# Root Cause of Out-of-Control, Pop-Up Porn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989 "2003-05-13T16:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/1 "2003-05-13T16:47:56Z")
I cannot stop the appearance of frequent, periodic windows opening themselves…promoting various porn sites. I have removed any suspect cookies and suspicious \*.exe files which have embedded themselves on my hard drive. Also, I have performed strategic searches for suspicious filenames on my hard drive. What else can I do to stop this? Surely others have experienced this. Any educated guesses what and/or where else I should search on my hard drive to find the culprit? How can I stop this? What is the root cause? All suggestions welcomed! Thanks, Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/2 "2003-05-13T16:50:04Z")
Check MSCONFIG (Start, Run, “MSCONFIG” and go to “Startup.ini”). I was trying to fix an unrelated problem on my parents computer and came across a file in there called “Bikini [Network.com](http://Network.com)” That explained all those pop ups. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/3 "2003-05-13T17:04:49Z")
I found the best way to stop it is to stop going to the porn sites in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/4 "2003-05-13T17:14:36Z")
**Joey** , I tried your suggestion, but here’s what happened: My PC cannot find “MSCONFIG” (or even _msconfig_.\*) using “Search” nor can the “Run” feature run “msconfig” or any variations thereof (i.e. msconfig.exe, msconfig.sys). Perhaps it needs a complete path? But, as I said, a search for the complete path yielded nothing… Do you have any other suggestions? Likewise, a direct search for \*.ini does not reveal any obvious files to suspect… Thanks again, - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/5 "2003-05-13T17:21:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by herman\_and\_bill \* > \*\*I found the best way to stop it is to stop going to the porn sites in the first place. \*\* …Hmm, was that Herman’s lesson, or Bill’s? 😃 But seriously, did you ever consider the possibility that these pop-ups come to you, you don’t come to them? …perhaps embedded from an innocent, but rouge email? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/6 "2003-05-13T17:32:17Z")
When this happens to me, AdAware always takes care of the problem. These pop-up infections are like cooties. You innocently go to somebody’s homepage or mistype whitehouse-dot-com instead of -dot-org and suddenly you’ve got bugs crawling all over you. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/7 "2003-05-13T17:33:22Z")
MSCONFIG didn’t come with Windows 2000. Download, install, update, and run Spybot Search & Destroy. [http://security.kolla.de/](http://security.kolla.de/) ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/8 "2003-05-13T19:14:36Z")
Here’s a [link for Adaware.](http://www.lavasoft.de/) Adaware (mentioned by Attrayant ) and Spybot S&D (mentioned by yoyodyne) are both freeware. No charge, unless you’d like to contribute. There are other programs such as Spycop which clean, but the above 2 are free and are used by most security minded people. Note: they will not stop pop-ups from occurring. There are other programs (and browsers) that do this. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/9 "2003-05-13T21:15:41Z")
Some programs cause pop unders. Once you’re done on the net & close your browser, there they are on your desktop & you don’t know where they came from. [download.com](http://download.com) has any program you need to do something about these things. Also, unable java & java script in your browser but that might keep you from using certain sites, maybe even this board? ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/10 "2003-05-14T00:01:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > \*\*…Hmm, was that Herman’s lesson, or Bill’s? 😃 > But seriously, did you ever consider the possibility that these pop-ups come to you, you don’t come to them? …perhaps embedded from an innocent, but rouge email? - Jinx \*\* Two heads are better than one. ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/11 "2003-05-15T05:45:53Z")
I too am suffering from annoying sexual pop-ups over the past few days. Ad aware and spybot have both been run and the pop-ups still show up. I’ll be somewhere that doesn’t have pop-ups, like here, or somewhere corporate like espn, and they’ll show up. Sometimes dating services, sometimes nasty stuff. They seem to only show up when I have IE running. What should i do? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/12 "2003-05-15T10:43:29Z")
Personally, after getting peeved at popups in general, (No i don’t want to buy your crap product, subscribe to your crap site, gamble online etc etc) I downloaded a pop-up stopper from [www.panicware.com](http://www.panicware.com) which I find very useful. Sometimes it can stop windows I want from loading, but then i just deactivate it with a simple double click and turn it on again when I need it. works for me… ---
**Author:** ![mooka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/13 "2003-05-15T11:30:16Z")
If you use the Mozilla browser, or the Mozilla Phoenix browser instead of IE then it automatically stops unrequested popup windows. It does a few other things IE can’t as well. I use the Phoenix browser at home and i’m very happy with it. You do need to keep IE for Windows Update though. [Mozilla homepage](http://www.mozilla.org/) [Mozilla Firebird (Phoenix) website](http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/14 "2003-05-15T12:22:27Z")
If you use Kazaa or a similar P2P program, it can install spyware on your PC. -Use Kazaa Lite -Kazaa Lite also comes with a modified “HOSTS” file that will block a majority of domains that contain ads and whatnot. -Run Adaware -Get Evidence Eliminator - its good for cleaning out cookies, temp files and other crap that lingers on the PC -Get Popup-Stopper or some similar popup blocking software ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/15 "2003-05-15T15:21:24Z")
Instead of MSCONFIG you can, Go to Start then, Programs then, Accessories then, System tools then, System config then, Click the Startup Ini tab. In that window you will be able to see the programs that startup with the computer. You can uncheck the ones you think you don`t need. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/16 "2003-05-15T17:48:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* Root Cause of Out-of-Control, Pop-Up Porn?\*\* Testosterone? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/17 "2003-05-15T18:35:58Z")
I like Spybot better than ad-aware myself ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/18 "2003-12-12T21:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by herman\_and\_bill \* > \*\*I found the best way to stop it is to stop going to the porn sites in the first place. \*\* Is that you, Rev. Falwell? ---
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/19 "2003-12-12T23:42:02Z")
mcbiggins - I’ve seen suggestions to run Adaware and Spybot from your computer’s safe mode. Some people find this is the only way to remove certain spyware. You might give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989/20 "2003-12-13T00:07:00Z")
AdAware is superior to Spybot because it kills running processes; Spybot does not and requires a second scan. This is normally OK, but in some cases the spyware has an automatic downloader and is reinstalled before the second scan can do any good. Not that Spybot is bad – it’s a good idea to run both – but AdAware is just a bit better (and easier to use). As to an answer, download and run {url=“[http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/](http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/)”]Hijackthis. It will produce a log; save it and then post it at [SpywareInfo](http://www.spywareinfo.com). Someone will read the log and tell you what the problem is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-cause-of-out-of-control-pop-up-porn/174989.md?page=2)