Is this happening to others

Dan Dowd · Post by **Dan Dowd** » 1 Jul 2001 4:23 am

Somehow some program has installed itself on my computer. It gives me underline's on keywords on the forum in message posts. Also when I click on the Computer section of the forum a box comes up and says Folow original link or Click for Special deals at IBM. Does anyone know how to get rid of this. I have ver 6.0 of Internet Explorer installed.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 1 Jul 2001 4:40 am

Dan, you got yourself into a fix now.

Actually, I don't know how that got into your system, although there's a lot of crap that can, and you don't even know it.

The first thing you should do is install a firewall. Go to www.zonealarm.com and download the free version of zonealarm. That will help keep some of that out of your system. Also make sure you have a current virus program always running.

I'm not sure how to get rid of the popup crap. You might try resetting the I.E. settings back to default. Click on Tools and then Internet Options and then the Advanced tab. Click the button to restore defaults. Don't know if it will help but an easy thing to try.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jack Stoner on 01 July 2001 at 05:42 AM.]</p></FONT>

Bill Crook · Post by **Bill Crook** » 1 Jul 2001 5:35 am

Dan...

One of the first things I would do is go into the "Add/Remove Progams" section of the "control panel" and see if I could find and remove the offending program. If we don't find it there,I would look for any new folders or files that weren't previously there. Now this involves a person knowing his machine on a very basic level. In other words,we should know whats on the machine and realize that something has been added that we arn't familiar with. As a last resort,a reformat of the c: drive may be in order. I really hate it when a program installs itself without first askin' my permission. Far too often,this happens' with Spam-type programs and such. Even these pop-up Active-X things upsets me. I generally say "no" to them as they often put stuff onto your computer without your knowledge.

Dan Dowd · Post by **Dan Dowd** » 1 Jul 2001 8:40 am

Ok Guys. I did find a program that Bill suggested, in the add/delete called HOT TEXT. I uninstalled it and that got rid of the problem. And Jack I just downloaded the firewall pgm and will install it also. Thanks for the great help. I don't know how that pgm got installed on my computer but there should be a law against this kind of thing.

Jeff Agnew · Post by **Jeff Agnew** » 1 Jul 2001 10:04 am

Dan,

I'm glad you found the offending program and were able to remove it. However, get ready for more of this. What you described is exactly how Micro$oft's forthcoming "Smart Tags" will work:

Browsers will display linked keywords which the web site author/operator did *not* create in the original HTML. These links will be to MS content or to partners who have paid a fee to MS to be linked.

This is presented to us, the computer users, as a benefit. Right.

Web developers can fortunately insert a little code which turns off Smart Tags, but that means lots of work. Every page must be revised.

Smart Tag technology is already in OfficeXP and was planned for inclusion in the upcoming WindowsXP release. Public outcry was sufficient to give MS pause. Just last week they announced that Smart Tags would not be included in WindowsXP because they "hadn't had time to fully test the technology." When was the last time MS delayed releasing a product because it still had bugs? This is the same company which released Win2K with over 32,000 documented bugs.

As for eliminating pop-ups, I can give you a solution. There are several products that will eliminate pop-ups, along with other obnoxious features.

You can try Proxomitron, which is a wonderful free product. Unfortunately its configuration is a bit obscure and hard to understand but is also very powerful. I use it to filter certain Javascript (like pop-ups - which are not ActiveX as Bill mentioned; they're simple Javascript).

A more user-friendly product is WebWasher. You can download a free demo from their site. Others prefer AdSubtract. The Pro version is a commercial product, while AdSubtractSE is free for personal use.

All of these products filter advertisements as well as block pop-ups. Some folks are morally opposed to this function and if so can turn off the ad filtering.

Let me know if you install any of these products and need help configuring them.

Dan Dowd · Post by **Dan Dowd** » 2 Jul 2001 6:13 am

Jack, I have installed Zone Alarm. Now every few seconds I get a message that someone is trying to access my computer. While typing this I was warned that alltell.net was trying to gain access. Is this normal,also I don't know who is good and who is not good. Some of the names are foreign to me and not related to any programs I have (I think). This is scarry stuff. I usually keep my DSL connection hot while my computer is on. Is this a bad idea.

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 2 Jul 2001 6:23 am

Dan;
I imagine that the IE 6 you installed was the beat version and was put out before MS's second thoughts about including it in XP.
I might not be a bad idea to disconnect the DSL when you're not using it. It should be no big deal to connect again. A firewall would most likely help.
Better safe than sorry.

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My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 2 Jul 2001 7:57 am

I just cought the bit about I.E. V6. Internet Explorer version 6 is still Beta, which means is does have bugs in it (not that the final release 5.5 doesn't).

The alerts from zonealarm are mostly info alerts. They can be a pain at times, but if you check any of them out you will see they are not someone trying to break into your PC. But it's an additonal safeguard in case some does. With the PC in the "stealth" mode (as ZoneAlarm calls it) when you do receive a poll the firewall blocks it and there is no response sent.

Dan Dowd · Post by **Dan Dowd** » 3 Jul 2001 8:02 am

Jack, so far I have not experienced any problems with IE 6.0 that I am aware of.Of course when a problem shows up I usually think it's a fat fingered key or something else that I did.

John Sims · Post by **John Sims** » 3 Jul 2001 11:50 am

Here is a GREAT site to check all of your open ports for vulnerability..
http://grc.com/

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Regards,

John

Steelin' is a way of life!

My PSG website-Carter SD-12-U, 8p/5k, Nashville 1000

Don Walters · Post by **Don Walters** » 6 Jul 2001 12:57 pm

Jeff, according to the following, M$ has dropped Smart Tags

check here

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Don Walters
Carter D-10, 8p/6k
Session 500 with Lemay Mod