Hello,

I am hoping someone can help me out here. I thought I had seen information related to what I need on a thread somewhere, but of course, cannot find that now.....

Here's the deal.....I want to find out the best pop up blocker out there. I am so frustrated with all the stuff that keeps popping out at me despite what i'm running on my computer to prevent this. I run antivir for viruses, a firewall through ms, and always keep my computer updated....at least updated to the extent that i can understand this stuff. i have spyware and popup block running through yahoo and google, but i clearly need one that is not in anyway connected to my isp. can anybody help?

also, as i have just now begun my technology education ;) could anyone tell me exactly how often i should run updates on my virus protection? i have it scheduled for every day right now, but it takes a fair amount of time! it is constantly running and warning me of any potential threats, which i immediatedly delete....so could i get away with doing the updates say monthy or something like that?

thank you very much for your help. and please, feel free to add anything else you can think of. i very much want to keep this laptop running most efficiently and also protect myself from all the little demons out there!!!!!!! and once i figure this one out, i shall begin the task of fixing my desktop......which can barely log in without going to crap!!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

:)

http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/pow.htm

I used this when I was using winduhs but I don't know whether it's compatible with the lastest versions of Micro$oft's operating system. It was an excellent little blocker for me so I hope it can work for you.
Ian.

Ian,

Thank you very much.....it's been driving me nuts!!!!! Everytime I'm in the middle of a BRILLIANT thought I get this stinkin' pop up and it interupts me completely!!!!!! I used the wrong terminology about the pop up and the ISP.....obviously Yahoo isn't my ISP, but along with google it is the Search Engine I most use. My ISP is high-speed local based. Anyhow, so what I meant was that I was thinking I needed a pop-up block that was in no way connected to my Search Engine....not my ISP.........

I could win a spelling bee, and hold my own in any debate, but heck if I can master this technology stuff without a lot of thought AND assistance. But I'm tryin'!!!!!!!! :)

You could use Mozilla or Firefox. Both have built in pop up blocking. I use Mozilla at work under Windows XP and have absolutely no trouble with popups. It's far more secure as well.

also, as i have just now begun my technology education ;) could anyone tell me exactly how often i should run updates on my virus protection? i have it scheduled for every day right now, but it takes a fair amount of time! it is constantly running and warning me of any potential threats, which i immediatedly delete....so could i get away with doing the updates say monthy or something like that?
Nah, daily's about right. Anything less is asking for problems.

i have spyware and popup block running through yahoo and google, but i clearly need one that is not in anyway connected to my isp. can anybody help?
Spybot S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) is your bog standard spyware sweeper. It's well worth getting.

hey,
thanks for the input guys. it was helpful. as soon as i heard from ian i downloaded the pow prograom from analogx and its been great. it's also fun to watch as it blows the stuff right off of your computer....TAKE THAT YOU STINKIN' POP UP!!!!

Hmm. For popup blocking, I second the recommendation for Firefox. There's even an extension available that notifies you when there are updates to the browser, and then downloads and installs them for you. Great stuff.

Toby is right about the virus definitions. Daily is the way to go. What you might consider doing is scheduling those updates to happen while you're not using the computer. Windows does have a scheduling facility that can do these things automatically for you at some time when you are sleeping. I use a similar feature on my linux box called cron to run some update scripts.

Free, I only hope you are not speaking about windows messenger popups which occur even if you are offline.

This is not to be confused with msn messenger. Have you seen pop ups and garbage whilst offline?

Also, if you are being sent to garbage, it looks like you may have a browser hijacker. Download a program called "HijackThis". Place it in it's own folder and run the scan. I am unsure as to whether you are allowed to post HJ logs here, but if not, you can email it to me or I'm sure one of any of us would help you. Using s pop up stopper will not clean up a hijacked browser. ;)

Viktoria

Viktoria,

thanks for your suggestion. i have it figured out now and am not having anymore pop up problems. I really do appreciate the input, though!!

Thanks Toby and Exeter,

I took your advice with the virus detection, and do have it scheduled to update when I'm SUPPOSED to be offline.

I really love the POW thing I mentioned before....it's gratifying to see those damn pop ups get blown right out of the picture!!!

Thanks again.

free2beme,if you're fed up with the common windows trojans,viruses and exploits,try linux,most linux versions are actually free or have free versions,there's only a few viruses written for linux and they're not major,compare that to the many,many viruses written for windows and it's a big difference. :D
It's very easy to set up,and users can keep their existing windows partition by not overwriting it when installing the linux operating system,linux information and
the linux distros can be found here:
http://www.linuxiso.org/
They need to be burnt to CDR/DVD with burning software that is compatible with ISO files,such as Nero (which costs but has free working trials available from their website nero.com I think)
Once that is done,a trip into BIOS is required,to change the boot sequence,the 1st read device needs to be changed to your cd/dvd drive so it'll read the CDR before windows boots.
Firefox will then be good for all your regular pop up killing needs,and you will have the added benefits of linux (viruses-almost non existant,stable operating system,any windows scripted dodgy stuff hidden in trojans won't run and so on)

If you want to just to check a Linux distribution out, get yourself a "Knoppix" disc. It's a bootable cd where the entire operating system runs in RAM. It's free for the download or you can usually find a local LUG (Linux Users Group) that would gladly burn you up a copy for cheap.

Knoppix should be in every geeks tool kit anyway, as a terrific recovery disc.
Ian.

You guys rock, thank you very much.

Ian, did you see my comments about the POW thing!!!!! I LOVE THAT THING!!!!!!!!

Yes I did see your comments. AnalogX has some other interesting free software. Not much of it runs on XP though. When I was running winduhs I liked his netstat utility just for fun.
Ian.

Knoppix should be in every geeks tool kit anyway, as a terrific recovery disc.
I agree! :D
For that purpose,the purchase of a linux mag (such as linux format) is a wise choice as they've often got knoppix and Gnoppix on the cover dvd,I've never had to use my live discs though,*bows to SuSE* :D

It's free and easy to use and it works better than 99% of the others! Let me know if you need help.

http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html