No, the popups on this site will surely drive you nuts! The only time I get them (even though I have a pop up blocker) is when I'm not signed in. Ccleaner and some other cleaning routines seems to clear out my auto passwords and until I sign in again its loaded with them. Sandy

the pop ups are exceptionally bad right now on this site, they are so bad in fact they are causing my screen to distort completely between replies. It is just becoming insane the number and type of ad that they are putting on here.
I use pop up blocker it is turned on and these huge annoying ads are still everywhere on this site. I really wish they would get a grip.

One of my firefox extensions is blocking them because I never see one. I suspect it is NoScript. I know it is set to not allow gardenweb to run scripts.

My "favorite" is the pop-up survey box on my GW screen that won't even allow me to take the survey. No way to opt out. No way to stop it. Have notified GW and they won't do anything about it. Oh, what a world!

There was a list of about a half dozen lines to put in about:config to get 99.99 percent of them - if you have Firefox. Do a google advanced search for gardenweb.com and about:config.

putting the wild cards in Firefox is quite affective for things like the pop-up survey box asolo mentions. I've forgotten and can't find it immediately but adding something like *poll.*, or some such, to adblock will stop it - until they get a new URL.

I use Firefox with AdblockPlus, and don't get any popups or ads at all.

No pop up, no dancing bears, no surveys. Loads quick and is readable. Using IE6.

Got my scripts, active X and pictures disabled. If I need to look at a picture, I click on the box and then on the dialog box that says SHOW PICTURE. Some sites I need script but not often and its easy to turn on and off. Active X is just a PIA and, yes, I know its necessary for updates, but I'm not all that thrilled with updates. Keep the ad ware, spyware and virus stuff updated.

Your results may vary.

Bob

I use Firefox and have "block pop ups" checked and do not get any pop ups or any other advertisements on GW.

I never get those popups. FF is my default browser. After reading this I went to IE to see if I was getting them there.
There I get a blank page and ZA alert tells me that Internet Explorer is trying to access the trusted zone.

More info says
ZoneAlarm is asking you whether to allow the connection. No breach in your security has occurred. Your computer is safe.

First, bear in mind that the program that caused this alert may or may not be the program indicated by the file name iexplore.exe. Trojan horses and other malware sometimes masquerade as legitimate programs by using the same file name.

If you are certain that iexplore.exe is legitimate and properly named:

Give Internet Explorer permission to connect. See the Details tab to learn how to do this.

I denied and googled iexeplorer.exe and find that it could be a Trojan.

Now what should I do?

HPMedia Center XP SP2

I have SpyBot S&D, AVG, AdAware, all updated and run a couple days ago.

TIA

Sue

I use firefox and have my pop up blocker on but this site still just slams me with pop ups, I get the yellow bar at the top saying it has prevented this site from opening a pop up window but yet the others on the sides and in the top area still show up and those that drift across the center of the screen and just stop there till you click on the x to get rid of them. I hope they are making a ton of money from them because I am sure they lose visitors daily, I am just about ready to bail if this keeps messing up my screen like this. Plus so many of the new exploits are coming in through those kinds of ads.

I just sent a note to the contact area and let them know that some thing in the ads that are on here right now are causing issues and they might want to check out just what is popping up. Maybe if we all write to them they will check it out.
I have never been to a site that caused the screen to distort the way these new ones are doing which is scary since just this week so many sites were found to have hi-jacked ads on them.

ravencajun, I said once and I'll say it again; "Why does a computer help forum bombard visitors with all this c###?"...........When I stated that I was told to get a popup stopper and use FireFox as a browser. First of all I think the programers are finding away around the blockers and second, I use a MSNTV2 to do my browsing and read emails. It has IE5 on it and a popup stopper, but it lets me know everytime a popup is blocked. Just getting to the forum involves 2-3 popups and every time I click on a message I get one and on exit there is another one!! Not to mention the screen saver and Netfex add that comes up instead of the message and I have to hit back to get rid of it.

Boy would I love to have the old pay by the year membership we use to have......sigh IVillege is making a mess out of this terrific help forum I have been visiting for 10 years :o(

I'm just glad to know it is not just me. However, my pop up blocker gives me "pop up has been blocked screen, on every move, but I have an option to not show the message so I opted to click that........the pop up are still blocked and I sure won't waste my time to see what they are.
The netflix ones drive me mad sometimes and those screensaver ones!

I know I am getting old because I long for the good ole days when Spike ran this place....

I also noticed since these pop ups started that the pages seem to take longer to load, is that normal?

I am on verizon fios the fastest connection around and with all the pop ups yes it is even slowing me down. I can not even imagine what it would be like on dial up.

I get the the firefox prevented this popup thing too but I am still getting ones on the right side and up at the top and on occasion the ones that drift across the screen and just sit there.

I think it must be one of the ones that is being blocked that is causing my screen distortion. When I click on any post to read, as it transitions from one page to the new page the whole screen goes into a bunch of various color lines like the ad is being all smushed up and stretched. Totally annoying.
I keep my pc spotless so that I don't have to deal with that kind of stuff it is like the site has become a malware infection.
I have some firefox adblock extensions on my other pc but had not added them on this one but it may come to that.

This really has me curious. I am using Firefox 2.0.0.16, the only ad blocker I have is "flashblock" and I do not get any popups, (no notification that one has been blocked), no ads along the right side, at the top, nor floating,drifting ads.

Hmmmmm..

Jean

I don't know if this will help anyone using Explorer, but I use the Google Toolbar and have activated the popup stopper. I get no popups on GW.
Steve.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google Toolbar

I use Opera with default settings, and as long as I'm signed in, I get no pop-ups or other ads here.

No pop-ups, no moving ads, no hovering stuff, no side links ever. Site looks clean for me.

I'm on cable using FF 2.0.0.16 with AdBlockPlus (subscribe to "Easylist" during set-up). I also have Avast (free version), but I still didn't have any problems before installing it.

There are some host file edits that have been posted in the past...this has always been an issue with GardenWeb.

I no longer have a link to the post, but this is the Hosts file fix from GardenWebber Frattelli:
Here is the part from Fratelli's post that I thought feldon meant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Universal Solution. This will work on Windows systems for all browsers; IE, FireFox and Netscape. The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory: Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file. 127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com 127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net 127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net 127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com 127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com 127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com 127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone. Unfortunately, iVillage may in the future buy ads from a new source. In this event the new ad source will have to be added to the list. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I did this but had trouble trying to save it, so I had to change the properties of the file from read only. To do that just go to the appropriate folder and right click, select properties and uncheck the read only box. This should work for anyone having trouble saving it, I am using XP, so it might vary a bit if you have another version of Windows. Oh, and so far no more 'wiggle' ads. Thanks God, and thank you feldon and all...glad I was not the only one bugged by this.

And here is a very concise fix (similar to the above) that I copied...I did not note the author on this one:
This will work on Windows systems for all browsers; IE, FireFox and Netscape.
The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory:

Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS

Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file.

127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com
127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net
127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com
127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net
127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com
127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com
127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com
127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com
127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com

Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone.

Unfortunately, iVillage may in the future buy ads from a new source. In this event the new ad source will have to be added to the list.

The IE solution.
Most of the ads are placed using Java$cript. You can remove the more offensive ads in IE with the browser settings. You can't however remove them all. To improve GW using IE do the following:
From the menu select Tools -> Internet Options -> Security and click on Custom Level. Scroll down to the end of the list and you'll see an entry for Scripting. Disable all the sub-entries. Now select the tab labeled Privacy. In the bottom of the box that appears check on the option to block pop-ups. I recommend you also click on the button Advanced and select the option to block Third-party Cookies.

NOTE: By disabling Scripting you will also effect the way other websites behave. You may need to get used to switching scripting on and off as desired. That's why this is the least desirable of these various options.

The FireFox solution
This is an excellent choice -- it's the fastest performing of the options listed here: FireFox is superior to IE in every possible way. FireFox provides the added advantage of blocking all Spyware, an evil that IE brought into this world.
* download and install Firefox 1.5
* in the FireFox address bar type about:config
* scroll down the list to the entry xpinstall.enabled
* right click on the entry and select toggle from the menu
* toggle as needed to set the value to true
* go to the Firefox website and follow links to extensions
* find the extension adblock and install it
* remember to toggle xpinstall.enabled back to false
* in Firefox select Tools -> Adblock -> Preferences
* use the New Filter field to add the following items:
http://amch.questionmarket.com
http://a820.g.akamai.net
http://iv.doubleclick.net
http://i.ivillage.com
http://m.2mdn.net
http://tste.ivillage.com
http://img-cdn.mediaplex.com
http://ads.vmirror.com
http://cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com
http://ads.pointroll.com
* enable Adblock

The trick with Adblock is to block the domain rather than the specific ad. If you click on Adblock to disable an ad. Select Tools -> Adblock -> Preferences from the menu and then edit the new entry; remove anything that follows after .com or .net. This will block everyting from that source.

The Netscape solution.
With Netscape you can shut down all the iVillage ads using the browser preference settings. From the menu select:
Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Cookies
Allow cookies for the originating website only

Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images
Accept Images that come from the originating server only

Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images
Block unrequested popup windows -- turn this on

Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced
Enable native object scripting -- turn this off

Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Scripts & Plug-ins
Enable Java$cript for Navigator -- turn this off

NOTE: GW will now be ad free, however disabling Java$cript will effect how other websites behave. You may have to get used to switching this setting back and forth. Therefore I suggest the Universal option above is more appropriate.

NOTE: You MAC users out there: Sorry I don't have more info for you except to say that FireFox and adblock are available for the MAC.

There's no sense in further complaing, iVillage IS an ad. We need to let them be who they are and stop them on our end. Take care all.

well I use linux only when on the web.
It has suddenly changed here in the past week or so, before there were ads but I am used to ads and able to ignore them, but what ever changed is not good.
I would not even try coming here on my windows machine the way this site is so loaded with ads and with the huge number of sites that have been being hit with hi-jacked ads, That is why we are seeing people here almost daily with the infections of antivirus2008 or 2009 that is how people are getting that infection from hi-jacked ads on websites.
The number of them we are seeing on all the tech forums is increasing daily.

Couldn't help wondering why many of us see no adds when signed in and its a major problem for others. From this post, (repeats only once): 4 see them, 12 don't. Seems it must be a setting or program somewhere. I never see them and have no sites allowed or blocked. Using IE6, xp2, standard blocker off of tools menuBut I don't think that's the key because I just unchecked the blocker momentarily and still didn't see any.

---Q&A in FAQ from IE>tools>pop up blocker:----

I turned on the pop-up blocker but I still see some pop-ups. Why?

There could be several reasons for this.

You could have software on your computer that is launching pop-ups. To stop these pop-ups, you will have to identify the software, then remove it or change its settings to stop it from launching pop-ups.
Some windows with animated content are not blocked.
Internet Explorer will not block pop-ups from Web sites that are in two Web content zones: Local intranet or Trusted sites.
Click here for steps to remove a site from Web content zones that allow pop-ups.

Open Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Click the Security tab.
Click the Web content zone you want to block pop-ups from, and then click Sites.
If you are removing a Web site from the Local intranet zone, click Advanced, and then go to step 5.
In the Web sites box, click the Web site you want to block pop-up windows from, and then click Remove.
Internet Explorer will not block pop-ups that have been added to the list of sites you allow pop-ups from.
Click here for steps to change which sites are allowed to show pop-ups.

Open Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, point to Pop-up Blocker, and click Pop-up Blocker Settings.
In the Address of Web site to allow box, click the Web site you want to remove from the list, and then click Remove.

I get nothing. I use Firefox with Adblock and Flashblock add-ons. No ads no nothing.

Haven't tried IE and don't plan too.

Jane

I couldn't take it anymore so I broke down and added adblock plus and a few other blockers to my linux firefox. I prefer not to do that because I understand people have to make a living and ads are one way they can make money, but when it gets to the point it is affecting my ability to do work or get anything done then I have to take action.

Please everyone be very alert if you are on any sites that start popping up a box saying you need some special plug in or codec or something to make a video play or something run, find out for sure it is legit because there is a very bad hi-jack going on right now doing that. Very bad on myspace and facebook and other social networking sites.
IT can look like this
{{gwi:1487221}}

Also there are fake accounts on twitter that have been built to get people on there to view a video, can have various topics, which is also an infection.
Twitter targeted by malware attacks

breenthumb wrote: You could have software on your computer that is launching pop-ups. To stop these pop-ups, you will have to identify the software, then remove it or change its settings to stop it from launching pop-ups.

THANK YOU!!! I tracked down the offending program and uninstalled it, the pop ups are now gone. The program was one that was linked to Corel Media One, "smilebox" and since removing it the pop ups have stopped.
My pop up blocker did block them, but it bothered me that I was getting them at all because I never had that problem before.

Again, thanks to everyone that has responded, I sure learned a lot. I lurk here often, just reading because to me, this is the best place on the web to get answers.

Linda J

Glad it helped, Lindajewel. I lurk here reading a lot too, or searching for answers. The good folks on this forum really are the most helpful of any of the computer forums. Thanks to all from me too. Sandy

Well shoot...........it was not that program because the pop ups are back! They are being blocked so it is not a problem, but it is a problem because now the pages are loading slow again. Sigh.....guess it is just part of this cyber world we live in today. This was always a place where there were never pop ups. Times change...........

linda if your popup blocker is blocking them look in the info for your blocker it will usually list where the pop ups are coming from this might give you an idea of where to go to try to stop them.