Earthlink fiasco -- Any insights?

[Mom-to-3]

I am ready to pull my hair out. I know it’s hard to believe, but prior to this mess we never received random pop-up ads. Some websites had pop-ups when you visited them (such as mortgages at realtor.com), but we had never before received repeated messages about pills, smileys, diabetes, enlarging your body parts, etc. We have Windows 98 and IE 6 with all of the updates and patches. We have McAfee virus protection, again up to date. Our dial-up ISP is Earthlink.

Two weeks ago, I downloaded Earthlink’s new TotalAcess 2004 which was supposed to give us all sorts of good things. What a big mistake. Almost immediately, we started receiving random pop-ups. Also, despite hours of fiddling, we could never get Outlook and Earthlink’s email to reconcile. So I uninstalled TotalAccess using the Add/Remove Programs. Outlook started working again, but the pop-ups won’t stop. I deleted cookies, cleared files, reset settings...

After repeated communications with Earthlink, their best advice is to download Total Access again, activate the included pop-up blocker, and use their email program instead of Outlook. OR download a third-party blocker.

There’s one other piece of the puzzle that confuses me. By last Friday, the pop-ups had basically ceased -- I had been the only one really using the computer for the previous days. But on Saturday, my husband and daughter did some general surfing while researching camcorders and the pop-ups came back with a vengeance and haven’t left.

I am sorry this is so long. I don’t know why we never received these pests in the past. Earthlink doesn’t know why we’re inundated now. I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Melora]

We went throgh something similiar. Total Access SUCKS!! (sorry!)

I don't remember off hand how we fixed the problem but now that we have no total access we no longer have those issues..if I remember I will let you know.


Adding..... I believe there is another program associated with Total Access that causes the pop ups... go into your programs and make sure there isn't another program that didnt get uninstalled. I cant remember what it was called but there is a program that is an advertisement pop up generator...I remember that it asked me how often I wanted pop ups..WELL how about NEVER..... I deleted the program and that ended that.

 

[Mom-to-3]

Let me know if you think of the name. I've looked through Remove and there are a few things I don't recognize, but I hate to remove them without knowing what they do. There's nothing with an obvious Earthlink or pop-up name.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Mom-to-3
Let me know if you think of the name. I've looked through Remove and there are a few things I don't recognize, but I hate to remove them without knowing what they do. There's nothing with an obvious Earthlink or pop-up name.

Just a suggestion - download two FREE tools:


Spybot

and

AdAware

Both are <i>very</i> good tools for identifying and removing things such as these. I recommened getting both because they both will find things the other misses. This just may solve your problem. There are other things I can suggest, but it gets really technical. If this doesn't work then PM me and I can get you that info, but it's kinda complicated to work with.

Good luck!

 

[Melora]

Yes... download Adaware.. I just did that and it found 200 "data miners" on my computer!!!! It now finds about 1-2 a day. They really slowed down my computer too

 

[ToyStory Fan]

THe adaware and spybot things are helpful, but try the google toolbar too, it has a pop-up blocker on it.

 

[Amy]

Oooh, don't get me started on Earthlink Total Access! Their pop-up blocker hasn't worked since the day I downloaded the thing! (I even "upgraded" to Total Access 2004 and it STILL doesn't work.) I don't have too many problems with pop ups, though; not as bad as what you've described.

We used to use Netscape for e-mail and surfing; had absolutely no problem importing my e-mails and address book from Netscape into the Total Access e-mail program. BUT, using Total Access for my e-mail, I can't see pictures in e-mails I receive; all I get is a big, red X. I tried Earthlink's online e-mail support, live chat and calling the 800 number and being on hold forever, uninstalling and re-installing Total Access, and no one can solve this problem for me. (And I've had Total Access since July.) So, I changed my default e-mail back to Netscape and have absolutely no problems seeing pictures.

There are only two things that Total Access is good for: Did you download the Internet Call Waiting? It's absolutely wonderful for those of us with dial-ups and kids and not wanting to miss important calls. For $3.95 a month, plus the $2 a month your local phone company charges for busy call forwarding, it's a great deal. (Sure beats the cost of cable or DSL!)

Also, the Earthlink Accelerator is great - my DS has his own web page on Yahoo/Geocities and he says the page builder loads so much faster than it used to.

So, good and bad with Earthlink Total Access. I'm semi-happy with it right now.