I keep getting unsolicited adverts appaering on webpages, what can I do to stop them?
On certain internet pages adverts keep appearing at the top or sides of the screen. It doesn't happen on facebook, but happens loads on the bbc and ebay sites. Some of these ads are quite explicit. I don't want them on the internet anyway but even more so because my 4yr old granddaughter uses my computer sometimes
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Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.
Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.
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Ok, so I ran the Microsoft safety scanner but the ads are still there, what can I do next please? Thanks
did you try the other programs?
I haven't so I will do now.
ok, I've done that and the ads are still coming up....Help?
Is your computer as a whole running slowly?
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/ - Microsoft Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Windows Defender: Home Page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Spybot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Kasperky Free Security Scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
See also:
- "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
If using various malware scanners does not fix it or if you are blocked from installing those scanners then ask advice at a forum that specializes in malware removal.
- http://forums.majorgeeks.com/index.php - MajorGeeks Support Forums
- http://www.security-forums.com/index.php - WindowSecurity.com Security Forums
- http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums - Bleeping Computer Forums