Computer Question (On Line Pop Up Ads)

The last day or so, I have had a series of ADs from Aurora continue to pop up while I am on-line. I have just been clicking them away but finally got pissed off enough to read what they were.

I finally figured out that I have to down load an uninstaller to get rid of them.

My question is how did they get installed and attached in the first place? And why the fuck are places allowed to do that?

For the most part I only visit Ebay, Neo-Geo and Gamefaqs. However, I do a lot of ordering for my business and use various sites for that.

Clearly I know little about computers but any help on how it happens or how to avoid this in the future would be great.

You can get infected if you don't have a decent firewall up. Run a firewall for a few days and see how many uninvited intrusions you get, simply for being connected to the internet.

Run Spybot and Ad-aware to remove everything.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

get ad-aware from lavasoft.com and give your pc a scan

and use firefox if you can be bothered.

Is Addware no longer free?

Use Ad Aware. Update it it, scan, remove all the shit it finds. If it can't remove something and says you need to scan when you reboot, write down the problem application and allow it to run on a reboot. If it doesn't uninstall the app on reboot, do a Google search for the program and see if anyone tells you how to remove it.

Next, download Spybot Search and Destroy. Update it, then run a scan. Remove anything it finds. Again, if it doesn't remove it, follow the procedure above for Ad Aware (write it down, reboot, google as needed).

Next, download, install and run MS Anti Spyware Beta. Leave on the real time scan, but also do another full system scan.

And finally, stop browsing for porn using IE. Stop downloading "cracks" for software from unknown sites. Stop click "Yes or No" in pop up ads and close them with the X.

Start using Firefox to browse the web. Use Firefox to browse for porn.

And we get these damn questions like once a week for a time, then they go away and a month or so later, BAM, more "how do I remove spyware?"

You could also format and install Linux. No more pop up ads when you aren't browsing the Internet, less security risks and so on. Problem solved.

The way it happens is websites can use Internet or Windows exploits to install programs without your knowledge. It's called a security issue.

Do you install shit like file sharing software? A lot of that has Adware and Spyware bundled in, which is why it's "free."

Make sure you run and install all the updates from Windows Update as well to plug known holes that they have fixes for.