UKC

Every time I come on UKC there are loads of pop ups appearing on my computer, doesn't seem to happen on any other sites. I use Chrome and it has only just started happening, is there any free wear that will rid me of this plague. 'Ads by Info' seems to be the offending company.
Thanks

Pete

In reply to Pete Ford:

Sounds like you have some sort of virus infection on your computer.

Alan

In reply to Pete Ford:

Try looking in your chrome extentions list and see if there is any that look a little strange in there. Disable them one by one and then try re-opening chrome to see which extention is giving you grief. Once you've found the culprit delete it from your list. Also try looking in your list of programs in control panel and see if there is a strange looking program in that list and delete that if appropriate.

cheers

Gaz

In reply to Pete Ford:

The only 'free wear' I can think of is a chastity belt. Less porn = less viruses goes the general rule.

In reply to Pete Ford:
I had my flatmates laptop handed to me the other day with just this issue.

It is a virus/malware and nothing to do with UKC. If you see an advert on UKC that has nothing to do with the outdoor industry then it should ring alarm bells.

If your internet connection feels particularly slow too, it's probably because it's uploading all it can gather from the contents of hard drive so I'd get it looked at ASAP.

The one on my flatmates laptop had done a pretty good job of disabling the installed anti-virus protection. I removed the hard drive, stuck it in my machine and scanned/cleaned it from there to sort it out.

Hope you get it fixed.

In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:

On a similar topic, loading UKC pages on my laptop it often hangs for a while trying to link to p.skimresources.com or s.skimresources.com.

Is this also a virus or malware of some sort or is it legitimate? It seems to slow down page loading quite a lot.

In reply to Pete Ford:

OP - Check the chrome extensions and delete which ever you haven't purposefully downloaded (they've usually got really obvious names). If it won't let you delete it (can't remember the term it uses but looks like an admin reason) note the reference code then go to

C:Users<yourusername>AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefaultExtensions

and delete the one that matches the reference code. (if none do try matching extensions that you do want against the codes in the folder and you'll likely find one that doesn't fit them, delete that).

This is REALLY common on Chrome recently though they're finally taking some steps to fix it. Note that running 113 different anti malware programs as many will advise is utterly unnecessary if it's a dodgy extension. If it's not that then there's other steps you can look at, including the one I'm about to write out for Coel.


Coel - If you use Chrome you could try the above first. If not, or if that doesn't fix it you need to look at the list of your installed programs and find the one that looks dodgy (they're normally obvious). If you've got quite a few you don't trust then you might need to google some to work out if they're required or not. This might differ in different versions of windows but you should be able to find the list under Control Panel and something like
Programs and Features.

Both - you might find after removing the offending software that when you restart your machine it reinstalls. This will be because it's put something in your startup list to do so. Go to Start-> Run and type msconfig.exe. The window that pops up, click on the startup tab. Find the dodgy one and deselect it.
It's also worth looking at other things here to see if you really need them to start immediately and automatically when you switch on. Lots of programs will add themselves to the startup which don't need to be there and this can REALLY slow down your startup. (I've just noticed Spotfiy had got itself back on there after an upgrade a while ago so have removed it - I'm happy for it to start when I ask it to)

In reply to Scarab9:

Many thanks for your suggestions. However, I'm using firefox with Apple OS -- any suggestions for that?

In reply to Coel Hellier:

Those skimresources shouldn't bother you again.

In reply to Coel Hellier:

ah sorry. Most of it applies to firefox, but only windows. I know NOTHING about Apple I'm afraid.

In reply to Pete Ford:

In addition to pop ups I've now got www-competitionwinners.com coming up on my screen

Been using AVG 2015

Want to use a malware tool but don't know which one to trust

Suggestions?

In reply to Conwil:

Malwarebytes is safe and good to use. Also use their rootkits software as well.

In reply to Coel Hellier:
OS X is affected by very few viruses, so most likely this is something dodgy within your firefox. If you hold down the option (alt) key when you click to launch firefox you should get a message telling you about 'safe mode'. Say yes to safe mode and go to UKC and see if the problem repeats. If it doesn't chances are you've got a dodgy forefoot add-in installed.

Just realised you are not the OP... looks like the UKC crew have fixed your issue at their end.

In reply to The Lemming:

Sorry to be hijacking this thread but.......

I've followed the instructions above regarding Chrome extensions
I've checked the start up list
I've used Malwarebytes using their rootkits software

........but still getting pop ups

Latest is alibab.com which I understand is a Chinese site so that may be a clue as to the origin of the problem

Any further suggestions?

Thanks
Conwil

In reply to Conwil:

Sounds like malware.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1398763

I have no experience with malware on macs, for windows I use Spybot Search and Destroy which I believe is still free. For virus scans I use Avira.

Its a pain to have this stuff and can be bloody difficult to get rid of. Sometimes the only answer is a system refresh.

In reply to Conwil:

I had pop ups suddenly start appearing a few months ago. I forget the exact wording of them, but they suggested I had malware on my PC and suggested I visit a site.

Pretty much popped up at random, but made using the internet a massive pain in the arse.

Looked around for ways to get rid of them too, nothing seemed to work.

I just went ahead and reinstalled Vista. I keep all the stuff I need in MyDocuments folder so it's really just a case of backing that one folder up then doing a full re-install.

Realise it's a bit drastic but it sorted it out

In reply to Conwil:




My only advice would to be not to waste any more time trying to disinfect your computer as you may never clean it properly.

I suggest either re-installing the operating system from a DVD or using any software that comes with the computer to return to Factory Settings. Its the only way to ensure that your computer will be clean as a whistle from any problems. You will then have to spend some time installing all and any updates which could take a day or two to complete, but this will be a more productive use of your time than trying to kill malware.

Once you have a new clean computer and set up the way you like it you with all the software that you need, you could learn how to make a clone/mirror image of your operating system. Its like a Factory Restore, except it will roll your computer back to the day you made the clone/mirror. Its far quicker and less intensive on your time if you ever get any more nasty malware or viruses again.

Some cloning software to look into are:

Norton Ghost
Acronis True Image
Paragon Backup (this one is free)

All three are excellent and will save you days of headaches.