Help popups! *pulls hair out!* Have you been getting more?

[smudgeoffudge]

I've been getting more lately. I don't know why as I had a windows update which seemed to give me many months of bliss with virtually no pop ups, but just this week something must have changed. I think the companies have gotten smart and figured out how to get around the pop up blockers I have. I wish these people would get a hint that there is no way in hell I am going to click the darned things. I mean, if I am in the street and someone tries to sell me something I can say no, I don't want to hear it, go away. Then if they don't go away I can say they are stalking me or assalting me and something will be done about it. But this is the equivalant of someone saying "Yes you are going to listen to me!" and then taking out superglue and gluing themselves to me. If they actually did this in real life, they'd be in trouble. But they can virtually do it. I mean, I have these popups almost glued to my screen. I have one from this place called veges frounteer. I click the x and it goes away and imediately pops right back up. And this is like one of those hercules dragon pop ups, the more you try to kill it the more heads it grows!! I sware if you click on it to close it about eight more pop ups appear suddenly. I can't even play runescape hardly today because it lags my game. I actually had to shut down and restart to get this junk off the screen!

[M. Bison]

Switch to Firefox.
Mozilla Firefox = Virtually zero pop-ups.

[Alex]

Have you done scans for spyware?

Switch to Firefox.
Mozilla Firefox = Virtually zero pop-ups.

That's not a solution. That's a way to ignore a problem.

[smudgeoffudge]

I have adaware but it doesn't find them. We are discussing them coming from neopets banners and I seem to agree they do. I surf around and don't get many and then when I get to neopets they seem to come in bunches. So it could be from there.

[unclekyky]

Have you done scans for spyware?

Switch to Firefox.
Mozilla Firefox = Virtually zero pop-ups.

That's not a solution. That's a way to ignore a problem.

IE is just a way to ignore reality.

[shavynel]

I'm guessing you're using IE... I'm not having pop-up problems with, but I use FireFox. My dad put in the google toolbar And that's blocking what pop-ups I've got on IE.

Neopets does have bad stuff on it through the banners (I do believe). I always see this "serverby.advertising.com" or something loading on the bottom bar or something or another and that has been showing up on Spybot. So yah... it hasn't been stopping me yet, though.

[linux]

Have you done scans for spyware?

Switch to Firefox.
Mozilla Firefox = Virtually zero pop-ups.

That's not a solution. That's a way to ignore a problem.

And what is the alternative? Running a bloated anti-spyware program on top of probably running an AV suite and firewall software? Sounds like the Microsoft method of "handling" a problem - attempt to patch a shoddy product with yet more software or patches. I personally don't only recommend that anyone having problems with IE make the switch over to FF, but why not go all the way and lose MS products altogether and switch to a real OS (i.e. Linux or Mac OS).

Software is a tool - makes sense to use the best tool for the job. If you used a hairdryer that had a tendacy to overheat and shut down during normal operation, but yet the manufacturer of this product was fully aware of this problem and yet refused to fix it - would you continue to use this product and recommend it to friends?

This person started the thread cause they wanted help; it makes no sense to shoot down a valid solution with a statement that bears no logic or truth to it at all.

[Sapphire Faerie]

Quoting myself here:

Ugh. I will NEVER use Firefox. Partially because it's so annoying that people keep trying to shove it down my throat. If I so much as say something along the lines of "Oops, my IE froze" out loud, fifty people will scream "Oh Em Gee! GET FIREFOX!1!11!!ELEVEN!11"

I take care of my computer.
I take care of my IE.
I've never had a virus.
I don't get much spyware, and when I do, I take care of it.
I use the Yahoo Companion toobar, which has a built in popup blocker (and I was using it and loving it long before they added the popup blocker).
I know how to block the ads that I DO get in IE.
IE has never given me any big problems, and if any arrive, I nip them in the bud right away.
I've been using IE for almost eight years, I'm used to it, and I like it.
I have no reason to switch.

Firefox will not solve all of life's problems, stop expecting it to.

There seem to be two solutions to every problem:

1. Take care of it in a smart and efficient way
2. Get FireFox and avoid the problem temporarily

I choose the former. If, for example, I got a kidney infection in real life (and I've had them, they're very painful). I can either take some antibiotics and get rid of the infection, or I can take a pain pill, avoid the symptoms, pretend the infection's not there, and not get any better. Again, I'll choose the former.

People that aren't willing to learn how to take care of their computers shouldn't be operating them.

[alien]

i blame society...and neopets. I've been getting a whole bunch of those "hercules dragon" pop ups and they are just getting anoying. I had my computer going perfectly fine, then one day i happened to go to neopets after slowly drifting away from it and bam, i get hit with a pop-up. I tried it on my brothers computer... it doesnt work on his.. I think TNT has harnessed the power of the pop-up, then they scope out your e-mail, then infect your computer with a virus. Actually, a little while back i had a internet optimizer on my computer and the only site i could go on was neopets, and it didnt do that on my dad or my brothers computer...

<--- TNT
^
<--donna

[linux]

Quoting myself here:

Ugh. I will NEVER use Firefox. Partially because it's so annoying that people keep trying to shove it down my throat. If I so much as say something along the lines of "Oops, my IE froze" out loud, fifty people will scream "Oh Em Gee! GET FIREFOX!1!11!!ELEVEN!11"

I take care of my computer.
I take care of my IE.
I've never had a virus.
I don't get much spyware, and when I do, I take care of it.
I use the Yahoo Companion toobar, which has a built in popup blocker (and I was using it and loving it long before they added the popup blocker).
I know how to block the ads that I DO get in IE.
IE has never given me any big problems, and if any arrive, I nip them in the bud right away.
I've been using IE for almost eight years, I'm used to it, and I like it.
I have no reason to switch.

Firefox will not solve all of life's problems, stop expecting it to.

There seem to be two solutions to every problem:

1. Take care of it in a smart and efficient way
2. Get FireFox and avoid the problem temporarily

I choose the former. If, for example, I got a kidney infection in real life (and I've had them, they're very painful). I can either take some antibiotics and get rid of the infection, or I can take a pain pill, avoid the symptoms, pretend the infection's not there, and not get any better. Again, I'll choose the former.

People that aren't willing to learn how to take care of their computers shouldn't be operating them.

(Readers, please keep in mind that my contempt is for shoddy products such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and others from MS - NOT for any one person in particular nor the author of the post to which I am replying to. My intent is not to bait or to flame, but to educate and correct misconceptions)

Perhaps you should amend your original quote with this:

I take care of my computer.
I run IE which is tied directly to my Windows OS, which is notoriusly insecure.
I allow ActiveX to run on my IE, thus leaving a big gaping security hole, because Flash wouldn't display in IE if I disabled it.
I've never had a virus, but I get spyware.
I just realized that spyware is malware, hence is a form of virus.
I take that back, I guess I have had a virus.
If IE gives me problems, I just use software made by other companies to patch it. Eventually I'll just bog down my system running programs to add the appearance of stability and security to IE.
IE doesn't block ads - it just hides them, but then again - hear no evil, see no evil.
I've been using IE for a long time and have never tried anything else, but yet frown upon anyone else who has without giving any valid reasons.
I've been pretty lucky that nothing major has happened to my PC given the insecurity of my browser and use this as a basis to give others unsound advice.
I take back the first thing I said - I just might not know how to take care of my computer.

It may sound harsh at times, but it is entirely true based on the information you gave. Due to the combination of ActiveX, scripting, and its integration with the Windows operating system, IE is more vulnerable to attack than many other browsers. This dispells the frequently repeated myth that Firefox will be as insecure as IE once malevolent programmers turn their attentions to it. IE's only real advantage over other browsers is that it's initial load time (and only the initial load time) is usually faster on comparable systems. This is only because of it's integration to the Windows OS, so it's greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness. Yahoo Toolbar may kill popups, but doesn't shield you from exploits or spyware. It does send usage information to Yahoo for marketing purposes though. While you claim that you "take care of your computer", I'd wager that part of that regiment includes a strict adherance to visiting only certain sites and worrying if a new site you've found is safe or not. Fear shouldn't be a major factor in deciding if you'd like to expose yourself to new information, but that is the price you pay when you use IE.

I am sincerely sorry to hear that you've had kidney trouble and hope that your health gives you no more trouble, but your analogy is way off base. Using your own kidney analogy; patching IE is not like taking antibotics (antibotics heal an infection, allowing the organ to heal and to function as normal after the infection is gone) - it's more like dialysis because it requires an external system to cleanse or repair the problematic component continously. The kidney that requires dialysis depends on that external process for functions it can not handle natively, not unlike IE requiring the constant use of other programs to make up for it's problems. Now would you rather keep using a faulty kidney via the use of dialysis or receive a new kidney that didn't have problems to begin with? If only kidney transplants were are easy as installing a web browser...

Saying that inexperienced users should not be allowed to operate a computer is rather extreme to say the least. Hypothetically, if society were to abide by your "rule" of not letting inexperienced users use a PC - where would the bar be placed that would decide who is "PC-worthy"? I have about 9 years of computer systems experience, not as a home user, but as an administrator and hardware repair technician for enterprise systems running on various platforms (IBM/PC, PPC/Mac, VAX, Sparc/Solaris, Unix/AIX/Linux). In the eyes of those with my experience, users at your level are by comparison, rather inexperienced - thus by your own "rule", YOU might not be allowed to operate a computer. It would be like not letting people drive their cars simply cause they didn't know how to change their own motor fluids or to avoid running over potholes.

All in all, people have the right to make up their own minds about what they want to use - for better or for worse. Although, it's not very ethical to confuse emotion with fact and to offer incorrect advice on a technical issue.

If you need some other confirmation of why IE is bad news - check out these links:
http://channels.lockergnome.com/news/archives/20040615_why_you_should_dump_internet_explorer.phtml
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/249

There are lots more out there - these are just the first two I found on google that caught my eye.

[Qanda]

1. Take care of it in a smart and efficient way
2. Get FireFox and avoid the problem temporarily

What are you referring to here? I don't see how using Firefox is a way of "avoiding a problem". It has an in-built pop-up blocker, which blocks pop-ups, and if that is what you mean by "avoiding a problem", then your use of the Yahoo toolbar pop-up blocker is "avoiding the problem" too.

On the subject of why people recommend Firefox:

It's totally free. It's not as if people gain money by persuading you to use it. They recommend it because it is so much more better than IE.

Back to the topic, smudgeoffudge, I think you have some spyware or adware problem on your comp. If Adaware doesn't detect anything, download Spybot or Microsoft Antispy too. It pays to have various different scanners, since each can detect some things which others can't.