@ spunbondwarrior You won't get any argument from me about how poor of an OS that the folks at MS write and I support quite a few computers that use it. The problem is that most people don't ever make a backup of any of their data and wouldn't know where to start with that let alone change a whole OS. I made the switch to linux about 7 months ago and have really enjoyed it. I have tried quite a few distros and am currently using ubuntu studio and loving it. Mepis is one of the distros that I haven't tried yet. The price can't be beat either. All of the open source programs that I have used have been far superior to the paid versions too. As much as I enjoy the Linux security and stability I can't say that I agree with leaving the computer on 24/7/365 It is only from a waste of electricity viewpoint and possibly a wear and tear. Unless the machine is a server or has a real need to be on all of the time it goes off at night. I don't have any desire to waste electricity. My electricity comes from a coal fired plant, so the less I use , the less they have to produce. I am looking to go all solar in about 3 years if the computer gods are kind and they cooperate. Power saver features can help, but by shutting it down it uses next to nothing, so that is why I do that. @ zigzag Unless I am mistaken, Firefox is compatible with any isp except AOL. If you are using AOL I feel sorry for you. I was on AOL for a while and hated it. I had a heck of a time getting of of it. I finally had to switch it to a card that was expiring and when it expired I was finally free.

"It is a shame that I can not block this BS" But you can block it with firefox as we've been saying. Just install it and see. You MUST install NoScript and ADblock plus from the tools/add-ons menu and you're good to go. I can't imagine allowing that crap either. Regards Chris Here is a link that might be useful: Free Firefox install

I don't know if this will help, but when this forum first became garden Web, there were those moving popups which drove everyone crazy, and someone posted the thing below. My DH did it and I haven't had an ad here since. Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file. 127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com 127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net 127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net 127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com 127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com 127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com 127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone.

I would not run any type of cleaner, some are OK but some can really mess things up including in the registry. Especially if you don't have an exact name of something safe, lots of malware uses names very very similar to acceptable program names. If you have easylist added to the adblock plus it should remove most ads. Be sure in the adblock plus preferences you uncheck the option to allow certain types of ads. If you find an ad it doesn't remove run your cursor over the ad and edges, if any little box pops up that says block click on it and it will add it to the block list.