Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

Every time I start to reply to a message in any forum on this site just after I have logged in, I get another window opening. It is for www.job.com or something. It only happens for the first message I reply to. I suspect I have a virus or adware that I can't recognize. Does anyone else get this problem? If so, how have you gotten rid of it?

[nolefan]

http://www.getfirefox.com


make the switch to firefox (free) and you'll never look back at internet explorer and crapware. It has a block pop ups feature and so much more.

[Josh Lyman]

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot - run that every few days.

Get a free firewall from somewhere.

Install and run this every few days also -

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

Hope that helps.

[shmooj]

Yep that is definitely a sign of some kind of malware. You might run spybot as recommended and find the problem persists. If so, head to www.lavasoft.de and download and run Adaware. It isn:t a bad idea to have both of these on hand to run intermittently.

Please let us know how you get on.

Firewalls and virus software will unfortunately not deal with malware from sites you visit or things you download.

The switch to Firefox is a must for security. IE is a very very vulnerable piece of software. In addition to security, once you've downloaded Firefox, I'd recommend you check out the extensions that are available from the Tools menu. These can greatly enhance your browsing pleasure including
Google Mail notifier
Weather updates in your status bar
Mouse Gesture Browsing
Preview of Google page hits when you search Google
Preview of a website when you hover over a link
and many more...
...basically you install the additional components you want.

[dyak]

Yes! Firefox is so much better! Only problem is that it won't let me cut and paste into word?

Any ideas?

Cheers!

[Glenski]

I tried loading Firefox a few months ago. Problem? I am using a Buffalo wireless system, and every time I turned on Firefox, I was disconnected from the Internet. Someone just told me that my wireless router automatically has a built-in firewall. Heck, I don't know, and I am not sure what type it is.

I run Spybot routinely every week. It picks up a few things every now and then. Otherwise my system seems clean. The only thing Spybot can't clean up is the WWWCoolware.Yexe crap (which I got rid of with CWShredder) and something called a DSO Exploit (which I figure I can get rid of by updating my MS packages, done a couple of days ago). Will see if Adaware helps. That is the second time someone has recommended that to me. I just wonder how many of those antispyware and antiadware programs one has to have to check everything...

Someone on another forum suggested totally revamping my computer (saving all documents, downloading a new MS pack, wiping my system clean with backup system disks, loading the pack, reloading the documents, etc.). Heckuva lot of work, and I'm not even sure I'm computer savvy enough to do all of that with JAPANESE SOFTWARE versions and a Japanese OS. Sigh.

[Twisting in the Wind]

Mr. Twisting in the Wind, who is an experienced programmer-analyst says try Adaware--it downloads updates.

You shouldn't need to do all that formatting etc for something this small, according to Mr. Twisting. The adaware program is updateable over the internet for the latest little crumbs and flakes of pop-ups and other junk that floats around.

If you would like some more advice you can PM us.

Twistie

[Guy Courchesne]

Glenski, a quick fix for you, after getting Spybot or Adaware running, is to delete the bookmark you have for the forums. The spyware hijacked it at that point.

Go to Dave's by manually typing the url, then bookmark again.

[Glenski]

I just used Ad-Aware and found almost 200 pieces of malware. They have now been taken care of. Unfortunately, this did not solve my problem with this site and the www.job.com detour. What next?


Guy,
Thanks for the tip. How do I delete just that one URL? I would rather not delete ALL of them, which is what I seem to have to do right now. I don't know how to delete only one at a time.

[Guy Courchesne]

If you are using any Windows system, open the bookmarks and right click on the Dave's bookmark. You get an option there to delete it. If you use Mac, I think the same can be done, but by holding down the ctrl key while right clicking. I don't know other browsers or systems.

Keep updating the Adaware package...I routinely find 10-15 new spy progs per day, mostly malicious cookies.

[Sinobear]

A further tip - after you run adaware, before cleaning tracking cookies, write down the URLs of the cookie's originator. In IE, go to into TOOLS>INTERNET OPTIONS>PRIVACY. Choose EDIT. Type in the URL and select BLOCK. This will prevent your system from accepting cookies from sites that use cookies to collect personal information.
I also use Pop-Up Stopper. You can get it at www.download.com

Cheers!

[Glenski]

Sinobear,

When I click on Edit, I get a window that has another window labeled Domain with a huge number of files on it. Are those the cookies? If so, typing in (or even copying/pasting them) will be a real...uh...bear.

[Sinobear]

You type the URL in the "Add Address of Web site" field then press "Block". The list that you see under domains are the sites that are already managed by the IE Privacy Policy. If you run Spybot Search and Destroy, update the signatures (web update), run the scan, then select "Immunize". Spybot will automatically add the URLs of offending sites to the blocked domain list in IE.
It seems like a lot of work, but if you do it once, then you only need to add those domains that Adaware picks up. I run Spybot and Adaware once a week (as well as update the good ole' Norton AV and firewall) and now only add maybe one URL a week to the blocked list.

[shmooj]

[Glenski]