I have a 12 month old custom built computer and i am wondering about an adserver and adserver plus popup window that opens about 10-30 seconds after i open firefox. This has just recently started about a week or 2 ago. On my computer i have always had mcafee and ad-aware se personal on my computer. But i have been looking everywhere for a solution to this problem and so far i have used programs such as windows defender,AVG,spybot,eradex,webroot, cw shredder, spy sweeper, spy blaster, popup stopper , hijackthis and about 10 others which have not been able to fix the problem or have not been able to pick it up on my system. On some that i have tried like 'spyware begone' have picked up some tracking cookies that i have believed to be what it is, but this program requires payment in order to remove the spyware or tracking cookie. I have also tried adblock plus and filterset addons for firefox.so i guess my real question is "Are there any totally free downloadable programs out there on the web that can destroy such popups and or spyware called http://ad.adserverplus.com/ ?????

I know that there must be someone else out there that has had the same or similiar problem.

Thanks for even reading this stupid thread

Curlyben

Here's some maintenance steps to be going on with.
The ones that are specific to the adware are near the bottom, but everything is worth doing regularly.

General system maintenance includes:
Defrag
FULL patching
Virus scanning
Spyware scanning
removal of rubbish files

Defrag is an inbuilt function in XP.
OPen My Computer > Right click C: > Tools Tab and its there.

To make sure everything is running fine run both anti virus and anti spyware apps in normal AND safe modes. (make sure that they are updated first ! ) (AVG is good and free AV)
(A couple of good spyware removal tools are Spybot and Adaware)

ALso an on line virus and spyware scanner is Trend Housecall

Just a note; actively running two AV's on one machine can cause problems.
So if you are thinking about it make sure your current one is disabled first.
SAme thing applies to online scanners as well.

Removal of junk files is easy with CCleaner a free app that does exactly what you neeed.

cajalat

Another thing you can do is install a Personal Firewall. Personal firewalls catch pesky applications that spawn web sessions using tricks like code injection and spawning of of apps. I'm willing to bet that's what's happening to you.

I made a recommendation a while back on here which I still stand by and I think will help you find the source of your problem. Check out this post:

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/compute...tml#post105581

As an update...Kerio is now owned by sunbelt-software.com (they have 30 day fully functional evals). Tiny Personal Firewall is now owned by Computer Associates and was rebranded (www.ca.com). I have not used TinyPF since CA bought them but they used to be a very good product. Kerio I've used since Sunbelt bought them and I think it is still very good. Both products have a common root (I can't remember which came first and spawned the other).

Hope that helps.

Casey

hardieman

thanx for your answers to my question so far i havnt had time to try the curlyben's one but i tried the cajalat's idea and all i did was install the firefox addons that u suggested and install proximitron and it has stopped popping up. But i would still appreciate any more answers to this post about his subject incase in the future the popup comes back to haunt me, and if i can be bothered i will try doing curlyben's suggestion.

Curlyben

The main part fo my response is to run your anti spyware in safe mode as this removes loads more iffy material then a normal mode scan.
The rest of the maintenance is just for good measure.

cajalat

Installing Proxomitron and AdBlockPlus probably only hide the problem at this point. However, installing the firewall (Kerio or TPF) will at least show what/how the pop-up is happening and will help you narrow down the source of the problem. Once you find what is causing your pop-ups then you can fix the root cause which will stop your pop-ups. Also even if the pop-ups don't show up right now because of what you did the spyware could very well be "calling home". The firewall will also show you that. After you clear the root cause of the problem you can then use things like Proxomitron and AdBlock Plus as a preventative measure.

Good luck.

hardieman

yeh, but i really need a free to use firewall?

hardieman

and how do u run ad-aware in safe mode?

cajalat

It is free to try for 30 days and has full functionality. Once you use it to help you identify the source of the problem you can uninstall it. After 30 days if you keep it installed it will stop working and fail open (i.e. will not protect).

Another option is to try which is apparently free for the software and the updates. I can't really vouch for how well it works but at least the description and features of the product lead me to believe that it would do the same thing as Kerio/TPF.

hardieman

with comodo how would you zone in on the cookie or spyware?