I’m getting hundreds of IE (Internet Explorer) windows with ads in them magically appearing on my computer (WinXP). I’ve run Norton Anti-Virus (9.05) and Ad-Aware (6.0) a zillion times. Nothing helps. Can you help?
You might try what is suggested at this link to spybot search & destroy
It worked for me, I was getting a bunch of stuff from cheap-tickets and orbitz. Since doing what is listed on the above site I have not had a problem.
A popup blocker wouldn’t hurt; Free Surfer is what I use. Wouldn’t help though if what you have is getting in via some POS adware. When’s the last time you updated your Ad-aware? You should have it check for updates at least once a week, same for Spybot.
Ah, the day arrives when my sig becomes useful.
I see you already use adaware.
Do you update it often? Do it once a week. Same with spybot.
Normally I don’t have a problem with spy-ware but in the last month I have been hit twice with it while searching on Google. It will take over my homepage and ad pages take over my browser. I update my Adaware and Spybolt every time I use them. Sometimes it takes both of them to clear all spy-ware and junk from my computer.
Also, for normal popups I use the free version of this tiny program Another IE Popup Killer.
If Spybot or Ad-Aware can’t do it (and, despite being find products, it’s hard for them to keep up), download Hijackthis (do a Google search), run it, save the log, and post it in the forums at http://www.spywareinfo.com. You’ll get an answer in a few hours.
After you get the spy/adware cleaned off of your machine, I highly reccomend switching to another browser like FireFox or Opera that doesn’t have the gaping security holes found in Internet Explorer. Both these browsers have many other features as well - built-in pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, mouse gestures(need an extension to do this with Firefox), and so on.