Pop-ups

[Hecate]

I've noticed that they pop up...like...one just did as I started typing here...a "congrats" one with free offers and stuff, but there's a variety. A few seconds after I get to the main index one pops up, it seems random and only here on this site. I might have a couple pop up on Myspace too, but I know it's happening here because it's the only window I have open. I can give more details as more happen, try to pinpoint it.

[LocoColt04]

Well, my question was whether you noticed any similarities when they appear. I don't use Internet Explorer, but even when I do, I don't get pop-ups at TFF -- and I don't even have any pop-up blockers for IE. I'm responding to you in IE right now, and I've got nothing.

Unless you can pinpoint a pattern, my best (and only) guess at this point is that you've got one of a slew of viruses that can force pop-ups when you visit a site you go to on a regular basis. There are all kinds of viruses/spyware/etc. that can track your movements online and react accordingly.

[Hecate]

I have a good virus protection program that we actually pay for....it detects and cleans as they come in to prevent file corruption. I rarely use the reply button, only in a quote or attachment thing, but I mostly see it once in a while on the main page and in one or two threads on occasion. I'll see if I can figure out a pattern though, also marking down what the pop-up is about and write down which ads on TFF are currently showing at the time of pop-up (if that'll help anything, I haven't a clue)

[LocoColt04]

Well, the reason I ask for a pattern is in case it only occurs when a certain user has posted. Of course, you said one came up while you were writing this thread, so I get the feeling it has nothing to do with some user maliciously abusing code. Hmm, odd all the same. Makes me wonder if some of these google ads are integrating pop-ups. If that's the case, we'll have to remove them all and find another way to raise money.

[Hecate]

Well if other users with IE stumble across this thread, they can let us know if they get pop-ups here too? I only get maybe 3 or 4 a day from here...

[Loki]

It seems like you got hit with some spyware Ads. I tried out IE aswell and got nothing, I'm replying to this in IE. If you don't already have an Adware program, Ad-Aware isn't too bad and it's free. www.lavasoft.com

[fire exit man]

I've noticed it too. I don't use IE (i use BTY Broadband myself), but every time i come here and click on certain threads my pop-up blocker strikes down some pop-ups. At first i just thought it was some more funding for the site but then i remembered Fuzz saying "There will never be pop-ups at TFF" - or something to that effect.

I don't think my computer has been infected, but i'll look into it.

[Hecate]

My virus protection covered ad/spyware as well and does a full computer check every morning at 2am, since I'm usually up then too. There's nothing on my computer causing it.

[Tech Support]

There are no pop-ups on TFF... nor is there any code generating them from users... I have already looked. If you are getting pop-ups it is coming from your own computer.

Just because your programs can't detect it doesn't mean you don't have any. Some are buried so damn deep that even Ad-Aware, or any other spyware/adware program/anti-virus software will NOT find them. It happened to my mother's computer a few months ago. I ran every detection software you could name, free or not, and none of them found a damn thing... yet when she went to certain sites, pop-ups would happen in IE and it wouldn't do it in Firefox nor on any other computer.

Part of the problem is that IE is so built into windows. Its part of the code... and is part of the damned shell itself... so if it gets screwed up, even those programs won't necessarily find it because those files are protected. You installed something sometime down the line that altered IE's code. Even if you find the install files or try manually uninstalling it, it will still not get rid of it completely. One example is the tons of 'help bars' that you can add to IE. Even when you uninstall them, the hidden code that is imbedded in IE is not removed, and it still displays damned pop-ups.

Point being, you have limited options to fix that. If you have Windows 2000 or earlier, try deleting Internet Explorer and re-installing it. If you have Windows XP, and possibly 2000(forgot when they implemented full-embededness), you will have to re-install Windows.

Its a bitch, but there are things you can do to prevent it in the future. Never run your computer in Administrator unless you are installing a local program. Never EVER get on the internet in Administrator mode unless its absolutely necessary. You're asking for it. You click on an ad and it starts installing shit before you can stop it. If you are not in Administrator, it has to ask permission before it can do anything. It also then doesn't have access to core files. Never download addons to software that wasn't made by the creator. That means don't go adding fancy bars to IE. They might look innocent, but they aren't. They are a bitch to get rid of, if not impossible. This goes for other programs as well.

Lastly, this website will never require you to download anything to view it appropriately. If you ever get something asking you to install something or download something, it is not from us so DO NOT do it!