ok i used litestep like a year or 2 ago and then i switched to linux. i'm now back on windows (xp pro) and so i thought id give litestep a try to see how its comming. i really think litestep has come a long way, but now that i installed it i'm getting alot of pop-up advertisements that pop-up IE windows. I use Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org , i dont work for mozilla or am not connected with them in anyway, just think its a great browser) so i dont understand why the pop-ups would use IE, but anyway i dont see how i am getting those pop-ups anyway besides from litestep because i never got them before i installed litestep. so i was just curoius if that was the cause, and if so why? if it is litestep i plan on uninstalling it because thats just wrong. thank you
Definitely spyware or some other malware. It's not LS, that's for sure - I get no popup ads for anything. As for the popups using IE, it's probably coded directly into the popup generating software that it should use IE and not just the default browser.
I use ad-aware pro and have no spyware so im sure thats not it, i'm not saying i still think its LS, i was just curious.
I have had similar problems as of late in Firefox. It appears that websites have figured out a way around the PopupBlocker built into the Mozilla apps by spawning IE sessions. Tiz not nice for sure.
But thats the thing, when it happens i don't have any browsers open. unless they can still spawn ie sessions with a timer, dont know though ,im not really into coding of any kind
Unless some genius did some monkey business with the installer, you've definitely got some spyware that AdAware hasn't gotten rid of.
LS is purely open-source and therefore ad-free. Never had any popup problems here.
I know I had a similar spyware device on my 2k machine awhile back--I'd leave the computer with nothing running but Windows, come home and see that the processor was being overtaxed and there was no free RAM, all due to the million popup windows that had appeared. It took me awhile, but I eventually found the bug and squashed it. That was a long time ago, though, I don't remember where it was or what its name was.
Check your processes (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) and see if there's anything you don't recognize running. If you kill it, it may respawn itself.
Chances are, it starts with Windows. I have a util called RegCleaner (before it turned into JV16PowerTools and started costing money) and I can send you the installer if you'd like. E-mail me if you want it. It's a great tool for cleaning out your registry and seeing if there's anything malicious starting with windows. With it, you can delete the key that starts the bug and take note of its location, log in and out (or restart), and manually remove it. LS definitely isn't causing the problem.
My advice: boot in safe mode, run ad-aware, spybot S&D and CWShredder (yes, run all three). Run a virus scan. Check for startup entries whith whatever program you wish. reboot.
hey rufuseddy - what kind of adds do u get?
i mean the url it is redirecting you to?
i had the exact same problem before - had to use explorer coz the site i wanted to visit was badly coded and didnt support FF ... thats how i got infected and for about 3 weeks i kept wondering wtf opened all those IE windows Adaware didnt find anything i installed Spybot ... wuuuoouu a big red list appeared, but it only found some cookies and freaked out obout it - ffs those IE windows still popped up *grumblenumble*
finally someone in irc pointed me to this CWShredder which really found the lil parasite ... so keep searching, it definitely aint LS to blane!
http://download.softpedia.com:8080/ANTIVIRUS/delcwssk.zip
good luck - i know its really annoying ó.Ò
rufuseddy - did u solve ya add problems?