[redsniper]

Has anyone else gotten one of those internet pop-ups that show up as windows message boxes?  I'm not talking about regular pop-ups that you get while you're browsing the web, but after I exit IE (not immediately after, just sometime when the program isn't running) I'll get a little gray window that, instead of telling me some programs crashed or something, will warn me about how spammers are going to start using these 'internet windows' to spam my computer, followed by an offer to sell me some software to protect my comp.  That last part about selling me something makes me think it's a scam.  Still, it's kinda spooky, having windows pop up when you're least expecting it.
Has anyone else seen these  

btw I'll post a picture sometime if one of them pops up.

[Stryke 9]

Sounds like you've got adware. All it takes to generate those little message boxes is basic Javascript (or, I'd imagine, some other form of code), they're not exclusive to Windows. Install Gator lately or something?

[Taristin]

Oh do I hate Gator, but Kazaa won't run without it, and I don't feel like looking for a crack...

[demon442]

Im going to reccomend a program that has solved all my problems with popups, banner ads, and these dialog boxes that pop up on command.  The program is called The Proxomitron, its free, and you can find the latest version at http://www.spamblocked.com/proxomitron/

This little program, while having the ugliest interface texture wise, has done me wonders over the years.  I highly reccomend it to anybody, period.  The downside is tht without advanced knowledge of what you are blocking, you will block out things that you need, like animated .gif's are frozen (no more moving smilies), some of pages have images that are preceved as ads by the Proxomitron but are not.  and there are a small number of other minor things that could cause you to say "Alright, so that page dosen't work, i'll just move on..."

I cannot speak high enough about this little life-saver.  Please, if you havent already, download it.  Just give it a try(make sure you look at the 'setup your browser' section) and pass it on to your friends.

EDIT: In responce to Raa's problem, there is a version of Kazza floating arround out there called the 'KaZaA Lite K++ Edition'.  This version of Lite lets you do many things that a normal version of Lite would not.  It completely replaces KaZaA as the best file sharing app on the web.  You can find it here: http://cache.techtv.com/binaries/2003/klitekpp.zip

also cannot reccomend this enough for people to get, there simply, is no better.

EDIT2: To answer redsniper's question:  Download Spybot Search & Destroy, and do a search on your system for spyware and adware.  You will be surprised just how much you have.  Get Spybot here http://spybot.eon.net.au/index.php?lang=en&page=download
Dont worry, its free too.

[redsniper]

I haven't installed Gator ever so that can't be it.  Is there any way to delete this... adware, or can I only block it?

[Admiral LSD]

I know what you're talking about (I think). It's not adware, spyware, a virus or anything like that it's simply spammers taking advantage of an Administrative feature of the NT OS's called the Messenger Service (note: this is not in any way, shape or form even remotely related to Windows/MSN Messenger). You can disable it by going into the Services (Administrative Tools -> Services) and both disabling the Messenger service and setting it's start up type to 'manual' but I'd be more concerned about the fact that if you're getting them you'r SMB ports (137-139 in particular) are wide open and you have more important things to worry about than simple spam messages (you know, like real worms and viruses that exploit Windows Networking).

Oh, Rah Tor'h, getting KaZaA relatively spyware clean is easy: Run Ad-Aware, make sure it gets rid of cd_clint.dll but whatever you do, make sure it doesn't touch topsearch.dll (add it to Ad-Aware 6's ignore list). Next, get yourself a copy of this little gem and use it to replace the cd_clint.dll in your Windows System dir (system for 9x, system32 for NT) and then run Ad-Aware again to add the "new" cd_clint.dll to the ignore list. Just remember that if you install anything with Cydoor in it at any point in the future, the dummy file will most likely end up getting clobbered and need replacing.

[Zaxzon]

I take it that you are running 2000 or XP, so you might want to witch the messaging service to manual. From Admin tools click services then change it to manual or disabled.  If you think that you might have adware on your box, try downloading and using a program like Ad-Aware 6 or somethin' like that.

[redsniper]

Thank you all for the help.  I just downloaded Spybot and disabled the messenger service.

[diamondgeezer]

Raa, Admiral, you guys do know about Kazaa Lite, right?

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
Raa, Admiral, you guys do know about Kazaa Lite, right?

Yeah I do but I simply can't be bothered with it.

[diamondgeezer]

Well I won't get in to an argument over it, but surely installing Kazaa Lite would be far easier than manually removing the spyware from Kazaa? It has lots of cool gadgets as well, like Speed Up and Sig2Dat

[Solatar]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
surely installing Kazaa Lite would be far easier than manually removing the spyware from Kazaa?  

MUCH easier.

[Taristin]

Well, I didn't know about it, but now I'm uninstalling regular Kazaa, and running the K-lite...  The only funny thing with Ad-aware, is that when i used it, it stopped Winrar and CuteFTP from working.

I had to re-install both of them...

[Flipside]

Be very careful of Adaware, I don't use it now. I've had umpteen problems where it has deleted things it shouldn't.

Flipside

[Black Ace]

Well, everyone already gave the correct answers, so there's not a whole lot of point in my posting... Yes, redsnipers problem is the Messanger service. Common complaint on many boards I frequent...

And Raa, I'm kinda embarrassed that you were so critical of Kazaa lite. I thought EVERYONE knew about the lite version, but I guess not... =/

[IceFire]

Originally posted by Flipside
Be very careful of Adaware, I don't use it now. I've had umpteen problems where it has deleted things it shouldn't.

Flipside

I'm a regular user with no problems experienced on over 10 different systems.

[redsniper]

Whoa, ran Spybot and found out I did have Gator. don't know how it got there. Oh well.

[Black Ace]

Gator is probably the most common "authentication pop-up" on the net today. You know those things that say "Click here to always trust content from... (I.e. Gator Corporation, etc)"

MANY people hardly bat an eye at those things, and simply click 'ok' to get rid of it, as they seem to think that if it pops up, it must be important for the site to load properly. THIS IS FALSE!

Just read before you accept things... *climbs down off soapbox*

[Taristin]

Originally posted by Black Ace

And Raa, I'm kinda embarrassed that you were so critical of Kazaa lite. I thought EVERYONE knew about the lite version, but I guess not... =/

Critical... I didn't even know it existed... But I don't use Kazaa much, my bro does.

[Descenterace]

Thanks for the info about Messenger service!  I was getting kinda worried about those damned grey windows turning up randomly...

Why do M$ operating systems ALWAYS have massive security loopholes in the initial version, and game compatibility issues in later, fixed versions?