ATS Ads Everywhere! How to protect your computer for free...

What has happened in the past week on ATS? I have a MacBook Pro that can barely chew through all the attempted pop ups, and flash advertisement. I won't even attempt coming on this site on a Windows PC, and I feel sorry for anyone who does.
This place used to have class, and was geared towards the spreading and delving into of information. Now this sites has been over run with post bashers-and no mods to catch on, and so many ads the pages may become unresponsive.
Plus the worst one of all is that many of these ads are not legit, these ads are complete scams-Do not click on off the wall ads-only click if you already have trust in the advertiser-ford, or you may download yourself a very nasty virus, or actually pay these people for teeth whitening solution, just to get scammed.

Here's an ad from a scam company I found by clicking on ATS's home page...
score.freehomeupgrades.com...

So in the future when visiting ATS/other sites you may want to have your computer & browser set up to block these nasty viruses. These programs I list are all free-but read the prompt as you install-uncheck items like: "Install AVG Toolbar" and things of that nature. You must be a little concise when installing software, or you may find yourself eating a cutta fish-S.P. reference sorry.

**Before altering your computer make a back up disc of your files (on the desktop, my documents, etc.) by using either a CD (small), DVD (4.8gb), USB, or external hard drive/server space. Simply attach or insert your media choice-then open it to view files. Open another separate window (you have 2 windows) and simply drag and drop your files to the new media source (other window). For Microsoft Office users and for those of you who have specific programs you may want to back up the APP DATA folder, for this do this: hit the start button/click or search for "run", then type in %appdata% this will open a window that has some of your personal software preferences such as Microsoft Outlook email, calendar, sticky notes, and a plethora of other info you may not ever want to loose.

Create Recovery Discs
Windows XP:
Vista:www.vistax64.com...
7:windows.microsoft.com...
Mac:www.ehow.com...

#1 rule-never ever download anything from an advertiser.
If your computer asks you to accept any changes while visiting a web site-say no.

#2 Change your internet cookie setting to "Not Allow 3rd Party Cookies"
I set my internet options to "only allow session cookies" or "block 3rd party & advertisers". A safe search begins with a properly set up internet browser, otherwise they come from the store ready to fail so you have to bring it back in a few months later so they can install Macafe, or Norton no virus scan... which brings me to...

#3 Download AVG Free virus scanner from here You can only have one Virus Scanner in a computer, so uninstall Norton/Macafe before installing: download.cnet.com...

#4 Get yourself some spyware blocker awesome blocker, just install, select manually update, then download latest protection updates, and then click enable all protection. When everything is green your covered. download.cnet.com...

#5 Get rid of Internet Explorer. Why? Well the code is very old, and vulnerable to hackers, plus it's ungodly slow go with www.google.com..., FireFox, or my favorite Safari, because I love to see 30 web sites at my finger tips, fast too...

#6 Don't download Limewire. They should call it Viruswire with reason. Free music comes with a price...many

#7 Get Ccleaner-formerly known as crap cleaner because it wipes away all the turds...www.filehippo.com...
run Ccleaner to get rid of your internet history, and then run it after clicking the registry button, and see how much faster your computer operates.

I hope this lesson gets the nubes into shape and offers a sense of security while surfing the web in the future. Any additional help needed gladly pm me.

you do realize that blocking ad content on this site is a violation of the T&C dont you...and your advertizing it... good luck with that

reply to post by samlf3rd

Even though mods might get pissed at me for this, I will say it anyway..
You can block ads using adblock extension if you use mozilla firefox or google chrome. This will block the ad servers of nearly all websites.
The worst part about these ad servers is that they sometimes also spread malware/viruses which is not a good thing if you run windows.

Like the OP I have zero choice as my computer would grind to a halt if I did not use adblock.
It is not my fault that the ads get more intrusive with flash animations, moving video and sometimes even sound.

If we went back to less intrusive ads like in old days I would happily uninstall adblock.

Originally posted by juleol
reply to post by samlf3rd

 

Even though mods might get pissed at me for this, I will say it anyway..
You can block ads using adblock extension if you use mozilla firefox or google chrome. This will block the ad servers of nearly all websites.
The worst part about these ad servers is that they sometimes also spread malware/viruses which is not a good thing if you run windows.

Like the OP I have zero choice as my computer would grind to a halt if I did not use adblock.
It is not my fault that the ads get more intrusive with flash animations, moving video and sometimes even sound.

If we went back to less intrusive ads like in old days I would happily uninstall adblock.

Perhaps some expert will be along shortly. Until then, do you really believe that with the majority of Windows OSs out there that everybody is having that problem? I suspect you guys have personal problems with your computers and it is not a system wide as you two seem to think

reply to post by Aliensun

Not at all. My problem is that I have several years old computer with only 1.5gig of ram, so even a few such pages slows my system down to a crawl if I don't use adblock.
Another problem is that I use linux and flash plugin for linux is currently more resource hungry than windows version.

My point is that I have no choice, and I bet we aren't the only ones.

to add to the OP's post, a modified hosts file is extremely useful in protecting against virus's, trojan's, malware, spyware ect. as well as blocking many popups and ad's. Another benefit is that it doesn't require any software to slow down your computer. Pre-modified hosts files and instructions can be found here:

hosts files

"The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local (your) machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists."

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems."

I have to disagree with one item that the OP mentioned. AVG is not a good antivirus program. It REALLY slows down pc's, especially older ones. It also does not do a very good job at stopping many current infections because most are malware/spyware. A much better route to go is by using a program called Threatfire. It's tiny, doesn't slow down your computer and does a very good job. Iv'e installed it on thousands of pc's without a single reported infection, which speaks volumes. Threatfire can be found here:

threatfire download

these two method's used together along with adblock is all that's needed. No slow pc, very little to no ads

Great post OP!

reply to post by CaDreamer


Well I don't care what web site I use, blocking the ads is my personal option, and I block them all. Why would I want a virus or to give away my personal information?

reply to post by silvanus

Threat Fire? Cool I will have to check that one out.

On the contrary though I have never had a virus come through AVG it detects them quick, and yes when a scan is taking place it can get a little slow, but its better than Norton or Macafe, and Avast.

Of course I did leave out Spybot S&D because I didn't want people to install Tea Timer and really bog down.