Spybot Search and Destroy ??

[Tom Reynolds]

I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
TIA,
Tom

[mto]

"Tom Reynolds" <tom42344@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:vj8diejergko1b@corp.supernews.com...
> I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
> it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
> box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
> It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
> TIA,
> Tom
>

Well I suppose that you can turn that function off if you wish but that
would be foolish. Avenue A is spyware. You have immunized your machine, so
Spybot S& D blocks downloads of known spyware to protect you.

The Avenue A is coming from advertising on the pages that you visit. I
would suggest that you change your home page to almost anything of your
choice that is NOT - msn, msnbc, foxnews, cnet, zdnet or download.com, all
of which serve up Avenue A and similar programs in their ads frequently.
And while you are at it, get a real email address

You can also view source on the pages where this is occuring and hunt for
the links to the various ad servers. Ad those domains to your Blocked sites
file.

ZoneAlarm Pro provides a very good ad/script/popup blocking function that
will stop much of this, as will turning off activeX, java, javascript & auto
downloads in IE/Tools/OPtions

[YK]

mto wrote:
> "Tom Reynolds" <tom42344@notmail.com> wrote in message
> news:vj8diejergko1b@corp.supernews.com...
>> I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
>> it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
>> box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
>> It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
>> TIA,
>> Tom
>
> Well I suppose that you can turn that function off if you wish but
> that would be foolish. Avenue A is spyware. You have immunized your
> machine, so Spybot S& D blocks downloads of known spyware to protect
> you.
>
> The Avenue A is coming from advertising on the pages that you visit.
> I would suggest that you change your home page to almost anything of
> your choice that is NOT - msn, msnbc, foxnews, cnet, zdnet or
> download.com, all of which serve up Avenue A and similar programs in
> their ads frequently. And while you are at it, get a real email
> address
>
> You can also view source on the pages where this is occuring and hunt
> for the links to the various ad servers. Ad those domains to your
> Blocked sites file.

Do you mean the HOSTS file?
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

> ZoneAlarm Pro provides a very good ad/script/popup blocking function
> that will stop much of this, as will turning off activeX, java,
> javascript & auto downloads in IE/Tools/OPtions

[mto]

"YK" <YKnot@home.invalid> wrote in message
news:_kXYa.131314$rsJ.64805@news04.bloor.is.net.ca ble.rogers.com...
> mto wrote:
> > "Tom Reynolds" <tom42344@notmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:vj8diejergko1b@corp.supernews.com...
> >> I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
> >> it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
> >> box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
> >> It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
> >> TIA,
> >> Tom
> >
> > Well I suppose that you can turn that function off if you wish but
> > that would be foolish. Avenue A is spyware. You have immunized your
> > machine, so Spybot S& D blocks downloads of known spyware to protect
> > you.
> >
> > The Avenue A is coming from advertising on the pages that you visit.
> > I would suggest that you change your home page to almost anything of
> > your choice that is NOT - msn, msnbc, foxnews, cnet, zdnet or
> > download.com, all of which serve up Avenue A and similar programs in
> > their ads frequently. And while you are at it, get a real email
> > address
> >
> > You can also view source on the pages where this is occuring and hunt
> > for the links to the various ad servers. Ad those domains to your
> > Blocked sites file.
>
> Do you mean the HOSTS file?
> http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
<SNIP>

If you use IE under Tools/Options you can block sites as you see fit.
Supposed to be for parental control but works well for blocking ads too.
You can do the same with ZA. I enter them in both just in case. You could
just as well stick them in your hosts file.

[Jay T. Blocksom]

On Fri, 8 Aug 2003 16:46:21 -0700, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "Tom Reynolds"
<tom42344@notmail.com> wrote:
>
> I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
> it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
> box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
[snip]

Uhhh... Stop trying to download the "Avenue A" trojan, perhaps?

Wherever you are, or whatever you're doing when that alarm goes off, DON'T
GO BACK THERE!

I mean, isn't that just frickin' *obvious*?!?

> It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
[snip]

Well, there's at least half your problem right there. Here's the permanent
cure:

<http://www.litepc.com/ieradicator.html>

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

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[mto]

"Jay T. Blocksom" <usenet01+SPAMBLOCK@appropriate-tech.net> wrote in message
news:ua1ejvsu575t15g5psn5uplh8t45thhn24@news.rcn.c om...
> On Fri, 8 Aug 2003 16:46:21 -0700, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "Tom
Reynolds"
> <tom42344@notmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I think the Spybot program is great, it does everything
> > it is supposed to do, but how do I get rid of the little popup
> > box that says "Spybot-S&D has blocked the download of Avenue A"
> [snip]
>
> Uhhh... Stop trying to download the "Avenue A" trojan, perhaps?
>
> Wherever you are, or whatever you're doing when that alarm goes off, DON'T
> GO BACK THERE!
>
> I mean, isn't that just frickin' *obvious*?!?
>
> > It pops up every time I open IE or check hotmail.
> [snip]
>
<SNIP> Might be obvious to you but to those of us that might like to ever
visit any of the US news sites, cnet. download.com and more than half of the
stuff on my favorites menu it just isn't that easy. The danged thing is
being served up by a third party ad. And sometimes, even if your don't like
IE you use what you've got.

[Jay T. Blocksom]

On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 06:58:50 -0400, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "mto"
<nobody@dontsendmeanyspam.com> wrote:
>
[snip]

> <SNIP> Might be obvious to you but to those of us that might like to
> ever visit any of the US news sites, cnet. download.com and more than
> half of the stuff on my favorites menu it just isn't that easy.
[snip]

Nonsense. Sheer, utter NONESENSE.

As a little experiment, inspired by your claim above, I just used Opera
v3.62 -- surely the most long-in-the tooth browser in my arsenal, save for
an old copy of Netscape 3.04D -- to visit the following sites:

<http://abcnews.go.com/>
<http://www.cnn.com/>
<http://www.cnn.com/US/>
<http://www.foxnews.com/index.html>
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/>
<http://www.nytimes.com/>
<http://www.reuters.com/>
<http://www.usatoday.com/>
<http://www.usnewslink.com/>
<http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm>
<http://www.usnewswire.com/>
<http://news.com.com/>
<http://www.cnet.com/>

and yes, even:

<http://download.com.com/2001-20-0.html?legacy=cnet>

ALL of them functioned without incident; and that was with all extraneous
crap (scripting, cookies, etc.) disabled both internally and via
Proxomitron.

Why are you determined to promote the use of MSIE, specifically by spreading
baseless FUD?

> And sometimes, even if your don't like IE you use what you've got.
>

Only if, despite lip-service and posturing to the contrary, you really don't
care about things like system security, privacy invasion, trojan/virus
infection, etc. -- or have some other, unstated, agenda.

Get this through your head: There is *never* a valid reason to use MSIE for
anything other than to immediately download a replacement browser.

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTE: E-Mail address in "From:" line is INVALID! Remove +SPAMBLOCK to mail.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Unsolicited advertising sent to this E-Mail address is expressly prohibited
under USC Title 47, Section 227. Violators are subject to charge of up to
$1,500 per incident or treble actual costs, whichever is greater.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[mto]

"Jay T. Blocksom" <usenet01+SPAMBLOCK@appropriate-tech.net> wrote in message
news:9tlgjv8kgj9l65j6hs7sm6sgdojg20hiep@news.rcn.c om...
> On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 06:58:50 -0400, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "mto"
> <nobody@dontsendmeanyspam.com> wrote:
> Get this through your head: There is *never* a valid reason to use MSIE
for
> anything other than to immediately download a replacement browser.

Of course there is. Perhaps you are using your employer's machine and he
does not care to have any software other than that he specifically approves
installed to the machine. Perhaps one does not wish to muck around with an
OS that is already problematic. Perhaps one does not LIKE Opera or Mozilla.
Perhaps one has once or twice been burned in a big way by installing Opera
or Netscape and refuses to repeat the experience. Perhaps one likes IE -
some do you know. Perhaps one is simply unaware or couldn't care less that
anything else might be available. All of those are valid reasons to
continue to use IE even if Your Highness does not approve.

When are you going to get down off your high horse and acknowledge that the
95% of the universe that happens to use IE is just as entitled to privacy
and security as you are - without having to jump through hoops and install
alternate programming to get it?

[Jay T. Blocksom]

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 20:46:14 -0400, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "mto"
<nobody@dontsendmeanyspam.com> wrote:
>
> "Jay T. Blocksom" <usenet01+SPAMBLOCK@appropriate-tech.net> wrote in
> message news:9tlgjv8kgj9l65j6hs7sm6sgdojg20hiep@news.rcn.c om...
[farkled attributions fixed]
>
> > Get this through your head: There is *never* a valid reason to use
> > MSIE for anything other than to immediately download a replacement
> > browser.
>
> Of course there is. Perhaps you are using your employer's machine and he
> does not care to have any software other than that he specifically
> approves installed to the machine.
[snip]

So your contention is that stupidity and/or ignorance (the employer's, in
this particular case) constitute a "valid" reason to do something?

> Perhaps one does not wish to muck around with an
> OS that is already problematic.
[snip]

There you go with the FUD again.

FYI: One of *the* biggest reasons most semi-recent versions of Windows are
"problematic" as delivered is the presence of MSIE/OE/etc. -- which, BTW are
*NOT* "part of the OS", no matter how loudly or repeatedly MS might tell
lies to that effect.

In short: You're confusing the disease with the cure.

> Perhaps one does not LIKE Opera or Mozilla.
[snip]

You like virii, worms, trojans, spyware, abusive marketing, and usurpation
of your rights *better*?

Please... This one isn't even plausible.

> Perhaps one has once or twice been burned in a big way by installing
> Opera or Netscape and refuses to repeat the experience.
[snip]

And how many times must you be "burned" by MSIE before you wake up and
"refuse to repeat the experience"? 10? 100? 1,000?

Besides, even if you've got a bug up your tail about Opera and/or Netscape
in particular, there are still many other alternatives.

> Perhaps one likes IE -
> some do you know.
[snip]

I'm sure Steve Balmer, Hilary Rosen, Cary Sherman and Jack Valenti (to name
a few) just love it -- especially on *your* system.

That *should* give you pause.

> Perhaps one is simply unaware or couldn't care less that
> anything else might be available.
[snip]

Back to "stupidity/ignorance is a virtue", eh?

> All of those are valid reasons to
> continue to use IE even if Your Highness does not approve.
>
[snip]

Well, let's see... If, by your lights, stupidity and willing foolishness
are "valid reasons" to do something, just *what* would you consider to be an
INvalid reason?

> When are you going to get down off your high horse and acknowledge that
> the 95% of the universe that happens to use IE is just as entitled to
> privacy and security as you are
[snip]

If they are not willing to take the simplest prophylactic steps to protect
their "privacy and security", they have willingly abandoned it.

It is not out of line to point out that that is an incredibly dumb thing to
do.

- without having to jump through hoops
> and install alternate programming to get it?
>
[snip]

You're kidding, right?

Anyone attempting (futilely, by definition) to "lock down" MSIE will be
jumping through MANY more hoops and installng MUCH more "alternate
programming" (particularlty application-specific "band-aids" like pop-up
stoppers, etc., and probably at least half of the so-called "security
updates" to come out of Redmond) than those who simply side-step the whole
mess by removing MSIE en toto.

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTE: E-Mail address in "From:" line is INVALID! Remove +SPAMBLOCK to mail.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Unsolicited advertising sent to this E-Mail address is expressly prohibited
under USC Title 47, Section 227. Violators are subject to charge of up to
$1,500 per incident or treble actual costs, whichever is greater.
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