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Topic: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them! (Read 2 times) previous topic - next topic
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Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Yahoo Message Number: 47630
The last few days about half the messages I have read on this site have been partially covered by a popup animated banner ad. There is no option in the window to close it, nor move it out of the way.
Scrolling the page does nothing. It completely covers the first couple of sentences. It is not the usual yahoo ad page that we all see when we are "in-between" pages. Apparently the advertiser "knows" where I am, it is an ad for a local Christmas music event here in my city.

Anyone else having this problem?
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47631
I will add that when I click on the ad, it directs me to the Ticketmaster website!
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47632
Expand the messages instead of reading them one-by-one and the annoying popups are gone.

best,  paul
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47642
"about half the messages I have read on this site have been partially covered by a popup animated banner ad. There is no option in the window to close it, nor move it out of the way. Scrolling the page does nothing. It completely covers the first couple of sentences. It is not the usual yahoo ad page that we all see"
 From your description of the symptoms, this isn't coming from Yahoo. Your PC is probably infected with a Windows spyware/adware application (Macs are immune to this stuff); the best thing to do is get a robust spyware-elimination utility and wipe out the infection.
Perhaps the Windows experts n the group an recommend what works best.

Andy Baird
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47646
"Andy Baird"  wrote: the best thing to do is get a robust spyware-elimination utility and wipe out the infection. Perhaps the Windows experts n the group an recommend what works best.

I'm no Windows expert, but SpyCatcher 3.0 does the job.
(www.tenebril.com/products)

Installing powerful firewall software is also a very good idea to protect a computer's ports from "unauthorized entries"; ZoneAlarm Pro 5 is my choice. (www.zonelabs.com)

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47647
At 03:43 PM 12/11/2004 +0000, you wrote:

Quote
I'm no Windows expert, but SpyCatcher 3.0 does the job.
(www.tenebril.com/products)
I like Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. And it's free!
 http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Another tip: never close these popup windows by clicking the "x" in the upper right-hand corner or clicking ANYWHERE in the popup itself. This can alert the advertiser that they've reached an "active" address and you'll just get bombarded by more. Use the Alt-F4 key combination to close the topmost window (which should be the popup).

Sonsie
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47648
Quote
The last few days about half the messages I have read on this site have been partially covered by a popup animated banner ad. There is no option in the window to close it, nor move it out of the way.
Scrolling the page does nothing. It completely covers the first couple of sentences. It is not the usual yahoo ad page that we all see when we are "in-between" pages. Apparently the
advertiser "knows"
 
Quote
where I am, it is an ad for a local Christmas music event here in my city.

Anyone else having this problem?
Spybot has worked well for me.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

Chris Horst
Formerly: 2002 30' IB
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47649
I also use Spybot and Ad-Aware on my pc, it can be difficult to remove spybots but it does sound like that is what you have.  It's important to get rid of it as you don't know what kind of information it is sending from your pc and you don't know whether it has opened back doors that could allow spammers and others to use your pc. Joan is also correct that you need a good firewall.  I have one more suggestion and that is to stop using Internet Explorer and use one of the more secure browsers.  I use both Opera and Firefox and they are great.  They have features you won't find
Re: Banner ads
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47652
"I have one more suggestion and that is to stop using Internet Explorer and use one of the more secure browsers."
 Amen! if you read the industry press you'll find that every security expert in the business agrees with Jonna's advice: ditch Internet Explorer, because it's got more security holes than Swiss cheese. And did you know that the FBI is outfitting its agents with Mac laptops nowadays, because they've determined that PCs cannot be made secure enough? Of course Macs can also run Linux, and even Windows, if desired, in a "containment box" called Virtual PC that prevents any "malware" from affecting the main hard drive or OS.

Andy Baird
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47656
I'll second Sonsie's vote for Ad-Aware.  Both PC magazine and Consumer's Reports have given it high ratings.

That was an interesting hint on the Alt-F4 to close the pop-ups.  I had not heard it before.

Barry 2001 RB TX
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47657
Jonna,

Do you care to comment on whether you find you prefer Opera or Firefox?

Barry 2001 Red RB TX
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47665
Thanks for the tips, everyone. Our pc is old and slow, relatively speaking, also not protected very well by today's standards. 'Bout time for a new one anyway.
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47679
I think my final answer will be Firefox.  It's snappy, has tabbed browsing which I love, has all the new browser features and some that I haven't had time to investigate and it is a final version not a beta.  Some of my banking and online bill paying sites will not support beta software - at least, that is their excuse to recommend IE.  Opera has a neat feature where you can set what browser it will identify as to a website.  I've used that to bypass the lockouts on some of the sites but there is one that I use to pay most of my bills that it doesn't work on.  Mainly for that reason, I'm leaning towards Firefox.  I complained and they now allow Firefox 1.0 to access the site.

Opera had a problem that is big for me
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47686
I'll sure second or third or whatever on Firefox.  I upgraded the beta recently and really like it.  The tabbed browsing is a treat.

best,  paul
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47698
Jonna,
 Thanks for the feedback.  I tried Opera and did not like it, so I'll try Foxfire and see if I can live with it.

Barry
Firefox
Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47699
Jonna,

When I downloaded Vers. 1.0 from downloaded www.mozilla.com and isstalled it, it gave an option to transfer the favorites from either IE or Opera.  It worked fine, and I got all of my favorites, and the current location
Was: Banner ad ....now Firefox
Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47704
"Jonna"  wrote:

"I think my final answer will be Firefox."

Me, too; the 1.0 versions of Firefox and Thunderbird (the email client) are recently out.

Enjoy Guadalajara; have you been out to Tlaquepaque and Tonalá yet? I don't expect they're the same as they were in the mid-70s when I was there last, but hopefully high-quality glassware and pottery is still "findable".

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't
Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47716
On Sun, 2004-12-12 at 06:06 +0000, Kathleen Smith wrote:

Quote
I'll sure second or third or whatever on Firefox.  I upgraded the beta recently and really like it.  The tabbed browsing is a treat.

best,  paul
I'm a long time used of Firefox on both Linux and Windows.  And, I like the tabbed browsing as well.
 However, no one has mentioned an important feature that is included in the recent releases of Firefox and that is a pop-up blocker.  You can disable the blocker on site by site basis if for example your bank insists on pop-ups in transaction processing.
 Another feature, if you like to closely manage your "cookies", is to permit a web site to set cookies for "this session only".  That way when you quit Firefox, the cookies are erased and are not available to that web site the next time you bring up Firefox.  Cookies, for those who may not know, are a mechanism where a web site keeps information about you on the hard drive on your machine.  In theory, it's to improve your on- line experience.  In practice, it depends on the web site.

Here is a link:
 http://www.flexbeta.net/main/articles.php?action=show&id=32

And check out what Penn State is telling its students:
 http://live.psu.edu/story/9376

Alex Rutchka '05MB Gonnabee
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't
Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47718
I have to admit cluelessness on this subject. Where can I find out more about Opera and Firefox. Where are they obtained? TJ

Jonna,
 Thanks for the feedback.  I tried Opera and did not like it, so I'll try Foxfire and see if I can live with it.

Barry
Re: Banner ad covers messages-can't read them!
Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47724
"Tom Johnston"  wrote: I have to admit cluelessness on this subject. Where can I find out more about Opera and Firefox. Where are they obtained?

www.opera.com
www.mozilla.org

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: browser choice
Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47756
Jonna" wrote:

Quote
...I think my final answer will be Firefox...
I've used Firefox for 8 months, and prefer it to all browser alternatives.  I find the "adblock" extension to be useful, particularly when browsing in Yahoo's ad-infested waters.

--oryoki
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ads
Reply #22 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47824
. . . ditch Internet Explorer, because it's got more security holes than Swiss cheese. . .
 Andy and Jonna - this applies to us Mac users also? If so, what do you need to do to ditch it? Just quit using it? Drag something to the trash?

TIA - Sarah

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Banner ads
Reply #23 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47830
Hi Sarah,
 While Internet Explorer for the mac has the same name as the one for the pc, it is really a different animal.  Still, aside from security issues which aren't as large on a mac, it is not a very good or up-to-date browser and it is no longer being supported or updated by MS.  The browser that comes with the mac OS, Safari, is a modern browser with most (perhaps all) of the features
Re: Ditching Internet Explorer
Reply #24 –
Yahoo Message Number: 47831
"this applies to us Mac users also?"
 Yes. Although IE/Windows is the main culprit, IE/Mac has security vulnerabilities also.
Besides, it lags way behind modern browsers in useful features such as tabbed browsing.

"If so, what do you need to do to ditch it? Just quit using it?"
 Yep. Just use Apple's Safari instead--or Firefox, if you want to experiment. No need to throw anything away...in fact, I recommend keeping IE around, just because once in awhile you will run into a website that is coded so it doesn't work with anything but IE.

Andy Baird
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"