STORM2K

My kids downloaded some stuff (against my specific instructions not to do so) and they changed something. Now I have those little pop-ups that come attached to keywords. So, when I mouse over a word that is hightligthed with a green line some stupid ad comes up. I have turned this off in the past and now I forget how to disable it. Does anybody know how to disable those contextual pop ups?

Just some basic things here as I'm no expert. Do you know the name of the program that does that? Do you use IE toolbars, google, msn, etc.? Try turning them off.

Try blocking popups in IE

Use msconfig to see what loads at startup. You can disable the programs from starting on a reboot.

Check the add/remove programs. Maybe you can recognize the software and if you're lucky, simply delete it.

Use a spyware remover to see if that gets it.

If not, boot into safe mode and run the spyware remover again. That might work.

Much beyond that, I'd have to look things up myself. Do you have a second computer that you can use to google things while you work on the affected computer? That's always a big help.

I was looking under the "Tools" section on the menu bar earlier. I didn't see anything that specifically took care of contextual pop ups.

My first question, like Ed asked was whether the pop up blocker is turned on or not?. It does seem like there is some kind of program that is enabling the words to become pop up triggers. You could perhaps restore your computer as well to the point before the kids started downloading.

I uninstalled something called "Gamevance." But, when I did that, I had to download their own uninstaller. Somehow, I don't think this is over. Hopefully, my anti-spyware will take care of it.

Use "system restore" date to an earlier time. It's an easy process....it's in your start up menu.

Once you have completed that procedure......download Mozilla Firefox and never use I.E. again.

DanKellFla wrote:I uninstalled something called "Gamevance." But, when I did that, I had to download their own uninstaller. Somehow, I don't think this is over. Hopefully, my anti-spyware will take care of it.

Many times various programs make you use their uninstall program. Hopefully your anti-spyware will get rid of everything else.

This will sound like a smarta$$ response, but ditch Internet Explorer and use Firefox instead.

gtalum wrote:This will sound like a smarta$$ response, but ditch Internet Explorer and use Firefox instead.

Years ago, I had these issues. I switched to MACs, and I have NEVER had these issues. Both my kids have PC's, and I am forever battling these issues, still to this day, even with anti-virus software, and anti-spyware software.

Dionne wrote:Use "system restore" date to an earlier time. It's an easy process....it's in your start up menu.

Once you have completed that procedure......download Mozilla Firefox and never use I.E. again.

amen!

you can also use google chrome or opera as well

IMHO firefox (with whatever custoimized extensions you choose) is better than any other browser.

On a new Windows PC I only use Internet Exploder exactly once, just long enough to download firefox. Then I delete it.

gtalum wrote:IMHO firefox (with whatever custoimized extensions you choose) is better than any other browser.

On a new Windows PC I only use Internet Exploder exactly once, just long enough to download firefox. Then I delete it.

That makes perfect sense to me. Firefox has tons of very cool add-ons and it's simply the best browser. Plus, I understand that even the latest versions of IE stubbornly refuse to support many aspects of CSS2. Translation: If you're using Internet Explorer, you're not seeing many websites as they're supposed to look.

how do you guys know which add-ons are safe? That has been the only reason I have not switched. I downloaded firefox awhile back, but to run like I want, I didn't know which ones or which ones were safe.