Help!!!Pop ups

[Carlnne]

I made the mistake of letting my 9 year old DS use my laptop for 20 minutes and it hasnt been the same since. I am plagued with popups, my default homepage keeps changing back to some wierd page, etc. I used to have a popup blocker on my toolbar- but it has mysteriously disappeared. It is so difficult to read the Dis with all the commotion. Does anyone have any good popup blocker ideas?

 

[oogieboogie]

You got either spyware or hijacked. Get spybot and run it and see if the spyware's gone first.

 

[SRUAlmn]

This happened to me about a month ago. I downloaded Spybot, I downloaded Ad Aware, but I think it was too late. I had to have 4, 3 hour phone converstaions with DELL, and, in the end, they had to wipe out my entire computer and I had to re-install EVERYTHING! All that I had was gone. All my word files and everything But, the good news is, it has stopped now. I have McAfee and a Firewall, and the virus tried to get me again, but the McAfee firewall asked me if I wanted to block them and I said yes, and haven't had any problems since- knock on wood. I would suggest calling your computer manufacturer's tech support line. Especially if it's Dell...they are SOOOO HELPFUL!!

GOOD LUCK!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by SRUAlmn
This happened to me about a month ago. I downloaded Spybot, I downloaded Ad Aware, but I think it was too late. I had to have 4, 3 hour phone converstaions with DELL, and, in the end, they had to wipe out my entire computer and I had to re-install EVERYTHING! All that I had was gone. All my word files and everything But, the good news is, it has stopped now. I have McAfee and a Firewall, and the virus tried to get me again, but the McAfee firewall asked me if I wanted to block them and I said yes, and haven't had any problems since- knock on wood. I would suggest calling your computer manufacturer's tech support line. Especially if it's Dell...they are SOOOO HELPFUL!!

GOOD LUCK!

You did not need to wipe out your hard drive, all you needed to do was go to "regedit" and eliminate the adware stuff.
Norton antivirus would tell you how to do it. I have had a similar problem here and while it took hours to get rid of, I have all my data. Also, depending on what system you are running, you could have done a system restore to an earlier date.
Spybot is also a great program. It will, most times, eliminate the problem for you.
I also have a firewall and I have Norton, but, you can get this crap by clicking on any popups that come up. Norton will not prevent this, neither will McAfee or a firewall. Norton will scan and find it after the fact. Norton and McAfee are primarily for email viruses, not spyware, which is what I think you managed to download.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Dell support tried everything before they wiped out my system. They did a bunch of system restores and they checked a bunch of stuff...I told you, I had 3-4, 3 hour phone conversations with them before they said that it was too late. Oh well, everything is ok now. Any update Carlnne????

 

[Dan Murphy]

A few links may help............

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=5760076

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by SRUAlmn
Dell support tried everything before they wiped out my system. They did a bunch of system restores and they checked a bunch of stuff...I told you, I had 3-4, 3 hour phone conversations with them before they said that it was too late. Oh well, everything is ok now. Any update Carlnne????

A little hisotry here. Dee, my s/o owns a computer business. we have had WAY too many people with your situation come to us AFTER spending hours with Dell support. I took us hours to fix many problems, but, they all have their data. I was going by what I know of similar situations. So sorry if I insulted you.

 

[peachgirl]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
A little hisotry here. Dee, my s/o owns a computer business. we have had WAY too many people with your situation come to us AFTER spending hours with Dell support. I took us hours to fix many problems, but, they all have their data. I was going by what I know of similar situations. So sorry if I insulted you.

I had the same thing happen to my computer with the pop ups and re-directing my browser. I even had my browser open up when I wasn't even at the computer....how's that for being just a little scary??? At any rate, you're right. Had it not been for my sister's fiance who is a computer whiz, I would have had to re-install too.

It took him several days of working for hours after work to get it fixed, but he did! I was so relieved, I had really been awful about backing up, so re-installing would have been a disaster.


I too have found that sometimes when you use technical support from the manufacturer they are a little to quick to give up. I guess it's difficult to do some things over the phone, but I've long since given up on using the tech support by phone.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I too have found that sometimes when you use technical support from the manufacturer they are a little to quick to give up. I guess it's difficult to do some things over the phone, but I've long since given up on using the tech support by phone.

For the most part they are reading from a screen and have little or no technical knowledge.

 

[Pop Daddy]

I wish this thread would go to page 2, every time I see it, I think its says "help Pop Daddy"

 

[browneyes]

Originally posted by Pop Daddy
every time I see it, I think its says "help Pop Daddy"

I thought the same thing.

 

[SRUAlmn]

No, I'm sorry-- no offense was taken. I guess I should briefly explain... my whole life people have looked at me and assumed I'm an idiot because I'm blonde. I am actually very intelligent, graduating from HS and College with honors. So anytime that I even slightly sense that someone is acting as though I'm dumb or I don't know what I was talking about, the walls go up pretty quickly. I'm sorry- Please forgive me!!!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by SRUAlmn
No, I'm sorry-- no offense was taken. I guess I should briefly explain... my whole life people have looked at me and assumed I'm an idiot because I'm blonde. I am actually very intelligent, graduating from HS and College with honors. So anytime that I even slightly sense that someone is acting as though I'm dumb or I don't know what I was talking about, the walls go up pretty quickly. I'm sorry- Please forgive me!!!

Nothing to forgive, you were fine. I totally understand where you are coming from. I really never thought you were dumb, but, you cannot know what you have not learned, right?
If I came across as though I thought you were dumb, I am truly sorry. What makes me nuts is tech. support, as I said, they read from screens and if they cannot figure out how to do a regedit or a restore, they tell you to Fdisk. Which, is the LAST thing we advise any of our customers to do. I am sincerely sorry that you encountered this and lost your data.
a GREAT popup stopper is free from www.panicware.com. It literally stops them all. Adware is a bit different. It comes with some sights and asks you if you want your clock fixed, for example.
You say yes, and bam you have spyware and it will do some nasty things.
There are many ways to rid yourself of this nasty stuff and it is relatively easy to do, just very time consuming. I had to do it to my machine recently. took HOURS, but, it is gone. This came from a site that I went to to get DVD covers. I now know better.
It is out there, just lurking and waiting for trusting souls like us.