Computer Help (Pop ups...)

[CopInNY]

Hey, Folks. I was playing solitaire earlier this evening when all of a sudden about 10 pop up ads came up. They were all porbn related. Every time I closed one out, a new one would open up. I ran a virsu scan, but it came back negative.

Also, my com puter was running VERY slow when I turned it on. I rarely download anything, and the only time i download things from people I dont know, is when I use Kazaa for music.

My virus scan is just my PC-Cillin that came with my Sony notebook. Im not using Norton or McAffe or anything. I am concerned that I may have a virus. Anyone have any ikdeas as far as what to do? Thanks!

[JKT]

I take it that this happened while you were online?

You might try the online virus scan at: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/ It's easy and free.

As far as popups goes, there are a lot of popup stoppers around. I use Naviscope ( http://www.naviscope.com/ ) It's a free download, and easy to configure.

Also, Zone Alarm, ( www.zonelabs.com ) is a free firewall program that can help some.

Pupup Stopper at ( http://www.panicware.com/ ) is a free download and I've used it before. I think there are several on here that use it.

There are a few places to atart, anyway.

Good luck!!

[Don]

Heh heh, you were playing Solitaire, but where had you been before that Jay?

I've got a young friend that was hitting the porn sites one night when his wife came into the room. He did his best to close it out, but it had "captured" him with all these damn pop ups!

They had one big horrific fight over it, and the next day, she canceled his on line service!

[CopInNY]

JKT, thanks for the reply. I downloaded the Naviscope, and problems seem to be fixed.

Donny, I may have been visiting some risque sites of an adult nature, but I swear that I was just reading the articles. My favorite site for articles is The Hun. I can't post the exact link here, as it may be inappropriate to some, but lets just say it's..The Hun.....(DOT) and it's on the NET. Catching my drift??? Interesting stuff there. Woo boy.

By the way, that musta been some tough girly in order for her to just be able to cancel her hubbys online service. Either that, or your buddy must be one tough girly as well.

[Mitzi]

lol I was on the computer one night when this guy contacts me, wanting him to meet him at a porn site. Well, I'm fairly good on the computer and figured out it was my husband. So, I played along and finally agreed to meet him. He said, "Where would you like to meet?" I said, "How about in the kitchen.....I'll be the one with the roling pin". I heard this loud laughing and he typed in,"How did you know it was me?" I said,"Well, duh, you used my pet name for you." lol NO,DON, I won't tell you what it is either.

[CopInNY]

Update: I'm infected with the W32 Benjamin Worm. I got it through Kazaa apparently. Ive since uninstalled Kazaa, and deleted the files that it said were infected, but theres something thats still bothering me. I found a removal procedure for the virus on symantec.com, and it said to right click on the "my computer" icon. However, mine is gone. Just disappeared. Could this be something to do with the virus? Looks like i'll be going out and purchasing the latest edition of Norton Anti-Virus. The *******s who create these things should die slow and violently. Bastards.

[txinvestigator1]

You can access everything in your "my computer" from "Start" "settings"

You should be sure and update your virus definitions regularly, and even if you are on a dial-up run a firewall.

Good Luck

[Don]

Jack, I also thank you for that Naviscape info! I loaded it and it seems to make my computer load a little faster, and blocks those annoying pop ups AND advertisements! Thanks again!

Originally posted by CopInNY:
By the way, that musta been some tough girly in order for her to just be able to cancel her hubbys online service. Either that, or your buddy must be one tough girly as well.

I hate to say this, Coppy, but you are right on BOTH counts. I've NEVER seen anyone as PW as this poor guy is.

It goes back to the old saying, marry in haste, regret at your leisure. . .

I've got the Norton Anti Virus and I love it. I get so many emails with virus' in them that it isn't even funny. But so far, good old Norton has been up to the job! It's worth every penney to keep it updated.

[JKT]

You are most welcome for Naviscope. I've been using it since a friend pointed it out to me over a year ago.

Another nice thing about it: the bars below the toolbar. If you point the cursor at them, an info window will appear, telling you where the info is downloading from. You can click on it to stop the download if you don't want that site getting your info.

Pretty handy....

[KenM]

A good (FREE) program for pop-ups is POW. www.analogx.com

For spyware you might look at ad-aware. www.lavasoft.de

I also run an additional e-mail cleaner called v-catch. www.vcatch.com

There is also a program to monitor what is on your computer, what is running on your computer and what has been installed on your computer called SENTINEL. www.runware.com

And of course zone labs free firewall.

THANK GOD for TechTV's Call For Help show and their free file for the day.

[RachelR]

I also use a program I would recommend called Guard-IE. It blocks pop-ups and those annoying flash commercials now and also lets you select which cookies you want to keep and it will delete all others.

You can download it at www.download.com

[PC Instructor]

CopInNY:

Your "My Computer" Icon may have been re-named to something else.

You can find out what it's named by opening Windows Explorer using the keyboard shortcut (Window Key + E) -- The "My Computer" Icon is automatically selected when you activate Windows Explorer using this method. If it does have a different name, RIGHT CLICK directly on it and select RENAME from the menu.

========

I personally use a physical (hardware) firewall and a little program called NoAds to prevent pop-up advertisements. I'm very careful with what goes into my PC so I don

[txinvestigator1]

Zone Alarm puts a button on your task bar that will "Stop all Internet Activity".

When these pop ups start it is nice to click the button and stop em cold.

[Evnings]

Pop ups can be a real problem CopinNY when you are visting the webmaster from Holland. I have found that if you don't venture off of the link he has provided, you generally don't get those pesky and possibily embarrassing pop ups.

He is actually a pretty good webmaster and tries to run a " clean" sight. He has up to date info on worms, the computer type, and operating system security problems.

I go there just for the jokes.

You might try dumping your cache and defragging your computer to speed it up a little. Clearing your history might also keep you from having some explaining to do.

[ 06-12-2002: Message edited by: Evnings ]

[CopInNY]

Originally posted by Evnings:
Pop ups can be a real problem CopinNY when you are visting the webmaster from Holland. I have found that if you don't venture off of the link he has provided, you generally don't get those pesky and possibily embarrassing pop ups.

He is actually a pretty good webmaster and tries to run a " clean" sight. He has up to date info on worms, the computer type, and operating system security problems.

I go there just for the jokes.

You might try dumping your cache and defragging your computer to speed it up a little. Clearing your history might also keep you from having some explaining to do.

[ 06-12-2002: Message edited by: Evnings ]

Yeah, he's a helluva guy in my book. Holland. Someplace i'll need to visit once in awhile. Oh btw "i go there just for the jokes". SURE, and you read penthouse and Playboy just for the articles!

as for the explaining..negative. i live by my lonesome. well..2 dogs. once in awhile my nephew will pop over for a weekend, but thats about it.

thanks again everyone for all your help and advice