Advertising hyperlinks in posts
Thanks in advance!
Quote: beachbumbabsHelp! Yikes! This just started in the last hour. Somehow words are being randomly hyperlinked within posts and on forum pages, and when I turn the page or go to the front page (NOT clicking the hyperlinks), I'm getting pop-up tabs related to the hyperlinked words. The only thing I had open besides the forum at the time this started was a Wiki page on Sam Walton. My pop-up blocker is on, and Norton anti-virus running on Windows Vista, IE 10, updated definitions this morning. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
For example, the words "Windows Vista" and "definitions" hyperlinked when I posted the above message a moment ago.
Quote: beachbumbabsHelp! Yikes! This just started in the last hour. Somehow words are being randomly hyperlinked within posts and on forum pages, and when I turn the page or go to the front page (NOT clicking the hyperlinks), I'm getting pop-up tabs related to the hyperlinked words. The only thing I had open besides the forum at the time this started was a Wiki page on Sam Walton. My pop-up blocker is on, and Norton anti-virus running on Windows Vista, IE 10, updated definitions this morning. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Your browser has been hijacked.
Quote: beachbumbabsWhat do I do about that?
Beats me; most of these headaches went away when I stopped using windows. I'd run some anti-spyware software and see what it turns up. Microsoft has a page about it but it doesn't seem very useful: http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/browser-hijacking.aspx
Did you install any new software recently? A lot of times this gets bundled with downloaded "free" crap.
Does it happen in other browsers as well, or just IE? (try firefox or chrome...)
Quote: wudgedIt's been awhile since I've used them, so I don't know how successful they are anymore, but AdAware and SpyBot were both decent programs a few years ago.
Yeah, I was going to suggest adaware too, but I realized that it had been a few years since I'd used it, so I didn't know if that was still good advice.
I also remember that it (adaware) was unable to detect a really annoying browser hijacking. I don't remember the name of it, but, it would hijack your google search results, although, not all the time. If you searched for something, and clicked a result, it would take you to one of their ad landing pages instead. If you went back and clicked the search result again, it would take you to the correct result. I don't know if that one is still around, but I remember having to remove it manually.
Quote: beachbumbabsBoth Chrome and IE are doing it. I went back thru Chrome, reset everything, restarted it. Still happening. Ran Norton virus scan; it took off 64 cookies, but still getting hyperlinks after restart.
This is not going to be a cookie. It's most likely a browser add-on (it's filtering the page before it's displayed on your screen). A cookie is just a bit of text that your computer will send back to the site that sent it to you in the first place.
I'm not sure how much you know what you're doing, but if you could check to see what browser add-ons are installed, that might help. Chrome might be easier to deal with than IE, at least to start.
That sort of not-quite virus can be tough to get rid of.
Quote: AxiomOfChoiceThis is not going to be a cookie. It's most likely a browser add-on (it's filtering the page before it's displayed on your screen). A cookie is just a bit of text that your computer will send back to the site that sent it to you in the first place.
I'm not sure how much you know what you're doing, but if you could check to see what browser add-ons are installed, that might help. Chrome might be easier to deal with than IE, at least to start.
Yeah, I checked all my add-ons and extensions, and none of them have changed. FWIW, I found IE easier to look at those settings than Chrome, but I'm also more used to cleaning those up. Thanks. I would say I know just enough to be dangerous...lol. I think my next move is to see what domains are marked as "safe" in my pop-up blocker...as soon as I kill the one that just jumped in as I typed this. ugh.
1. Go to tools in Chrome.
2. Go to extensions.
3. There will an extension for whatever malware (if that is the right term) for what is doing this. Just unclick "enable." I don't remember the name of it, but it should be obvious.
Let me know if that doesn't work. With my son's computer I think he had a secondary problem as well, which was solved by uninstalling something, whose name I don't recall.
ZCore13
Thanks, all, especially to my PM friend who sent me a link that may have killed it; checking now.
Yup. Dead bugs. YAY! Cost me only about 90 minutes of fussing. Thanks!
Redirect Cleaner
Better Privacy
Chrome and IE are just so high maintanence. I would go with FF23 or later, and download the above three.
FWIW there are some websites thaat do this intentionally to jack-up click-revenues. A lot of tech-review sites especially. Very annoying.
Start in safe mode.
Run Malwarebytes.
Run favorite virus software.
Restart
The other 10% requires focused google searches.
You beat to it, (which obviously means you're not working hard enough) I was thinking the same thing. I hear gay porn sites are the worst DJ, can you confirm?Quote: djatcbabs what type of material were you looking at? This used to happen to me when I would go on un-Christian sites at 3 in the morning when my mom went to sleep :)
