Pop up Stopper

[Peter Stahl]

Anyone have a really good (Free) Pop Up Stopper. I have the Google Toolbar but it doesn't seem to stop too many. I run Spybot and Noadware but still get them. I also run Norton Anti-Virus and Zone Alarm but i don't think they have much to do with them.

Thanks, Pete

[Wes Bischel]

Peter,
One of the recent MS auto downloads for XP added a pop-up blocker to Explorer. I'm not sure what it is called, but it has worked very well.

Wes

[Tyler Howell]

Zone Alarm Dosen't let them through. There's a free trial copy but I pulled the trigger and protect the whole system with ZA.:cool:

[Lee Schierer]

I use netscape 7.2 and I haven't seen a popup in months and months. It only lets in the ones you tell it in advance are okay by designating which sites are acceptable. It's free, it isn't being exploited by all the hoolligans writing hijack programs and it also will do your mail without opeing virus files.

[Matthew Poeller]

I just looking around this morning at things like that even though I really do not have a problem with pop-ups.

Try the Mozilla Firfox browser. I am on it right now and love it.

Another note:

There are two types of pop-ups. One that come from spyware on your computer and others that are imbedded in the web page such as the one that come from USATODAY.COM.

For the first you will need to clean spyware from your computer. You need a program like spybot or adaware. These should take care of most of the issues. I recomend running both of them in safe mode.

For the latter I am not sure if there is any way to really get rid of these. I think you just have to close them out.

Again though. You may want to try firefox.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Mozilla_Firefox/4505-9241_7-31117280-2.html?tag=tab

Disclaimer: I am not associated with any of the products or websites that i have mentioned or referenced. Just a user.

[Michael Perata]

I am with Matthew on first cleaning your system of any spyware, adware, malware...whateverware.

I have the Google Tool Bar and it lets NO pop-ups through.

[Jerry Clark]

Internet Explorer has a fair blocker-- go to Internet Explorer - tools- turn blocker on. There was a way to do it in the system files, but cannot remember-- Senior-ites I guess!:cool:

[Peter Stahl]

Peter,
One of the recent MS auto downloads for XP added a pop-up blocker to Explorer. I'm not sure what it is called, but it has worked very well.

Wes

Wes & jerry, Thanks but I'm using Window 2000. Guess they didn't do it as I usually download all the updates. Thanks for the reply.

[Peter Stahl]

Zone Alarm Dosen't let them through. There's a free trial copy but I pulled the trigger and protect the whole system with ZA.:cool:

Tyler, Are you using IE for your browser?

[Peter Stahl]

I just looking around this morning at things like that even though I really do not have a problem with pop-ups.

Try the Mozilla Firfox browser. I am on it right now and love it.

Another note:

There are two types of pop-ups. One that come from spyware on your computer and others that are imbedded in the web page such as the one that come from USATODAY.COM.

For the first you will need to clean spyware from your computer. You need a program like spybot or adaware. These should take care of most of the issues. I recomend running both of them in safe mode.

For the latter I am not sure if there is any way to really get rid of these. I think you just have to close them out.

Again though. You may want to try firefox.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Mozilla_Firefox/4505-9241_7-31117280-2.html?tag=tab

Disclaimer: I am not associated with any of the products or websites that i have mentioned or referenced. Just a user.

I used Spybot and NoAdware in safe mode. Still getting the pop ups. Don't want to change browsers if I really don't have to, we use IE at work and it's easier to move my favorites back and forth. Thanks for the reply Matthew.

[Peter Stahl]

I use netscape 7.2 and I haven't seen a popup in months and months. It only lets in the ones you tell it in advance are okay by designating which sites are acceptable. It's free, it isn't being exploited by all the hoolligans writing hijack programs and it also will do your mail without opeing virus files.

Don't want to change browsers if I don't have to. We use IE at work and it's easier to move my favorites back and forth. Thanks for the reply Lee.

[Peter Stahl]

I am with Matthew on first cleaning your system of any spyware, adware, malware...whateverware.

I have the Google Tool Bar and it lets NO pop-ups through.

I did the cleanup like was suggested, my google toolbar isn't stopping them though. Thanks for the reply Michael.

[Matthew Poeller]

The only other time that I had a serious problem with pop-ups that spybot and adaware could not fix, (they would happen even when IE was closed) was when I had a trojan virus. Do you use a good anti-virus program and is it up to date?

When I had the problem I would walk away from my computer for about 2 hours with all the programs shut down and when I came back there there were about 30 pop-ups on the screen.

I use Norton Corporate at home and it took care of the pop-up problem that I had as soon as I updated the virus definition files.

[Peter Stahl]

I did the clean up like was suggested and they are still coming in as fast as usual. I've got to have something on my PC that's causing them. Never had them this bad before. Not sure when they started like this though. I use Norton Anti-Virus and Zone Alarm. Also use Spybot and NoAdware. Is there a pop up virus that Norton wouldn't catch out there?

[Peter Stahl]

The only other time that I had a serious problem with pop-ups that spybot and adaware could not fix, (they would happen even when IE was closed) was when I had a trojan virus. Do you use a good anti-virus program and is it up to date?

When I had the problem I would walk away from my computer for about 2 hours with all the programs shut down and when I came back there there were about 30 pop-ups on the screen.

I use Norton Corporate at home and it took care of the pop-up problem that I had as soon as I updated the virus definition files.

Matthew, I update my definitions once a week and it scans every Friday night. I think you're right though, something definitly got through.

[Brian Jarnell]

This works well for me.....

http://www.admuncher.com/download.shtml

[John Hart]

Peter,

Your problem is definitely adware and spyware. I recommend Microsoft's Antispyware. It has proven effective on the worst of problems and it's free. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Just install it and let it run the scan. Your system performance will also improve. You are probably experiencing some substantial slowdown as well I reckon.

[Peter Stahl]

Brian & John,

thanks for the reply. I'll add these to the long list of Anti Spyware tools I've used so far. I also scanned with several AntiVirus programs. Still have a couple others to do. Pop ups have seemed to stop for now. I'm still going to run the 2 you guys recommended, shouldn't hurt anything. I know I had/have a couple Trojan viruses on my PC. Still ongoing test, will post when I think it's clean.

thanks, Pete

[Peter Stahl]

Well I think I finally got everything cleaned up after many scans. BitDefender said I had 16 Virus/Infected files when I started and now there is one but can't finds signs of it and Symantec says if a low risk one anyway. Writing this with Firefox, will give it a while to see how I like it. So far no problems navigating. Thanks for all the help I received. Not sure exactly what progams got rid of what but I used instructions on a web site call MajorGeeks Support Forum.

[Matthew Poeller]

Ya when I had my serious pop up problem that ended up being a trojan I was having them for about 3 days and then the virus defs updated and ran a scan and immediately picked up the virus and then the pop-ups imediately stopped. If you get a fresh virus there is a lag time between when it is written and when the "antidote" comes out.

I have been using firefox for a week now and love it. You should check out some of the themes and plugins that it has.

[Peter Stahl]

Ya when I had my serious pop up problem that ended up being a trojan I was having them for about 3 days and then the virus defs updated and ran a scan and immediately picked up the virus and then the pop-ups imediately stopped. If you get a fresh virus there is a lag time between when it is written and when the "antidote" comes out.

I have been using firefox for a week now and love it. You should check out some of the themes and plugins that it has.

Matthew,

Where do you get the themes and plugins at?

[Jim Becker]

I just thought I would mention that FireFox is not without its faults...there are three or four serious security issues with the current version (1.04) that will be addressed in the next release. This is one core difference...MS releases patches at least once a month. With FireFox, you have to wait until the next release.

That said, I've been using FireFox as my primary browser for about a month now and am largely satisfied with it. The right-click context menus are not as rich as with IE, but I've been able to deal with it. I'm using a Theme called "Brushed" which I really like a lot and the spell check add-in that I finally found works well. There are some sites that I still need to bring up in IE from time to time, such as when I ordered Espresso beans from Peets this morning, 'cause these sites leave FireFox flumoxed for some reason, ususally due to "creative" programming with Java or MS-specific code.

The built-in pop-up control for FireFox is every bit as good as the one in IE 6, IMHO.

Themes and Plugins for FireFox are available at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.html

BTW, Dr. SWMBO has been using the Thunderbird email client for some time now and says it's great.

[Peter Stahl]

I just thought I would mention that FireFox is not without its faults...there are three or four serious security issues with the current version (1.04) that will be addressed in the next release. This is one core difference...MS releases patches at least once a month. With FireFox, you have to wait until the next release.

That said, I've been using FireFox as my primary browser for about a month now and am largely satisfied with it. The right-click context menus are not as rich as with IE, but I've been able to deal with it. I'm using a Theme called "Brushed" which I really like a lot and the spell check add-in that I finally found works well. There are some sites that I still need to bring up in IE from time to time, such as when I ordered Espresso beans from Peets this morning, 'cause these sites leave FireFox flumoxed for some reason, ususally due to "creative" programming with Java or MS-specific code.

The built-in pop-up control for FireFox is every bit as good as the one in IE 6, IMHO.

Themes and Plugins for FireFox are available at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.html

BTW, Dr. SWMBO has been using the Thunderbird email client for some time now and says it's great.


Jim, Thanks for the reply. So far so good with Firefox. I'll give it a try for a while. Seems like it keeps getting more popular. Haven't had any pop ups since I cleaned up the viruses and adware.

[Curt Harms]

I just thought I would mention that FireFox is not without its faults...there are three or four serious security issues with the current version (1.04) that will be addressed in the next release. This is one core difference...MS releases patches at least once a month. With FireFox, you have to wait until the next release.

That said, I've been using FireFox as my primary browser for about a month now and am largely satisfied with it. The right-click context menus are not as rich as with IE, but I've been able to deal with it. I'm using a Theme called "Brushed" which I really like a lot and the spell check add-in that I finally found works well. There are some sites that I still need to bring up in IE from time to time, such as when I ordered Espresso beans from Peets this morning, 'cause these sites leave FireFox flumoxed for some reason, ususally due to "creative" programming with Java or MS-specific code.

The built-in pop-up control for FireFox is every bit as good as the one in IE 6, IMHO.

Themes and Plugins for FireFox are available at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.html

BTW, Dr. SWMBO has been using the Thunderbird email client for some time now and says it's great.

Hi Jim

Have you tried the 'view in I.E.' plugin? Makes it easy to open those few pages that work in I.E. but not FireFox. I haven't found many pages that don't work properly in FireFox.

Curt

[Jim Becker]

Have you tried the 'view in I.E.' plugin? Makes it easy to open those few pages that work in I.E. but not FireFox. I haven't found many pages that don't work properly in FireFox.

No, I haven't Curt, but that's an excellent suggestion... ;)

[Frankie Hunt]

Have any Firefox users tried to paste from the clipboard? When I try I get the error: "You need to edit your Mozilla config file to allow this action." I can cut n paste fine with IE. I have looked over the options under tools but dont see anything obvious.

I would like to compose using MS Word, then cut n paste into Firefox.

I prefer Firefox over IE

Frankie

[Jim Becker]

No problem with cut/paste on my machine, Frankie.

[Michael Ballent]

Matthew,

Where do you get the themes and plugins at?

Themes are available from Tools --> Themes

Plugins are available through

Tools --> Extensions

I have the following Extensions installed:

Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com)
AdBlock (Blocks Advertising from showing up on web pages)
Gestures (Lets you navigate with your mouse Back, Forward, refresh, newtab)
AutoCopy (Highlight text and it automatically copies to clipboard)

So far I am in love with Firefox. There are few WWW sites that it does not work well with, but for those I keep IE around, but 99% of my surfing is done with Firefox.

[Jim Becker]

FireFox 1.0.6 has been released and should be installed by users. Be aware you should uninstall the earlier version first via the Control Panel in Windows (you will not lose your settings or bookmarks) before installing the new code.

[Peter Stahl]

Themes are available from Tools --> Themes

Plugins are available through

Tools --> Extensions

I have the following Extensions installed:

Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com)
AdBlock (Blocks Advertising from showing up on web pages)
Gestures (Lets you navigate with your mouse Back, Forward, refresh, newtab)
AutoCopy (Highlight text and it automatically copies to clipboard)

So far I am in love with Firefox. There are few WWW sites that it does not work well with, but for those I keep IE around, but 99% of my surfing is done with Firefox.

Michael thanks for the reply. I haven't had a lot time to play with FF, I have it on my home PC but have been working a lot lately. I did find the Extension and themes. I have the Google one and will check out the other you mention.

Pete

[Peter Stahl]

FireFox 1.0.6 has been released and should be installed by users. Be aware you should uninstall the earlier version first via the Control Panel in Windows (you will not lose your settings or bookmarks) before installing the new code.

Jim thanks, I was looking for that earlier in the week. Thought they were going to release it Monday but I guess it was a little later in the week. Any new features or is it just a bug fix?

[John Hart]

I manage a fairly large network and try to maintain a rule that no software gets installed until it has proven itself out. I know, I know...maybe a bit too cautious but I don't like troubleshooting a hundred or so machines all at once.

I've been waiting for the new Firefox version to come out and see if the quirks have been worked out before I switch the network over...I expect a full report outta yous guys!

[Jim Becker]

Jim thanks, I was looking for that earlier in the week. Thought they were going to release it Monday but I guess it was a little later in the week. Any new features or is it just a bug fix?

No new features that I know of, but bug fixes and SECURITY fixes. The latter is important.