Re Firefox

[astroron]

I am having a problem with "Pop Up Adds"
see post Here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=106652) on computers forum.
A suggestion was made to uninstall firefox, What would be
the consequences of doing this? Ie what would I loose:question:
Would I have to redo everything I have on my computer that is not windows :question:
I have posted this here as I thought It may get a bit more exposure:)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[chrisp9au]

Ron,

Before you uninstall Firefox try installing a Firefox add on called Adblock Plus. It might stop the problems.

My experience with re-installing browsers is that your bookmarks etc. are saved elsewhere and will be available when you re-install.

Cheers :thumbsup:

Chris

[Shano592]

Ron, I have added to your other post.

[astroron]

Thanks Chris,I have both "Add Block" and Updated "Ad Blocker for firefox" and and still I have these damn pop up adds:mad2:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Shano592]

Sounds like a hijacker. Malwarebytes should help with that.

[LewisM]

AdBlock plus WILL stop them all (works flawlessly on my Firefox etc), so as suggested, you have OTHER issues BESIDES that - likely a Spyware/Tracker that loads links into your browser, despite what protection you have.

[astroron]

No, it didn't for me:(
I even uninstalled and installed the latest version of Firefox
and it is still here:mad2:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[chrisp9au]

Ron, what is the pop-up that's causing the problem?
Is it always the same pop-up?
Maybe we can trace the problem if you can identify it.

Chris

[astroron]

Chris,It is called DropDownCoupons.
I downloaded a malaware program and after doing a complete scan,in which it never found the above program,but found a number of others it would not fix them till I bought the program, which I did not know about till I had downloaded it and spent nearly half an hour scanning my system:mad2:.

[astroron]

I have just done a full scan with Malawarebites and it did not find even one problem file
I had previously done a quick scan with the same result.
Will be uninstalling this program as it obviously isn't upto the job.
Cheers

[LewisM]

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/951866

[LewisM]

NO! No virus checker will delete it - it's not a virus!

Read the link I just posted

Malwarebytes is THE best virus removal tool around. Been running it for 5 years - catches all legitimate virii, that pathetic Norton misses.

[astroron]

I have already done the above you suggest and followed their instructions to the letter even going through Mozilla help ect and no luck,But will keep trying .
Cheers

[blink138]

adblock plus works for me
pat

[LewisM]

Absolutely. Never had a pop-up in years.

Ron MUST have accidentally installed it - likely with one of the programmes with the sneaky "auto installs" (ALWAYS go the Custom install!!!) or with a deceiving radio button that makes it SEEM like the entire thing won't be installed UNLESS you install the crap.

[CJ]

This might throw some light on the subject.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-coupondropdown/

[Shano592]

This is proving to be a doozy, Ron.

Can you please try this:

1. Open a new tab in Firefox
2. Type in: About:config in the address bar - capitals not necessary.
3. Agree to be careful, in order to proceed

You should now see a search bar, with a whole lot of user data below it.

4. In the search bar, type DropDownCoupons or just coupons. Does anything show up underneath? It should remove anything that doesn't have that keyword.

Let us know what happens.

[astroron]

Shane I am in there now and have agreed to be careful, what am I to look for ?

[astroron]

Nope,none of those things fix the problem, because there isn't any of those files in my add-ons.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[Shano592]

In the search bar (under the address bar, in the main section of the page at the top), type in the word "coupon", without the quotes.

Does anything show up?

Nothing appears in mine for that word, and I'm hoping that there may some things in there that we can disable, which should fix your problem.

[chrisp9au]

Ron, lots of references to your problem, try Googling "Drop Down Coupons" Firefox

This seems to be the best step by step solution. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-coupondropdown/

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[chrisp9au]

Whoops, CJ beat me to it!

[astroron]

Didn't see anything with anywhere near the title:shrug:

[Shano592]

Hmmmm. This is getting weirder.

When did it begin, Ron?

[astroron]

About three days ago Shane.:mad2:

[astroron]

Nothing doing with that as the title "CouponDropDown" does not appear
anywhere in my add-ons:shrug:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Shano592]

The only other thing that I can think of to try a system restore to about a week in the past.

You won't lose any data, but it will uninstall anything that has been installed in that timeframe.

1. Click on the start button on the bottom left of screen (Win95 - Win7)
2. Search for a file called rstrui.exe
3. Run that file.
4. Go through the restore screen (I think you click NEXT somewhere in there).
5. Choose a date that is at least a week back, and click <NEXT>
6. Confirm your selection on the next screen.

Your computer will restart once or twice during this restoration.

I think it will take 30-45 minutes to do, but hopefully it solves your problem once and for all.

Fingers crossed.

[chrisp9au]

Check all of the titles mentioned on that website, not just coupondropdowns.
They are all suspicious titles, remove every single one of them if there are there. Also check out the Registry entries and filenames on your PC.

Chris

[astroron]

Shane Done all that and it is still here :mad2:
Cheers

[CJ]

Hi Ron,
Just a thought. In the control panel you can list programs to uninstall by the date they were installed. That might narrow down recently installed potential offenders.

[astroron]

Non of them appeard in my add-ons
I followed their instructions to the letter Chris
and it is still here.
Cheers

[Shano592]

Oh boy! This is a doozy indeed!

Last one that I have. This is going into the registry, so it can be a little hairy.

OK... on the Start Menu, search for Regedit.exe and run it.

When the registry editor opens, hit CTRL-F and in the search field, type CouponDropDown, and then click the <Find Next> button.

Let it search (it can take quite a while, depending on how loaded your registry is), and note how many times it stops, after finding something.

Press the F3 key to search for the next one (it won't start from the top with the F3 key).

Let us know if anything shows up there, and if so, how many.

Also, what version of Windows are you running?

[astroron]

Running Windows 7
Only thing registry comes up with is a torn page icon with a red ab in it and (default) REG_SZ (value not set)

[Shano592]

Sorry, Ron ... you've run me out of ideas!

I was sure that several of those would help you.

This is going to bug me now.

[astroron]

A friend has the same problem and her hubby is a computer man so when he finds a cure he will let me know,but from what she said it looks like a windows re install what ever that is,It sounds very frightening,as I may loose lots of stuff :sadeyes:
Thanks for your help Shane:thanx:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[LewisM]

Download and use the following:
1. Hijack this (http://sourceforge.net/projects/hjt/)
2. Spybot: Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/)

Try it.

[astroron]

Looks like it's gone :)
I have not had any add pop ups and can't seem to get them to do so :screwy:
I don't know which thing I did was the one that removed it :shrug:
I hope I am not counting my chickens :question:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Shano592]

Fingers crossed.

Maybe it got scared and scarpered!

[CJ]

:thumbsup:

[peterl]

Hi Ron.
I am learning about computers as well.
Try this.
In your tools tab on top in Firefox, select "options"
Next window select "content"
On top of that window make sure that
"block pop up windows" is ticked
Dont know if that will work.
Peter.

[astroron]

I deleted an add-on for downloading UTube ect,and it must in that as it disappeared after that.
The info I got from firefox fixer said it was probably from a third party down load.
Anyway there is no sign of it now :D
Cheers:thumbsup: