Firefox adware...

ive been getting ready for the arrival of my rig by finding and downloading all the programs i'll wanna put on it. i downloaded firefox and have been using it for the last couple of days, and it rocks with the tab system(i used to use opera but it has too many bugs) and for the first time since i've been using norton and zonealarm i got some adware that planted some icons on my desktop. even with spybot on the highest settings i couldent get rid of the popup that would show every time i started the browser... programs had names like bfast, advertising.com, doubleclick, fastclick, and a few others but even since spybot said it removed those ive still had the popup problem. im thinking ill just use trusty old i.e. and forget about the tabs, the windows start menu grouping works almost as well... does anybody know a way round this? thanks alot.

 

There are a couple of things to do. Set your browser so that you have to review the cookies before you accept them. You would be surprised what websites give you a bunch of those tracking cookies.

If you have Comcast for your ISP, they give free McAfee Software. Most notable is Privacy Software that monitors what cookies come in.

I also use NoScripts so that sites who try to infuse additional cookies are not able to do so.

So in summary:
Mcafee Privacy service
Firefox
No scripts
Set browser to allow you to review cookies

Lastly, do not go to Porn/Warez sites since they are notorious for those 'bugs'.

 

Before going to questionable sites, always disable cookies, Java, and Javascript. You'd be surprised at how much that will protect you from getting nasty little apps on your computer.

 

Yeah, many of those spyware programs are downloaded with consent. Meaning, you may have said it was ok without realizing it. Make sure to read all EULA's before agreeing and installing programs from sketchy websites. Or just don't download things from sketchy websites. However, even places like Yahoo and Google (as in, more respected than some) will bundle their software with adware. Just watch what you're agreeing to and you'll be ok.

Also, you should follow the previous advice and up your browser cookie setting.

 

Spyblaster with FF is a good combo also. Helps block out alot of that garbage. Also make sure you have adblock extension with the adblock filter updater extension. I can't remember the last time I had a pop up or a tracking cookie after running a Spybot S&D scan.

 

swee-aht. i just checked out firefox's cookie settings and it was quite easy to pull them up and delete the doubleclick.net cookie. i should be good to go.

 

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better browser at www.maxthon.com. check it out.

 

I am starting to be sold on Opera. I like the option of tabbed browsing. It also allows setting Split windows and the size of the site can be adjusted to 'fit screen' which allows me to alternate between two sites.

I love the Voice function which I activate to listen to a news article while I surf concurrently.

It doesn't have extensions and I don't know its security functions compared to Firefox with No Scripts. Any recommendations or experiences?

 

The best way of keeping your computer clean is yourself. Sounds strange, but it is true in the end. I guess the above experiences show that no matter what browser you use it will get to you if you are not careful. I recommend reading the following:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html

Some people might find it interesting.


Cheers,

Ivan

 

I could not agree more with your first sentence.
You can put all the locks on your front door that you like, but if you open the door when the burglar shows up, you're still screwed.

Interesting site.
I'm not disputing any of his facts... but that site would be better if he did one for IE, too...

I'm not a FF fanboy, I just know that I like it better.

 

Maxthon just seems much more solid to me. I woulden't really use Opera's voice feature, or the ability to re-size pages, the tab system and maybe an integrated search were all I needed. Firefox is good if you want to spend time customizing it(Opera is the same way) so that you don't get ad-ware(you might say this is not the case, and I dont know how it was for everyone else, but it was this way with me), but Maxthon is good to go as soon as you start it up. I really like the fact that it has the same general feel as I.E. too, except for higher quality. It also looks great with the VistaXP theme I've got going. Don't knock it till you try it. Unless you've already heard enough bad things about it. Sometimes one is all you need, depending on who's saying it. Ok, just don't knock it without discretion. And don't knock on wood, I mean you can if you wan't, but it wont do much for you.

 

I have FF installed too. I like some of its features. The Find is the best. And I have IE 7.0. I use IE most of the time. As you said, Elminst, I would like to see some IE myths too. But maybe it just happens that all IE myths are on its bad things, that turn out not so bad in comparison to other browsers. It also seems that Opera is the best you can get today, and I never ever used Opera except once on my MDA PRO. And it messed up the registry so I had to reinstall the whole darn thing. So will I use "the best browser" for PDA?

And yes I apologize if someone finds that myths site offending or Microsoft biased. I must admit that most of the sources links there are not in anyway connected to Microsoft. Actually there are some people spamming that site and break the forum threads. I wonder what browser they use...

I must check that Maxthon too.

Cheers,
Ivan