Club Arnage

Lots of you work with computers and such...


Anyone any idea of a program, either free or a purchase that gets rid of these pop up adds and "spyware".

I have a pop up blocker which does some things except ...


everytime i re-fresh a screen, i get a search engine putting itself on my screen.

Everytime i log in to the net, i get the chance to win a cruise ship etc etc.

Its doing my head in. And i am a techie virgin.

Try looking here from lava soft.

http://www.lavasoft.de/

Ad-aware from them is the best I think. (and its free)

Sounds like I had the same, I couln't choose my own homepage either.

What I did was look at the software list in my computer, figured out which programme really shouldn't be there, and tried to delete it.
It won't be deleted, but it will give you a name of a file which cannot be deleted. Let google search for that file, it will bring you to computer-anorak-fora with detailed files. Apparently there are ways to get rid' of files like that, but it seems only if you're retired or lie in bed with a broken legs (in other words, plenty of time).

It made me give up and reboot my computer completely :'(

What really helps is to get Norton or McAffee, for 25 quid a year I think it's worth it :-\

They all claim to get rid of Spyware and Pop ups but i dont of 1 bit of software that is effective on everything. Yahoo Toolbar is ok, it has a built in popup blocker and Spyware remover.

http://toolbar.yahoo.com/

Robbo,
To get block and get rid of spyware I use Spybot S&D at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/).
It's freeware and is now at version 1.3.
It either blocks browser surfing habits and advert spyware or, using the Search & Destroy (S&D) facility, deletes it from your hard drive.

For Pop-ups I use Googles free pop-up blocker at http://www.toolbar.google.com/ (http://www.toolbar.google.com/).  It is part of the Google toolbar and also provides a quick link to their search engine.

Alternatively, if you use Windows XP, download the Service Pack 2 (SP2) at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) which provides a whole load of security enhancements plus a Pop-up blocker.

Also (using Internet Explorer), set your default 'home page' to about:blank at 'Tools', 'Internet Options', 'General tab', 'Use blank'.
Hopefully, you won't launch all sorts of crap when you open IE.

I know exactly what Robbo has because I fixed it for a mate earlier this year. Something had hijacked his browser. SpyBot and Search and Destroy found lots of crap, but not the offender. The pop up bits aren't stopped by a blocker. And really, a blocker only prevents the pop ups being seen: in cases like this you need to get rid of the cause.

In fact I had the same myself for a bit this year, and I ca STILL can't remember how to cure it. I *think* I ended up in Safe Mode deleting some files.

Robbo - run MSCONFIG and go to the startup tab. You might have to do some writing - write the names of everything that is enabled (or disabled, whichever is quicker) then disable everything and reboot. You will definitely have some things not working when you boot - but try your browser and see if the problem is cured. If it is, add back things one by one until you get the problem back.

That list is the programs which are run when the computer boots, and is the most likely place that something's been added.

IIRC there was a program in c:\windows\system32 which was the offender. (You could try just unchecking anything in there first).  Remember to re-check all the programs you really want after fionishing this. And, you'll need to reboot each time you make changes via MSCONFIG.

If you identify the programme, you might not be able to delete it because it's in use. That's where a boot into Safe Mode might help or, worst case, make a boot floppy (assuming Windows 98) and delete the file from a DOS command. IN FACT... unless you are absolutely POSITIVE you have found the offending file, just rename it to a new name and delete the extension, just in case you've got the wrong file!

There is another way to get round it which USUALLY works. Get another browser. I use Mozilla Firefox. It has more features built in than IE, including a pop up stopper and tabbed browsing, and is said to be faster. www.firefox.com in case you are interested. I don't think this gets hit in the same way as IE does (could be wrong though)

I've always found that the best way to get rid of an unwanted pop-up is to give it a rap on the helmet with a hot tea spoon.
Hope this helps.
H

I use firefox as well and it is definitely fatser than ie and no pop ups

Thanks Guys.

I had a problem and it stemed from MSN Messenger Plus !! and their Sponsors

websearch they are called.

I have the pop up blocker and had Norton Anti Christ.

I have re-downloaded spy kiler too.

And.... It seems to be better !!

Just need to get rid of this GAIn advertising now !

IIRC GAIN comes with, amongst other things,  music download software (Kazaa and others)

If you disable GAIN then the product no longer works. SO uninstall Kazaa and it's by-products.

Or install KAZAA Lite! http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=kazaalite

Or use a different peer to peer sharing program. If I were to want to pirate music, I'd probably use WinMx, which has no payload.

You probably already mentioned these above, but Adaware and Spybot are useful products in the fight against spyware. Find 'em in Google.

thanks for that KaZaA-link !