR post) that I was responding to. I finished going down the responses, to the end, and then refresh.

[birbear]

Uhm... what's so hard to use about FireFox? You type the www.webname.com into the little window thingy and it pops you up on the website you're looking for.

Or am I missing something?

[auggy]

www.Opera.com

[BigSkyFreeper]

I don't believe in popup killers, beyond that, they're annoying. I use the tips from this site. This works at the operating system level and will block 3rd party popups and advertising on any browser.

[holymoly]

I guess I'll stick with IE for the time being. I have panic attacks when I think I might not be able to access FR. 8^)

You can always try the Off By One browser. No "install" in the classic sense; i.e. no registry changes, dlls, etc. Just unzip to a directory on your HD & run the executable. "Un-installing" Off By One is done by simply deleting its' folder.

[philman_36]

Now, if someone would tell me why Dell ships their new computers running 49 processes in the background.
Sales technique.
Your computer run slows because of all of those programs running. Your friend's computer, or the one you use at work, blazes away. You, not knowing about "msconfig" and how to configure your computer, think something is wrong with your system and after a year or so of slow computing decide that a new one is necessary because something must be wrong with yours for it to be so slow.
Increased sales...
Hope nobody gets upset at the burst bubble.