# Straight Dope "virus"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 10, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150 "2017-12-10T22:18:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/1 "2017-12-10T22:18:05Z")
For over a year, my laptop has been nearly useless for corresponding on the message boards here… Now my desktop is beginning to act the same. The symptoms are what I would characterize as mouse/keyboard glitches, worsening as logon time increases. Once started, it rapidly gets to the point where the mouse is useless and the keyboard input has a serious latency issue (takes upwards of 10 seconds for my input to register). This only occurs here, with no issues experienced on other message boards, online forms, e-mail, or resident programs such as MS Word and Excel. Any one else ever have this issue? (Right now everything is working fine, go figure?)😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/2 "2017-12-10T22:20:18Z")
Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/3 "2017-12-10T22:28:21Z")
Moved to ATMB. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/4 "2017-12-10T22:29:04Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/5 "2017-12-10T22:43:09Z")
Not this particular issue. But when sometimes when I read this forum with Safari on my iPhone 6, the phone’s power percentage drops fairly rapidly. Something going on with ads, at times, uses up A LOT of processing resources. This could be related to what the OP is experiencing. Tons of processing overhead slowing his desktop to a crawl. The message board itself is very light on processing and memory use … the culprit is going to be associated with one or more ads. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/6 "2017-12-10T22:53:55Z")
Sorry for the improper forum selection, I’m just so used to posting everything on General Questions, forgot there were other options. BTW: Refreshing the page helps a little, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/7 "2017-12-11T00:04:21Z")
Curious that it should be so very specific to this site. Are you seeing ads on the board? Ads would seem the likely culprit, as the SDMB has a somewhat checkered history in that regard. What browser are you using? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/8 "2017-12-11T00:31:26Z")
I doubt that it’s a virus or malware, but it’s probably related to the advertising here. The SDMB itself doesn’t use any scripts that will go haywire like that and chew up lots of resources, but it’s pretty common for advertiser’s scripts to do so. And while the OP has only experienced here on the SDMB, I can assure you from personal experience that many other sites have the same issues. If you are using Firefox, using an ad blocker like Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin and a script blocker like NoScript will stop most of these types of problems. Ad and script blockers exist for just about every other web browser out there as well these days. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/9 "2017-12-11T00:34:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Curious that it should be so very specific to this site. > Are you seeing ads on the board? Ads would seem the likely culprit, as the SDMB has a somewhat checkered history in that regard. > > What browser are you using? Yes, lots of ads. Laptop: Firefox. Desktop: Win 10 (whatever it’s called). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/10 "2017-12-11T00:35:03Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I doubt that it’s a virus or malware, but it’s probably related to the advertising here. > > The SDMB itself doesn’t use any scripts that will go haywire like that and chew up lots of resources, but it’s pretty common for advertiser’s scripts to do so. And while the OP has only experienced here on the SDMB, I can assure you from personal experience that many other sites have the same issues. > > If you are using Firefox, using an ad blocker like Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin and a script blocker like NoScript will stop most of these types of problems. Ad and script blockers exist for just about every other web browser out there as well these days. Is this an official endorsement to use ad blockers on the SDMB? ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/11 "2017-12-11T00:39:20Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I doubt that it’s a virus or malware, but it’s probably related to the advertising here. > > The SDMB itself doesn’t use any scripts that will go haywire like that and chew up lots of resources, but it’s pretty common for advertiser’s scripts to do so. And while the OP has only experienced here on the SDMB, I can assure you from personal experience that many other sites have the same issues. > > If you are using Firefox, using an ad blocker like Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin and a script blocker like NoScript will stop most of these types of problems. Ad and script blockers exist for just about every other web browser out there as well these days. I’ll try your suggestions, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/12 "2017-12-11T00:51:48Z")
Test: So far so good. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/13 "2017-12-11T00:54:18Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Test: So far so good. Still so far so good… Later. Thanks so very much! This is fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/14 "2017-12-11T03:20:03Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Is this an official endorsement to use ad blockers on the SDMB? What on earth makes you think that I have the authority to represent the SDMB in any sort of official capacity? I’m just an unpaid volunteer. Ad blockers and such are not currently prohibited here. The use of an ad blocker deprives the SDMB of income, and that advertising income is what keeps the lights on around here. But that’s not my department. I am not involved with the financial or advertising side of things at all here. If ads are causing some sort of technical issue that prevents you from accessing the SDMB, then my solution is going to be to do something about the ads (I can report bad ones), or to tell you to do something that blocks the ads. This isn’t anything new. This is the advice I have always given out for these types of issues. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/15 "2017-12-11T04:02:35Z")
It’s amazing to me that anyone today surfs the web without employing at least some means of controlling what is able to load in their browser. It isn’t just ads, and it certainly isn’t just here. It is so easy to get malware, spyware, adware, poorly written scripts that cause problems, etc. anywhere, anytime you visit any web page. If my means of protecting myself from these very real threats causes a content provider to lose revenue it is the content provider, not me, who needs to rethink what they’re doing. That isn’t to say you can’t support sites you know and trust by whitelisting them, or blocking only the most invasive scripts they serve, but for general web surfing it’s downright foolish to blindly load whatever a page throws at you with no filtering at all. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/16 "2017-12-21T02:03:26Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > It’s amazing to me that anyone today surfs the web without employing at least some means of controlling what is able to load in their browser. You assume a little much. Please don’t be too amazed at my plight. I’ve utilized ad blockers for years, but obviously my scheme was grossly outdated and upgrading was necessary. Just because one is not current related to such, doesn’t qualify them as points of derision for the likes of you. Thanks to engineer\_comp\_geek’s recommendation, everything is good now. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/17 "2017-12-21T02:36:40Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > You assume a little much. Physician, heal thyself. 🙂 I was replying to kanicbird and ECG’s exchange - you know the conversation in progress immediately before my post. The thread had moved on from your initial post. Glad to hear you’re all updated though. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-virus/804150/18 "2017-12-21T03:14:30Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Physician, heal thyself. 🙂 > > I was replying to kanicbird and ECG’s exchange - you know the conversation in progress immediately before my post. The thread had moved on from your initial post. OOOKay:confused: But not my prior posts… Quotes are helpful for those attempting to read your mind when you move on.