Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Perkins
So I have never had an issue before a few weeks ago, but now I can't seem to avoid about 30 popups happening everytime I change websites. I have firefox, and the popup blocker is enabled, but for some reason it keeps getting by. Does anybody have an idea as to whats going on and how to stop it?
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Sounds like a virus.
The popup banners aren't being launched by the websites you visit, they are being launched by system calls to the default web browser.
Depending on the virus, it may be "too deep" into the operating system to be fixed by a virus scanner. Since some viruses install themselves in multiple locations, processes, and registry locations, it may be impossible to fully remove it and may require reinstalling Windows (and wiping the hard drive first) to totally eradicate.
If you do wipe Windows and start over, make sure any data you remove from the computer before hand is fully virus/spyware/malware scanned before you restore it. And be careful about viruses creating "virus seeds" on any kind of storage device, which can automatically spread the virus if plugged into a new computer. If that's the case, get a good Linux or Mac virus scanner (make sure it also scans for Windows viruses) and check it there, as any auto installing viruses from Windows most likely won't attack either of those OSs.