Cookies, Pop-ups, and etc.

[AngryABCGirl]

Lately my computer has been bombarded with pop-ups, although that's nothing rare, but its started to download stuff too. For example a searchbar has recently downloaded itself onto my browser and who can forget gain.com. It's slowed down my computer massively and caused errors.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this stuff? :angry:

[Fireblade]

lavasoft ad-aware

It removes a lot of spyware. You can also try deleting all your cookies in your computer. Just go to tools, internet options, and delete cookies. You can also kill a good number of banner sites with kill temporary internet files. Should be in same window as delete cookies.

if you want ad-aware, go to downloads.com

[SunWuKong]

you should go through your installed software and remove anything that looks obviously to be something you did not actually want installed on your computer.

and if your computer has slowed down massively, it could also mean you have a worm.

[Faithless]

I have a great one up right now: HistoryKill (http://www.historykill.com/). When you activate Popup Killer, it knocks those suckers down quite well

-- even the imfamous goatse pop-up bomb.

[himura-dono]

is that the one with the green smilies filling the screen that multiplies? i used to have that in my aim profile so people would have fun crashing their computers if they weren't fast enough, or had a weak system. :D :D :D :D :D

[mr. x]

buffgrl, try spybot: search and destroy and the others mentioned

also, for programs in general, go to download.com and then search for whatever u need (ex: cookies) and itll give u a list of stuff that should take care of em. try to get the ones that are popular AND have a decent rating


ooh does anyone know any decent cleaning programs for the mac?

[bigwong235]

adaware kicks ass. major ass. :nerd:

[ism]

First step: Go to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs and see if the offending program is listed, and use its uninstaller.

Generally these things are sneaky and don't have uninstallers, at which point you'll need the beforementioned adaware (http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/).

Another useful program is BHOCop (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,270,00.asp) which takes care of programs that hook into your web browser. There are legitimate BHO's such as Adobe Acrobat, so be careful not to disable those.

For long-term protection, to stop these things from entering your system to begin with, a browser with built-in popup blocking, or an external proxy such as Privoxy (http://www.privoxy.org/) (formerly Internet Junkbuster). I know Mozilla (http://www.mozilla.org/releases/index.html) and my personal favorite, Firebird (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/release-notes.html), have built in pop=up blocking. Not sure about other browsers, maybe Opera.

Also, it's generally a good idea to block all cookies and have the browser ask you if you want to accept them. Not sure how to do that under IE... I'll look it up later. Basically if you do that, just accept the neccessary cookies to log into sites you know and trust, and just reject everything else.

[mr. x]

again i ask, anyone know any decent mac cleaning programs?

[AngryABCGirl]

Thanks! Ad-Aware kicks ass!

[mr. x]

Originally posted by AzNBuffGrL@Jun 2 2003, 09:21 PM
Thanks! Ad-Aware kicks ass!
what, no love for spybot? :frown:

[Faithless]

Downloaded the trial version software from spyware.com (regsoft.com).

It found a few different registry entries and files containing suspect spyware items.

The problem is, when I clicked the "Remove Items" button, it said I had to buy the software. Ahhhh.

[kuilong]

For long-term protection, to stop these things from entering your system to begin with, a browser with built-in popup blocking, or an external proxy such as Privoxy (http://www.privoxy.org/) (formerly Internet Junkbuster). I know Mozilla (http://www.mozilla.org/releases/index.html) and my personal favorite, Firebird (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/release-notes.html), have built in pop=up blocking. Not sure about other browsers, maybe Opera.


Yup, Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox (the browser that was formerly known as Firebird, formerly known as Phoenix) are indeed good. Opera does have popup blocking, and a slew of other features, not to mention a slick package to boot. It's just that you have to pay to get rid of the banner ads. Keep in mind that at the next release, the Mozilla Application Suite ("mozilla.exe") will be retired, and Mozilla Firefox will become the new "Mozilla". It's very usable and cool right now, and blocks unrequested popups by default. It also has nice features like tabbed browsing, type-ahead search, and so on. [/ad]

again i ask, anyone know any decent mac cleaning programs?

Why do you need one? As far as I know, there's few (none?) spyware/adware programs for Macs. And most Mac users use Safari anyway, which doesn't have IE's history (*cough* two exploits discovered in the past... two months, is it?)

I think I'm coming off as a zealot. But go ahead and try them for yourselves.

[hooligan]

Downloaded the trial version software from spyware.com (regsoft.com).

It found a few different registry entries and files containing suspect spyware items.

The problem is, when I clicked the "Remove Items" button, it said I had to buy the software. Ahhhh.
use spybot, they catch a whole lot more spyware.

[Faithless]

use spybot, they catch a whole lot more spyware.
The product I downloaded was called SpyRemover.

I just download and rant SpyBot. The scan dialog box looks very similar to SpyRemover. Same company?

I ended up by downloading and installing SpyKiller 2004 from SwankSoft.com.

SwankSoft is the same company that sells HistoryKill.

SpyKiller found the same number of suspect registry and file entries on my PC.

[Faithless]

By the way, the Apropos client spyware is a many tentacled thing.

It's been mentioned that a few of the leading anti spyware tools have a problem ridding the spyware.

[ren28]

I use Mozilla Firefox. I don't install those jacked up things that pop up and so I have absolutely no need for adaware at this point. If I were to use IE, I'd try the google toolbar since it blocks popups. Google Toolbar does impede a little bit into the viewable screen on your browser though. This should not be problem for those with high resolution screens.

[Faithless]

Found two web sites which dedicate themselves to spyware and other things:

http://www.pestpatrol.com/

- and -

http://computercops.biz/

[artsfartsyjanet]

adaware is against corporate policy where i work. spybot is permissible.

[hooligan]

The product I downloaded was called SpyRemover.

I just download and rant SpyBot. The scan dialog box looks very similar to SpyRemover. Same company?

I ended up by downloading and installing SpyKiller 2004 from SwankSoft.com.

SwankSoft is the same company that sells HistoryKill.

SpyKiller found the same number of suspect registry and file entries on my PC.]

spykiller and the others i heard are only pale imitations of spybot. i just decided to take a look at my sister's computer. i cleaned it up the last time i was home and looking at it again, it's full of crap. installers, dialers, cookies, changed registry keys. wtf is she downloading. FUCK.

[mr. x]

]

spykiller and the others i heard are only pale imitations of spybot. i just decided to take a look at my sister's computer. i cleaned it up the last time i was home and looking at it again, it's full of crap. installers, dialers, cookies, changed registry keys. wtf is she downloading. FUCK.

its so i...er they can keep tabs on her

she's all grown up :biggrin:

[lethal]

I just downloaded and installed and ran SpyBot. How do I know what is really spyware that I should remove and what is just normal?

[mr. x]

I just downloaded and installed and ran SpyBot. How do I know what is really spyware that I should remove and what is just normal?

id say play it safe and just get rid of everything that shows up. try immunizing too

[Faithless]

id say play it safe and just get rid of everything that shows up. try immunizing too
Oo, not necessarily.

If you suspect something, you should usually post your spybot log with one of the forums I mentioned before, indicating you suspect a problem and are looking for help.

You can take a chance with the remove everything, so long as you keep a backup of what was changed (through spybot).

Adware evades attempts at detection (http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/02/02-26-04tdc/02-26-04dnews-01.asp)
The new "Capture Osama" computer game is causing a rampant spread of unwanted pop-ups, promotions and advertisements through computers across campus that anti-virus software cannot detect.

America Online (AOL) confirmed it is not a virus but adware that allows pop-up advertisements and promotions to appear on a users' computer and be sent to others on their buddy lists.

"This is an issue we continue to investigate, and we are considering our legal options. We're doing everything we can to take necessary legal and technical steps to block its distribution," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said in an e-mail message. "This program may be a violation of our terms of service agreement and is nothing more than a malicious, inappropriate and tedious piece of adware that inconveniences users."
...

.

spykiller and the others i heard are only pale imitations of spybot. i just decided to take a look at my sister's computer. i cleaned it up the last time i was home and looking at it again, it's full of crap. installers, dialers, cookies, changed registry keys. wtf is she downloading. FUCK.
Really. Probably hitting yes in those annoying dialog boxes that pop-up, when you search for music and stuff.

[hooligan]

Really. Probably hitting yes in those annoying dialog boxes that pop-up, when you search for music and stuff.
probably, she uses bittorrent to get anime too. so, i suspect that she's downloading stuff without knowing it. : \

[mr. x]

probably, she uses bittorrent to get anime too. so, i suspect that she's downloading stuff without knowing it. : \

hmm, i dont recall ever getting stuff from bittorrent but then again i dont know WHERE spyware comes from cuz i dont use kazaa