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Don't ya just hate spyware? I know I do...

Most "FREE" offers on the net are not really free.

They load a "cookie" or another type of tracking agent into your system files on the 'puter.

How rude.

After you sign up for "FREE", check for spyware.

Smilie central is one, great smilies, but they track your surfing and feed you ads based on the data it sees.

Spybot Search & Destroy is a free program that can find spyware.

Adaware is another. Both free.

Firefox is a great browser that will stop ad pop-ups. Recommend it.
(Free too)

I know. So are some Lyric sites......they got me the other day.....but my AVG popped up....warned me closed the window. I used both those and got 51 off my computer!!.......I got a browser hijacker from a Lyric site in Feb!!...I hate those things.....


I love the Google tool bar....that thing stops TONS of pop ups.

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Has anyone figured out why when the reply to comment boxes go up they go up 2 different ways? Sometimes just come right up, sometimes like they were blocked and had to fight their way and you got to finish making them appear....

Curious to me why all would not come up just the same...

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When I was young, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend,  then I became an adult  and  realized  that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends...

You have to be careful because some of the spyware removal stuff is actually spyware!

I use 3 products to aleviate problems:

Ad-Aware by lavasoft - hands down the BEST spyware removal tool for personal use
Google Toolbar - the best pop-up blocker I've tried at any price, but this one is FREE!
Anti-Virus - I've used the top 3 - McAffee, Symantec (Norton), and AVG. I also used Thunderbyte when it was available. I usually recommend AVG for personal use (free) and Symantec for corporate use.

If you opt for a non-IE browser I usually recommend Opera because it's cross platform and VERY versatile but Firefox/Thunderbird is becoming more and more popular. If you really want to stop pop-ups and other problems you can try Lynx, but since it's text only many sites don't show up so well.

Those are what i use too. They work great!

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you can also do a free online scan from Trend Micro.com

housecall.trendmicro.com

It will install a tiny program that's not spyware, and then do a search, depending on the speed of your connection, and the size of your hard drives.

I had some terrible problems with adware taking over my computer. Spybot, which I had been using previously, couldn't get rid of it. I tried manually cleaning out the registry (regedit), also to not avail. SBC Yahoo's Anti-Spy program worked though.

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Sounds Great! Entertainment
Bartlett, Illinois

I found another program just recently that I've tried out called "SpySweeper" -- it's a kick a** program. I did the 30 day free trial of it & it found stuff that neither SpyBot nor Adware had found or could remove. Then it monitors while you are surfing and pops up notices to let you know that something is trying to install or add itself to your favorites list, etc... It's like an AV program instead of only running when you tell it to run, it actually runs all the time & keeps you from getting into trouble in the first place.

In my opinion (I'm an IT Admin along with my Marketing Job), this program is absolutely worth the $40 purchase price.

Ya know, I have never had a problem. Not at all, not once... and I download whatever I want, go to any site I want, etc. never had a prob. And people that know me, know I download ALOT of trash. Never had a prob. not with pop ups, etc either. I use safari, and I simply hit "block pop ups" and boom. No "bad" pop ups, and the PROPER pop ups still work.

I guess that tells me, that as mac user, I should be writing programs that are annoying to mac users, because it appears that there aren't many:) PC users get really blasted with crap eh?

yep, and there's a lot of stuff that won't run on macs, either.

spysweeper is excellent, but it's a paid program...

McAfee has a program you can download called "Stinger". It searches you HD for crapola and cleans it up. If it can't clean it, it tells you.

They update it every month, so you prob should get a new one every so often.

If you have DSL or cable modems then a ROUTER can solve some pop-up problems too.

Some pop-ups use a "feature" in Windows that is normally used by network administrators to send messages to the network computers.

Routers get rid of that type of pop-up because the router only psses info to your PC that that you requested..it blocks unsolicited stuff.

Even if you only have one computer connected to your cable/dsl modem the router is a good addition and they cost well under 100bucks.

Ok Now were entering the area that I am a guru on )

Yes spybot search and destroy is phenominal but use it with adaware....Here's a helpful hint:
If it can't remove the adware or spyware it finds temporarily turn off your system restore. Reboot your computer run them again then reboot again
They should be gone after that...if they aren't there's another little nifty program that's called bazooka spyware finder. Its free and it tells you how to manually remove problems. For hijackers and such I recommend hijackthis by tom coyote. Be very careful with this program though. Also I reccomend a squared trojan finder also free and updated regularly...it finds all kinds of nasty bugs. And last but not least, pcpitstop.com is one of the best sites in existence today. All kinds of diagnotics you can run to get your your pc in tip top shape:)

Hope that helps

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....and sometimes the beholder is definitely blind as a bat!

I run Norton, Adaware, Spybot, and Super Popup Blocker. Everything usually works well except Spybot will not always open or opens with an error. When this happens I remove it, reboot and reinstall and it works ok til the next time. Any idea whats going on. I'm running ME (I know I know but the whole comp system cost me 300).

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I had that problem when i first got the program also.
I use windows ME also....xp as far as I am concerned SUX!
I have worked on more xp computers than any other. The owners always tell me, "I never had this problem wiht 98 or Me." Go figure huh
anywho.....
Unistall it completely and delete it from your pc
reboot
go back to the website and redownload it
that should work if it doesnt then check to see how many programs are running in the background....you do this by hitting start run and type msconfig
click the startup tab
only essential things should be clicked when my comp starts i have my antivirus firewall taskbar start and thats it if you have an internet accelerator leave that on all else can be turned off
be careful and make sure what it is first tho....check your programs if a prgram wont run or your pc has problems do a safe mode start and turn them on one at a time

if that all fails then do this

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....and sometimes the beholder is definitely blind as a bat!