Pop-ups keep randomly showing up on my computer. internet explorer opens itself up alllllll the time. help?

Question

i've tried deleting all the cookies, but it keeps doing it. and to make things worse, whenever i try to browse the internet, random websites that i've never visited before take over... they load over what i want to load, so there's no hope of me ever finding what i want online.......

:(

Answer 1

Get a popup blocker!

Something like the Yahoo! Toolbar popup blocker that will install in IE I know, probably other browsers as well.

Also, try upgrading your browser.  I know IE7 has a built in popup blocker.  But, for IE7 and above, you need to have Windows XP SP2 also installed.  I realize this is only for Windows XP.  I have not experienced Vista or any Mac computers yet, so I would only be guessing.

Once you get a utility that is/has a popup blocker, you will need to configure the popup blocker settings.  I would honestly go for FULL blocking... blocking every stupid popup that is around.

I honestly hate popups... they are a really bad idea for any site, regardless of what that site is advertising.  Like is happening with you, they cause more distress than anything else for web surfers.

Answer 2

Download AVG Free, Spybot. AdAware free and CCleaner. They're all free and work well. Run them and do as directed, you will be amazed at the amount of garbage on your computer. I think you can download these programs at Cnet/downloads. For a partial look click start, click run, type in %temp%, click ok. this will show you just some of the c**p websites put on your computer. Click edit, click select all, click delete selected items, they will be sent to the recycle bin. Go there and click empty recycle bin.  

Answer 3

I'm almost fully confident that your computer is infected with spyware.

Pop-ups and unknown websites are two popular symptoms of spyware infection. These evil peope just want to find customers, so they want you to visit their sites and read their ads via pop-ups.

The only thing that you can do now is disinfect it with an antispyware. Spybot is free and is good enough to remove most spyware.