What's Up With the Pop Ups?

I have not been frequenting this page very long, but it seems to me that recently there have been an unusually large amount of pop up ads assaulting my computer.

I find myself in the middle of writing a post when, out of the blue, I find myself looking at a full page ad for various useless crap. Have any of the rest of you noticed this or is it just me?

It seems that the ads are on a time delay. I have never had this problem on any other site. Such ads are usually page related. This is the first time I have encountered such relentless bombardment. What gives?

sounds like you have some add ware on your computer. try downloading a program called Ad-aware from cnet.com. it will remove the annoying popup producers from your hard drive, it will also get rid of any spyware you may have accumulated also.

hmmm, I often get one pop-up, when i log on, not while writing a post..
Are you sure AboveTopSecret.com causes the pop-up?

"I find myself looking at a full page ad for various useless crap."

All I ever get is one pop-up, which moves from the left to the right...

you've probably accidentally downloaded and installed one of these plug ins that can basically put pop ups in whenever it sees fit. For example, if you go to the Microsoft website and update your Windows OS it will ask you to install a program from MS and ask if you want to always trust information from MS. In the future, if you visit a website and it asks you to download and install a plug-in. If you dont trust the site, then dont download it. Easiest thing to do would be to if you're using Internet Explorer 6 , you can click on tools...internet options, click on the security tab. highlight the internet icon and click on custom window. Another window will appear. It will have all of the Active X controls . I have mine all set to prompt. When I visit a site I know that I can trust I choose to allow it to download the plug in and to have it remembered. The easiest way to see what Active X you have installed is to browse to the Windows folder of your PC. Once there open up Downloaded Program Files. You'll see all of the Active X programs that are installed on your PC. If you highlight one and right click on it then click properties you can get an idea of where it comes from. For example, I only have a shockwave flash plugin and a windows update plugin. Once you have the settings on prompt, everytime a plug wants to be installed you can normally say no to it and skip it. Keep in mind though that some sites require you to install their plug in. When this plug-in is installed from what I've found is it is just junkware, and does nothing more than allow popups and ads. As AegisFang said, it is a good idea to get some type of protection. For ease of use, I recommend two things. Norton System Works, and Zone Alarm firewall. Zone Alarm allows for advanced browser security so you can block pop ups, as well as act as a firewall. Nortons has a one click scan feature that rocks, with one click you can check for nasty little plugins and viruses and malicious content all at once. Easy to use and has a free download I believe at www.norton.com also www.zonelabs.com is the site for ZA.

left out one thing. If you want to see what plugins you have installed the fold is >programfiles>internet explorer>plugins

hope you get it worked out.

[Edited on 12-2-2003 by Grommer]

Thank you all for your help. I installed and ran Ad Aware and discovered exactly how much garbage I have been carrying around. It's a wonder my computed still worked at all.

As far as the Active-X plug ins, I'll have to wait until the weekend to explore this option. Thanks again for the advice.

I dont get any popup (ads anyway) although for some reason, if I spend any considerable time writing a post, a Timed Out flag pops up. I can usually click on it and it goes away, but sometimes it terminates my webpage (which pisses me off after I spent 15 minutes writing a post and it disappears!) Therefore, I have taken to writing long posts on Word and pasting it.

Have the same problem when U2Uing, as it terminates my message (ask Echelon)

that sounds interesting, can sou send me a screenshot of what you get when that happens again? that way I can get a better idea of what it is you're seeing. that is pretty interesting...

You may find lots of related material about adware & spyware by visiting www....#microsoft.com/

Admins/Mods! Please don't edit that URL address! It's a valid address that *is* spelled that way & it *is* relevent to this discussion!

The website researches for documentation & gets opinions from expert programmers who investigate how badly Microsoft screws over *everybody* with the writing of their software. This includes reports on imbedded adware & spyware that Microsoft uses *on a routine basis* in virtually *all* of their products!

They also tell you how to go about removing Microsoft operating software & replace it with alternatives that don't use such unethical programming practices.

hey, great link MD!! I knew they were dirty, but not *that* dirty. Thanks again!!