How do I get rid of all these popup ads on Internet Explorer?
Every time I go online I get like 20 popup windows for casinos and weight loss stuff. My homepage keeps changing to some search bar I didn't install. I tried deleting my cookies but they keep coming back. Is there a program that blocks popups? I'm running IE 6 on Windows XP.
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Download and install the Google Toolbar — it has a built-in popup blocker that works great with IE. Also run Ad-Aware to clean up any adware that's already on your system. Your homepage changing is a sign of spyware. After cleaning up, go to Tools > Internet Options and reset your homepage manually.
4 Answers
Download and install the Google Toolbar — it has a built-in popup blocker that works great with IE. Also run Ad-Aware to clean up any adware that's already on your system. Your homepage changing is a sign of spyware. After cleaning up, go to Tools > Internet Options and reset your homepage manually.
Switch to Mozilla Firefox. It blocks popups by default and is way more secure than IE. I switched last month and haven't had a single popup. Internet Explorer has so many security holes that Microsoft can't even keep up. Plus Firefox has tabbed browsing which is amazing once you get used to it.
Windows XP SP2 has a built-in popup blocker for IE. Go to Windows Update and make sure you have Service Pack 2 installed. It won't fix the adware already on your computer but it'll stop new popups from websites. For the existing infection, try HijackThis — it shows you everything running on your system.
You probably have adware installed. The fact that your homepage keeps changing is a dead giveaway. Download Spybot Search & Destroy (it's free) and run a full scan. It'll probably find dozens of infections. After that, be more careful about what you install — always uncheck the 'install toolbar' options in software installers.
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