RootsChat.Com
General => Technical Help => Topic started by: mshrmh on Tuesday 09 September 08 16:38 BST (UK)
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Moderator comment: title amended in consultation with originator to reflect new diagnosis!
Today I'm getting two sets of (what I assume to be) adverts at the top & bottom of each screen that I've not seen on here before.
One shows the timed & date and then says "You've got 1 Message" the next line at present is showing as "From: Britney25f Located in Your Area" - an earlier version had "From Our Mom Located in Manchester" (my profile indicates my location as South Manchester" I'm then invited to "Open Message Now"
I'm concerned that this
a) Newcomers to Rootchat may confuse this with the Personal Message system
b) The "advert" seems to be extracting information from my profile - surely this shouldn't be allowed?
The second advert is one telling me about a possibility of winning a car - that from time to time shows as a "pop-up" style insert that wobbles around the screen. I've come across this one on another site where it attracted numerous complaints.
I'm not against adverts on RootsChat - I realise they help pay the bills. I'm just concerned that the first may mislead people & that the second may worry people about the health of their computer/monitor.
Am I alone in my concerns?
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This has been mentioned before.
The adverts are automatically selected by Google using some kind of ranking algorithm that notes the frequency of appearances of certain "trigger" words in the page contents.
Admin has tweaked it to avoid certain "misunderstandings" but in general there is not much we can do about it.
that from time to time shows as a "pop-up" style insert that wobbles around the screen.
That doesn't sound like the usual kind of advert we have here. Could you please include a screen shot of that part of the screen, just in case ...
And just a thought: are you using AOL or Yahoo, where a part of the screen is used for their adverts.
Bob
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Thanks for the reply Bob - However is it picking up Manchester from my profile, as I wasn't looking at a page that had Manchester on it? I really don't like the thought that my personal data from my profile is being accessed for this purpose - if that is so I will be removing it!
I'm not using AOL or Yahoo, so that isn't why I got the wobbly "pop-up" style. How do I get a screen shot - I'm reluctant to put anything like this onto my computer's hard drive when I don't know the source.
(incidentally I'm now just getting time + date + you've got 1 message open now - no alleged "source")
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this is how the page should look.
Advert 1 from Ancestry is always there.
Advert 2 is from RootsChat and changes, may also be DSL services or census information
Advert 3 is from Google and can vary according to page content.
There is also a similar block to Advert 3 at the bottom of the page
where are your adverts appearing ?
Bob
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Hi again Bob - the ad's I'm getting are those in position 3 on your example - repeated at the bottom of the screen. Just logged out & back & got the "You've got 1 message" thing again - how do I capture this screen image - I can do a "print screen", but that seems to come out as a bitmap - you have a jpeg.
Now going offline until tomorrow - thanks.
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Hi,
Have a look at this:
Topic: Adding images to Posting & Profiles
1) Resizing and cropping your image file:[/color]
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,130922.0.html
that should do the trick. (Just the ads at the top of the screen will do)
Bob
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Just to reassure you - the ads are not picking up "Manchester" from your rootschat profile at all.
The site that the ads are from pick up your locale (rather than you exact location) from your ip address - nothing to do with rootschat at all.
Almost all sites that put out the personals type ads use the little bit of code that tailors the ads you see by picking up your ip address and showing you "personals" in your town/city. They can be safely ignored.
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JustKia - thank for the re-assurance. I'll try & attach the photo of the screen as I logged in a few minutes ago - it was the wobbly thing again!
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This advert is nothing to do with RootsChat - I have seen them "pop-up" on several sites unexpectedly. Annoying aren't they - the equivalent of the awful taped message on the telephone that you have won a guaranteed prize. Some hope. :-\
Have you blocked pop-ups? If not, you need to do so.
Nell
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Aah I've had those before too, although not on rootschat. I usually just delete them off, they're adverts.
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Hi Nell - thanks for that response - I've checked the pop-up blocker settings & removed a couple of sites that were "allowed" but I don't recognise, so I'll see if that gets rid of either/both.
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Do you have Windows Messenger turned on?
This can cause these to appear out of nowhere.
Rog
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hi,, i find that using internet explore seems to allow these advert downloads,(very annoying),so i downloaded Google Chrome and have not had any annoying pop-ups on any site i use.its free to download and once you get used to it, it is a lot better than IE,,, regards jean
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Google Chrome looks good, but is only in beta, and there have been some major glitches so far. Perhaps best to wait to download Chrome unless one is techie.
Read about it on the Register here:-
http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=chrome
Re those pop-ups. I would
1) download and run ccleaner (the free version) from here (I usually use the filehippo download)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
2) make sure your antivirus is up to date and run a scan.
3) download an antispyware. I use adaware se
http://lavasoft.com/
run a scan with this.
You probably have some malware, could be nothing too bad, but a protected computer should not get this type of ad. They can be vey dangerous.
I am sure other cleverer computer fundis will have advice, but the above is what I do.
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Thanks Suttonrog, hodnet2000 and pjbuk007 for your comments & suggestions.
Firstly, I think I'll ask a mod to move this to the technical board, as I think we have PC problems - apologies for involving RootsChat if the problem's ours! I'll also change the heading if I can.
General background - PC uses Windows XP, I normally browse in Firefox 3.0.1, have McAfee Security Center & update daily. I also use ccleaner at least daily on the "analyze & clean" section. As far as I know Windows Messenger isn't turned on (never been used on this PC as far as I know).
Yesterday after the ad encounters I did a McAfee scan - nothing. However I was having problems with the PC booting - it took several attempts. In the evening OH & I had a good look round & found a couple of things we didn't like - a new shortcut on the desktop & a new program. Both were removed & the boot problem seemed OK.
Today I got online initially OK - went to McAfee updates then checked e-mails, came offline & switched off. Later came on again & encountered the boot problem - eventually got online, read the RootsChat answers, posted the photo had a browse around, then saw that there were some Microsoft updates. As these won't download in Firefox I closed Firefox & opened IE (version 7 with SP2) & clicked on the link to go to the download site - kept getting "failed to connect" - I could get on to microsaft.com, but couldn't then link through to the updates.
I decided to take a break - did the cclean, closed down, switched off & left things alone for a while. When I tried later I had the same problems - took several goes to boot - I did try safe mode & system restore, but it was unable to restore to an earlier date etc. I then did another McAfee scan - result a trojan Generic Downloader.x which it qaurantined & I've got it to remove. I also tried to do an Ad-Aware scan - got all sorts of funnies which stopped it loading, so I've uninstalled it for safety, for the time being. However when I go online I still can't get on to the MS download site (in IE) & on FF or IE I can't access, for example uk.mcafee.com & many others. I'm also finding if I Google & then click on the search result I'm not going to that website, but to others - I can get the one I want by using the "cache" link.
Clearly there's still some problem - all thoughts & suggestions welcomed! Thanks everyone for your patience.
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You could have a BHO (Browser Help Object) redirecting your browser to spurious sites. BHO's only seem to affect Internet Explorer usually.
It is recommended that you download Hijack This and run a scan:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155
Once the scan is finished check the BHO section for any spurious entries and put a check mark next to them and click Fix Selected Entries.
If you feel totally confused by the results of the scan or don't understand them then post a copy of the BHO section here and we will try and advise you what to do. Alternatively post the scan log on a forum like Bleeping Computer and get the experts there to advise you.
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Downside - many thanks for your response.
I did notice that the shortcut that I thought I'd dispatched had ret
I had the same problems trying to boot up today - took several goes. I did notice that the shortcut that I thought I'd dispatched had returned - I'll space this out as not to put it as a link h t t p : / / c a s i n o f r e e 2 4 0 0 . c o m /
Apart from deleting the shortcut is there anything else I can do on this?
I did another McAfee scan - nothing found. However from time to time the system is so slow - I could type a line before anything appears on screen
I tried the link you gave & am getting the same problem as with connection to McAfee & MSUpdates ie (in Firefox)
"Failed to Connect
The connection was refused when attempting to contact www.majorgeeks.com.
Though the site seems valid, the browser was unable to establish a connection.
* Could the site be temporarily unavailable? Try again later.
* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.
* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing. "
I did try several times. I've currently got RootChat & two other tabs open which apart from the "stickiness" mentioned are working. It seems to me that I can open most links I've tried from my bookmarks apart from software types (ie MS & McAfee).
Incidentally I just tried Bleeping Computer - guess what - the same Page Load Error as above!
Thanks for your efforts.
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You could have a look at your startup list and see if there are any nasties in there.
Click on
Start >> Run and in the box type: msconfig and click on the OK button.
When the msconfig menu appears, click on the Startup tab over on the top right. Make a handwritten note of all the entries. Each one is an executable file and the file name ends in .exe. Do a Google search on the name of each .exe to find out what it does.
The other thing to look at is Event Viewer to see if there are any constant errors occuring. Click on Administrative Tools in Control Panel and select Event Viewer. Check the Application and System categories. Double click any error and it will give you a brief description of the fault and what caused it. There will be a link to Microsoft for more information and a possible solution.
I guess one reason why you are having Internet problems could be due to a bad service from your ISP. You should be able to access Microsoft and MajorGeeks but it sounds like you are timing out. Check your ISP's customer service pages to see if there are any problems at the moment.
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Thanks for the response Downside - I'll work through & list the answers:
I guess one reason why you are having Internet problems could be due to a bad service from your ISP. You should be able to access Microsoft and MajorGeeks but it sounds like you are timing out. Check your ISP's customer service pages to see if there are any problems at the moment.
I've checked (Tiscali) - supposedly at 100% - no problems listed since Tuesday & those relate to areas a good distance from me.
The other thing to look at is Event Viewer to see if there are any constant errors occuring. Click on Administrative Tools in Control Panel and select Event Viewer. Check the Application and System categories. Double click any error and it will give you a brief description of the fault and what caused it. There will be a link to Microsoft for more information and a possible solution.
Applications - one error since 02 Sept - yesterday & it relates to Ad-Aware - probably the problem that led me to uninstall it.
Systems - rather more of these, all from when I finally booted up earlier today. There are several on the lines of "this can't be run in Safe Mode" (I tried Safe Mode to get it to boot at all). I'm going to have to print these out to check - the source on these is the "Service Control Manager". Looking at these there's two IDs 7001 & 7026. 7026 is agian relating to boot start/system start . 7001 basically translates (to me) as something wouldn't work because something else hadn't.
My gut feeling is that these are related to the safe mode start, as they haven't recurred since I started up.
I'll now go & list everything on the Startup - I know there's loads there as I've disabled stuff in the past (months if not longer ago).
Thanks for the help - I will be some time!
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Right - I've gone through the list of Start Up items - in general I used http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup/
to check them. According to that none were "baddies", several were not needed at start up & others were essential or user choice. There was one item it did not have an answer for
E_S9D
so I've googled & the references I found seem to have it in the results of HijackThis scans, but not be suggesting it is a problem. I'm going to try disabling it at start up & see what happens
By the way - re the access to McAfee etc websites - that error message comes up quicker than RootsChat loads so I don't think it can be a time out problem!
Modified - I've disabled E_S9D at start up - rebooted which went OK, however still can't access McAfee, MS Updates - with the same message as before. I'm going to try e-mailing McAfee - after all their stuff let in whatever it is that's driving us crackers! The only e-mail address I have is subscriptions [at] mcafee.com (modified as usual) , which I'll try - anyone got an address for support other than the web ones that I can't access?
Thanks
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Try
http://us.mcafee.com/root/support.asp
Stan
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Looking at that image you posted earlier in the thread I just spotted a yellow shield in your system tray area (next to the clock, bottom right hand corner).
Was that Windows automatic updates downloading something?
If you look carefully at the image you will also see:
Transferring data from freelotto.com
This is some kind of scam:
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/lotteryscam_FreeLotto2.php
I suspect you have some spyware on your PC that McAfee is not picking up.
Do you have an anti-spyware program installed?
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Well spotted, Downside. I guess the message re freelotto points towards the culprit.
Perhaps PHONE McAfee? I assume you have run an anti-spyware scan as suggested variously above.
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Thanks for all the responses, I'll go through them separately
Perhaps PHONE McAfee?
I can't access McAfee's website , US UK or any other variations (I have tried dozens of links!), so I can't get a phone number, e-mail or postal address to contact them. The only thing I have is the subscriptions e-mail address from taking out the sub. I'd be happy to phone them, but I need a number - I have tried the online directory enquiries, 192.com gave me an address in Reading, but doesn't have the number listed, neither does BT. I did e-mail the sub address last night, but no response so far. If anyone can provide a number or alternative e-mail address I'd be very grateful.
Looking at that image you posted earlier in the thread I just spotted a yellow shield in your system tray area (next to the clock, bottom right hand corner).
Was that Windows automatic updates downloading something?
The yellow shield - I've set MS to notify of downloads, but not to install automatically. Some months ago a .NET download failed & since then the yellow shield has been a fixture. (I'm assuming as this is a stand-alone PC that has never been networked I'm not missing anything important). This was also one of the ways I found out that I couldn't connect to MS - I was trying to access the updates on Wednesday as the link on the shield gave some new ones. However since the photo was taken the yellow shield disappeared & at one of the numerous re-boots we got a message that windows was installing some updates.
Today I got the yellow shield when I first switched on - clicking on it I got the message "Installing" & then %s - but no details of what was installing. I checked Task Manager - couldn't see anything other than the webpage I was on. I was rather concerned & after it had finished looked at the lists of Windows Updates etc in the Add/remove programs section of Control Panel & found none were dated today. I did wonder whether I'd get the Windows Installing message again, but didn't when I switched on again. Since then I've tried a website which had a problem apparently with Adobe 9 - as my program in the list is Adobe 8.0.1 I wonder whether there's any connection there? In the last hour the yellow shield has re-appeared & now tells me "Updates are ready for your computer. Click here to install these update" - I'm leaving well alone at the moment!
Do you have an anti-spyware program installed?
The only stuff I've got now is McAfee & Cclean - did have Ad-Aware but uninstalled it the other day (as mentioned in earlier message) - I'd tried to download updates & it got stuck & appeared corrupted - I'd had this before ages ago which I'd fixed by uninstalling & re-installing. If there's some safe download locations I can try for Ad-aware or any thing else you can recommend I'll try but I've a nasty feeling I won't be able to connect - this thing's clever!
Many thanks to all for your patience & suggestions
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If you right-click on the yellow shield, and select the second option (custom install or something similar, I forget) it tells you what it's trying to install. Recently mine have mostly been for windows defender.
(something is always trying to update and restart me! pain. )
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Thanks silvery - it SP3 - I did that when it first came out & had problems & got rid, so I'll steer clear for the time being - I think one lot of problems is enough for now.
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http://service.mcafee.com/Default.aspx
or
http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/contact/uk.html
McAfee charges to remove viruses, £20 or £30 by remotely taking over your pc. See tech support specialised services
(you had problems 'right clicking' the yellow shield ?? Nothing happens unless you give it the go ahead.)
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silvery - no problem right-clicking the shield - just not prepared to download at the moment.
Thanks for the links but I can't access them - I get the message described in my post of yesterday 14.08.29 - that's the problem - my PC will not connect to these sites!
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Here is a phone number then
Home and Home Office Customer Service (tel.) 020 7949 0107
Hope it helps
I have phoned it and it got a recorded message/choose a number message, but hope it gets through to someone.
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Silvery - thank you very much indeed!
I've had a nightmare since my last post - I decided I'd better print some stuff that I'd put on since my last backup (which was pre-problems) for safety - that really gummed up the works. It printed one thing OK then I got alternating messages of ink low and printer not responding - and I hadn't asked it to print anything. Clicking to get rid of one produced the other, like some mad duet. the only things I could then get to work were the close (x) boxes on each window. I eventually got things closed & back to the desktop still with the alternating printer messages. (Incidentally there wasn't a printer icon on the taskbar). If I clicked on the Start tab I could see the menu list briefly, before it disappeared - far too quickly to get to Control Panel or even to the Turn Off section. I turned off by holding down the on switch button. I left it a while, switched on again - two goes to boot up - tried printing, same problem. Left it longer before trying again - can't boot normally at all, I've had to go through Safe Mode to get here.
I know that if I get anywhere with McAfee it may take a while/ several calls, so as I'm away for a few days (and need to pack now) I'll leave the call(s) until my return. The number is now on a big piece of paper by the screen, ready for me.
Thanks once again!
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A bit more information ....
This freelotto banner thing may not be caused by FREELOTTO.COM. According to their website other spurious websites or spyware might refer you to freelotto. You also had an advert or you were redirected to a casino site, which would suggest you have a BHO. This link has some useful advice on how to get rid of an unwanted BHO:
http://www.pcflank.com/art36.htm
If you cannot download a program to get rid of it then you could edit your registry and get rid of it that way. I would suggest you open NotePad first so that you can paste those long GUIDs somewhere. Right click a entry in your BHO section and select Copy Key Name and then paste it into NotePad like so:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{02478D38-C3F9-4EFB-9B51-7695ECA05670}
Once you have copied them all, copy just the curly braces part and click on Edit and then Search on the menu bar and then copy the curly braces number into the search box and click Find Next. There may be several entries for one GUID, so keep searching until you arrive back at the first one again.
The article mentions that there is probably a .dll file out there that is being used to redirect your browser or causing banner ads to be displayed across the screen. When you find the offending BHO make a note of the file it points to e.g.:
C:\Windows\System32\bannerads.dll
Delete the BHO and then delete the .dll file above.
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Just as an aside - if you ever get a pop-up on a website, do not close it by clicking on Cancel or the red X in the corner. Instead, go to your task bar at the bottom of the screen, right-click on it, and select Close.
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Interesting Nick, now why is that? What happens if you click red cross or cancel then?
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Yes Nick why is that?
Newbe
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Yes Nick, I am curious to know as well.
KHP ;)
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I agree with Nick’s good advice. You can also use Alt and F4 sometimes to get rid of them.
If the pop up is a “nasty” it can have been programmed so that any part of it (including the two bits referred to by Nick) can cause problems if clicked on. Therefore, it is good advice to not touch it directly in any way but to use one of the indirect methods to get rid of it from the screen.
DS
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OK thanks both. good advice.
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I agree with Nick’s good advice. You can also use Alt and F4 sometimes to get rid of them.
If the pop up is a “nasty” it can have been programmed so that any part of it (including the two bits referred to by Nick) can cause problems if clicked on. Therefore, it is good advice to not touch it directly in any way but to use one of the indirect methods to get rid of it from the screen.
DS
Yes, that's why. All too easy to make a section of a pop-up appear to do whatever you want. You click on the red X expecting it to close, and you could well be initiating something completely different. As you also suggested Alt-F4 closes them properly too.
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Thanks for the advice will put it into practice.
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Thank you for that - will do so in future. What you learn on this site... :)
meles
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Update - PC is booked in to be cleaned up. It it now on continuously after the last struggle to boot up took so may tries.
Incidentally - I didn't know about the way to "close" pop-ups, so thanks for that - I've always ignored them/changed to another page etc - I never click on them, but now will know how to get rid.