Mooner,
It would help to know if you are using Internet Explorer
or a different browser, and to know the name of your
'pop-up blocker' program.

In the pop-up blocker program, you should be able to
open it's main menu, and in "options' or 'preferences',
be able to indicate that you want it running all the time.

Hope this helps..
txKen

I an runnig xp and go to my settings at the top of my page and go into the pop up blocker and the only thing is says is turn off or on and I do that and it defaults back to being off. I also have one on my Google toolbar but neither of them help.

Just a quick note, Ken, we are winter texans and leave for Texas to the Mission area on the 28th.

Mooner,
I'm putting a link below, that will allow you to download
a free pop-up blocker.
When you get to the page, it should automatically
start downloading, giving you the option to save
the file where you wish. I suggest putting it in
an empty folder on your hard drive.

It's not a large file.
When it finishes downloading, close your browser,
and navigate to the folder containing the downloaded
file. Then, click on the file and it should install.

Hope this helps...
txKen

Here is a link that might be useful: Pop up Blocker

Getting pop ups while not being on a web site is not a good sign, could you tell us what the pop ups say? and are they directing you to go to some website?

zep..

If it were me, the first thing IÂd do is scan for viruses. ThatÂs often the cause of popups and may be the reason the blocker is being turned off.

Yes, it sounds like you're infected with a virus or spyware/malware.
These are not normal popups.
Do as eric says: scan for viruses
As zep said: tell us what the pop ups say

Download and install SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition to check for Spyware,
A virus scan is good for virus, but you need to scan with something different for spyware. Even Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware, both free.

Finding out what the pop ups say is often a clue to what virus, Trojan is present if any, scanning is a good idea however Avg, Avast, Macafee, Norton, Nod, will most likely not be able to remove these types, they may find them & give us more clues as to there names and location--These type of pop-ups are usually associated with Vundo, & Smithfraud Trojan infections, As I said getting pop-ups while not viewing a web page is a sign that something is running on the computer that should not be there.

Those are the first things I run spybot, AD-aware, SUPERAntiSpyware, then vundo fix, and Smithfraud fix, Don't need to be an expert to run vundo & smithfraud, but if problems remain then consult an expert in virus/Trojan removal.

oi, I ran my avg scan and it showed no threats. I have the paid subscription, but a while ago, my computor went down and I lost the infornmation for it and I can't find anywhere to contact them to get the paid one up an running again. It will only let me pay again and I had a two year subscription on it. The pop ups are everything from dating services to childrens web sites. One of them said I could go to the site and opt out, but I did not do that.It is very annoying especially when you think that you have all the stuff you need on the computor. Can you run more than one pop up blocker at a time? Now I downloaded spyware blaster a while back and wonder if that had anything to do with it. thank you all for your help.

So basically you are not running an anti-virus, please go to the link provided on that page to the left is the free AVG version download it ASAP AND RUN IT, Do not go to the web site that pop is talking about that is how the rest of the virus gets installed. Run the SuperAntiSpyware, the link Randy gave you. Really no need to pay for these things.

Here is a link that might be useful: AVG FREE

yes, I do have the free one up and running, but last year I purchased the fuller version and when my computor went down, so did my licence number. A lessen well learned and I can't get ahold of them to see if they can help me get it back, but I do have the free one and understand it does not cover all things. I will do some more scanning and see what happens. thanks.

No anti virus covers all things there only insurance measures, run those scans, let us know if you need the link for spybot search & destroy & Ad-ware. It is also a good Idea to be familar with the contents of your add/remove programs list so you can tell what may be suspicious in there--- Newnet, newdot, webbuying, anything like that remove it, Happy scanning..

The free version of AVG would work fine, if that is all you can do at the moment.

Did you try the pop-up blocker I suggested?
txKen

I have downloaded it, Ken. They seem like they have slowed down, but are still getting in. I now have three pop up blockers that are turned on, but I was noticing that these are actually web pages that are opening. I may take my lap top in to Best Buy this week to see if they cn figure it out for me. thanks for all your help.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
I don't see any mention of running any of the spyware programs suggested.
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
Spybot - Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware

Did you go to Start>Control Panel>Add or Remove programs and look for any suspicious programs that have been installed as zep suggested.
but are still getting in. I now have three pop up blockers
The popup blockers aren't going to do anything.
These popups are coming from a program installed inside your infected computer.
Spyware/Adware/Maleware, which are different than viruses and not even detected by virus scanners.

btw, the pro paid and free version of AVG are exactly the same, only thing the paid version gives you is tech support and access to faster definition downloads.

Ditto..

I've been following along with interest because my laptop has most of the same problems mentioned. I'm now at work and the problem machine is at home so I can't go into the particulars. In a nutshell, I use Explorer but will probably switch to Mozilla after this mess is all cleaned up. I don't download anything from the web and I don't give out any personal information, fill out any forms or anything like that. I have never joined anything or bought anything except to update my virus protection via the web (Norton). I use the laptop to search the web, check out Garden Web, store my photos and do work at home when I need to. The popups that bothered me were mostly anti-spyware type offerings. It seems odd that they would infect my computer in order to sell me protection from infection.

I have installed all the protection software mentioned above and their evaluation tells me that I have a Trojan somethingorother in the registery on my computer. I take the steps to remove it and it doesn't seem to have completely worked but I may have to spend an entire day working on it to solve the problem.

So, what's my next step? I assume the easiest thing to do is wipe my computer clean and reload everything and buy more protection in the process. Is it safe to buy the added protective features over the internet when I'm infected? won't "they" then have my credit card info? How hard is it to wipe everything off the system anyway?

One other problem I've had in the past is that I buy a year's subscription to Norton Anti-virus and within months they're notifying me that their service will soon run out and that I need to renew. Not the way I like to do business.

If you search the web for the Virus name, chances are you will find fairly simple removal instructions. May times simply running your virus program while booted F8 into windows Safe mode will do the trick.

Personally I think the popular free virus programs are just fine and if they dont include a spyware watcher windows defender works pretty darn good and its free.

First of all I don't want you or anyone to think I know everything about virus, Trojans, worms, malware. I am currently in training for removal of it and I associate with Microsoft certified folks on a daily basis people properly trained to remove malware, I also see the damage done to pc's from it, I see passwords stolen and bank accounts broken into these type of pop-ups are not to be ingored, self removal should be advoided, I mean you can run basic scans as has been mentioned and clean-up some junk and may even remove a few Trojans--1 Trojan can steal all your pass codes, and then there are harmless ones directing you to download an anti-virus program more of a pain then anything and as mikie said can be removed eaisly-- It is still best to have a Malware Expert look at pc via HiJack this log there are plenty of sites that will assist you and save you money...One other note being involved with all those professionals none of them recommend Norton or McAfee. In the link below is the site I belong to, please take a look at the spyware forum to get an Idea of what takes place in Malware removal, it's symptoms and the steps required to remove it, and some of the dangers associated with it, in that forum if you click "Browserhijacks and malware you will find a great deal of information, and consider posting a hijackthis log for an expert to review.

Here is a link that might be useful: Help2go

trianglejohn,
The first thing you'll learn from the professionals is to get rid of Norton or McAfee as your anti-virus. The popular setup now is AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition and Comodo Firewall Pro
I've read that a monkey with a fly swatter would be better than Norton.
It seems odd that they would infect my computer in order to sell me protection from infection.
yep, that's the name of the game.
It's a good sign that your protection is finding this.
What you can do is restore your system to a time before the infection or turn off system restore (right click My Computer>Properties>System Restore tab> and check the box. This will remove all previous restore points with the bad registry key that makes the infection return on boot, scan your system, then turn the restore back on by unchecking the box.
I use Trend Micro HijackThis and paste the log at HijackThis.de Security to get an idea what the nasty's are.
You can also paste the log at zep's site or geekstogo or bleepingcomputer to get a professional to give you personalized instructions and specialized fixes.
The popups that bothered me were mostly anti-spyware type offerings
If you can catch the name, there may be a special tool for removal like ComboFix, Smithfraud, Vundo, or one of the other specialized removers.

sorry, not enough information returned. Yes, I ran my avg extra time for infections, and I downloaded the pop up stopper suggested. I now have spyware blaster, windows defender,google pop up blocker and windows pop up blocker and they are still getting through came home today and had about 15 of them, one on top of the other. In my extra scan, it says I have one threat, but I really don't know what to do with it. It does not give me the option of quaratining it. It says virus found, JS/Downloader agent, infected. Hope this helps

JS/Downloader agent, This a smithfraud infection please see the link and follow the steps given..

Here is a link that might be useful: smitfraudfix

Ah, finally a name JS/Downloader agent this helps, thanks.

Popup blockers block popups from websites, yours are coming from within your computer.

I have gone to the page suggested, and the first thing it says is to restart my computor in safe mode and I don't know how to do that. asking for help again. thanks

As the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu"
Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.

If you get a stuck key message, instead of pressing and holding the "F8 key", tap the "F8 key" continuously until you get the startup menu.

well, I did get to the safe mode and went through the fix. As soon as I was done, I got the same pop up, so I have re done the computor to an earlier date and that did not work either. I will take it to a professional this week.

I appreciate your help and patience

That's pretty much what I expected, once you get infected like this it simply opens the door because your running a compromised computer, if you have JS/Downloader you most likely have other infections and I would almost think Vundo is one and who knows what else probably others, you may be infected much worse then it appears and a reinstall could be in order, the forums would run combo fix, sdfix, vundo fix ect. If a backdoor Trojan were seen they would recommend a reinstall for security reasons.

Good luck & let us know the results please.

zep.

I have yet another question. Would you have any idea as to where I am lacking in my computor to have picked up this virus. Also, I will spend my day backing up a bunch of stuff so I can return my computor to the day I got it. I saw the man do this once at the store, but can't remember how he did it. I know it is $80 for him to press the button. Also if it is a virus, will this take care of it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. My call is
AVG free addition and SUPERantispyware and 2 pop up blockers, the one with Google and the one right in windows. Do you feel this is the correct protection. Also I am looking at Limewire as to maybe being the culprit, do you think downloading music is a bad thing.

Mooner,

I have been monitoring your thread and I must say I do like all the advise you are receiving. Just keep at it things will come around.

As far as contracting a critter, the greatest causes in my belief is user error or inexperience. To this I mean; opening unsolicited e-mails, opening forwarded e-mails regardless of whom they are from, free smiley faces and fonts, free downloads which are not researched and confirmed as safe, erroneous sites (a letter missing or word misspelled in the URL), physically sharing software with others, lack of prophylactic software or allowing it to be out-dated (anti virus, firewall, malware, spyware, etc.) All this to share a few which jumped into my head.

DA

Well, you may be right damccoy, as I have not received any of the pop ups today at all. Thank you all for your help and advice. I have learned alot from this.

I would really consider un-installing Limewire p2p file share is a problem a lot of infections come from here. damccoy is right your best Virus protection is between your ears.
SuperAntispyware is more of an on demand scanner when you think you need to run do so by redownloading it and updating it.. Here is what is recommend by the folks that work with stuff.

1. antivirus Avg or Avast these can be you choice, Norton/Macfee frowned upon although these programs work well for some but you have to pay and they don't offer any more protection, the word is if you have strange problems on a pc that can not be explained un-install these products.

2. A software firewall and a hardware firewall like a router is great. Zone Alarm is free and is most recommend

3.Spywareblaster.

4.spywareguard

5. Spybotsearch&destroy, This tool can be used as an on demand scanner and should be run once a week, by using the Teatimer function you can set spybot to run at startup.

6. ccleaner install and use it once a week cleans temp files history.

7. This comes from the professionals and is a suprise to many Do not run registry cleaners on xp including the one built into ccleaner called the Issues button. Windows xp/2000 is not performance degraded by a clogged registry like 98, 95 were. Better to leave the registry alone. Now to get some of these programs go to the link above (help2go) enter the spyware forum no need to sign up, now look for any post by Steamwiz in his signature you will see a link "Ways to keep your computer safe" click it--Steamwiz is Microsoft certified security spyware remover and well known in the Malware removal community.

thanks, I shall undo Limewire immediately. Still no pop ups.
Will put Zone alarm on my machine as well.