Tech: Mozilla popup block not working

Subject: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 02:28 PM

One thing I don't like about Mozilla is wading through all of their tech stuff to ask a simple question. Maybe one of you folks has had the same problem and/or knows of a solution.

I had Mozilla 1.0.6. It was not blocking all popups even though I had the box ticked and the "allowed sites' box was empty.

So, I downloaded and installed version 1.0.7 and find the same thing happening. I love Mozilla, but this is ridiculous!

In serching their website using just "popups" a link to STOPzilla came up. Have any of you ever used it to stop popups, block adware, spyware, etc?

Is there a bug in Mozilla which allows popups when it's been told not to? Inquiring minds, well at least this one, want to know. THANKS!

kat

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: mack/misophist
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 02:52 PM

My best advice would be to get the latest version of Mozilla. Pop up software is written by people who have a monetary interest in making you look at their ads. ie. They try to work around your pop up blocker. It's a never ending battle.

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 02:58 PM

Thanks, mack, but that's what I did, unless I am missing something at Mozilla. They do have a beta version, but suggest only serious *techies* download it, as it is not the final version.:-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 03:36 PM

From a recent newsblast that I had set up possibly for a separate post, it appears that the 1.0.7 is probably the latest release. Sidebar links at the article below do have some "status" notes on what's new and what's pending for Mozilla/Netscape/Firefox, but I didn't see anything directly applicable to your question.


Thread drift, perhaps.

The other recent news that might be of interest:

1. A first instance of malware directly using "Instant Messaging" to propagate itself has been found. Some malware has previously been spread via IM, but previous instances required a user to (unknowingly or otherwise) send a message containing the malware, and a recipient to open a file or link contained in the message. This new attack places a worm on the recipients machine that can read "buddy lists" on the machine and send itself to additional recipients, disguised as messages from the user of the infected machine. In the infections found, it still requires a message recipient to "click on something" to make an installation on the machine where the message is received.

The IM Worm was found and reported about a week ago and had been spread to several AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) network users. It reportedly is a "crude" assemblage of a crud commonly found in email malware.

2. Netscape has released a new version:

"In a brief advisory, AOL said the Netscape v8.0.4 upgrade includes all Firefox security patches through 1.0.7.

"Netscape 8 is based on the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox code base, which means that security bugs in Firefox are likely to affect Netscape users. The vulnerabilities patched in v8.0.4 were all patched in Firefox since the middle of September but, because of quality assurance testing, the Netscape upgrade was delayed."

The article at the link also has several sidebar "related articles" giving some information about recent Firefox, Netscape, and Mozilla security issues.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 05:16 PM

One other thought. Are you sure the pop-ups are coming as the result of visting certain websites, eg. do you get any problems visiting Mudcat which doesn't have popups for example?

I only ask as I did something incredibly stupid on my laptop a couple of weeks ago - I'd tried to download a zip file, realised when the "do you wish to download and install..." type box came up that it wasn't a zip file but in my haste, clicked OK! The end result was I got plagued with popups when I used IE or Firefox because of the malware I'd managed to install.

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 05:22 PM

Arrgghhhh! My brother is a babe in the woods, just got his first at-home connections set up and is using aol. It will be difficult to explain this to him...big learning curve.

Thanks, though, JohninKS, I did find this in one of the articles about the beta version which will be available, full-fledged, this month or next:

Firefox, which has always done well at blocking pop-ups, has improved its pop-up ad protection in this next version. While its coverage is not perfect, I did find it blocked ads that Firefox 1.06 had let through in the past.

So...maybe it's not just me.:-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 05:41 PM

I use Opera..and occasionally Firefox...and I handle ALL pop-ups with The Proxomitron. I suppose that, for a "babe in the woods", explaining how to route his surfing thru a filtering proxy 'might' be confusing, it really is not that hard...and it by God works! There are complex things you can do with it, but 'out of the box' it deals with 'most' standard problems.

If not for your brother, then maybe someone else will read this...

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 05:44 PM

kat -

The IM worm that was found thus far hasn't been a big problem. It's a concern though, because it indicates an already noted trend of increasing amounts of malware in Instant Messaging. It demonstrates that methods previously pretty much restricted to email can be used in IM, and that there's interest in using more powerful methods on the part of vermin who do harm.

More, and possibly really nasty stuff, is expected in IM. Whether browser builders and all the anti-vendors will keep up with it remains to be seen, but one can hope.

The "pending" update you quoted probably is a reference to the 1.07 version that was released a week or two ago - and that already has been patched at least once if I remember correctly (but don't bet much on my memory these days).

There was, incidentally, a brief surge in malware on cell phones not too long ago. It hasn't been discussed much in recent weeks, but they are also susceptible, and users can't really ignore the possibility of increased incidents. At present they can't do a lot about it; but aware is better.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 07:01 PM

Thanks, guys! Jon, sorry we corss-posted.

I'll look into that, BillD, thanks!

Subject: RE: Tech: Mozilla popup block not working
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 04:32 PM

A recent encounter with a parallel universe caused me to think that I remembered someone here recommending a questionable anti-malware program in a recent thread. A Google of the site doesn't find the thread I thought I remembered, but did find two others (rather old) where passing references were made to the program – StopZilla – on the site:

Tech: Mozilla popup block not working (this one)

and

Tech: ThinkPoint - Trojan? What to Do?

I recently "inherited" a mostly nonfunctional computer and was asked if it was worth passing on to someone. At present, about all I can tell is that it once had Win2K installed, but a removal of data from the hard drive was apparently done by someone with a bludgeon (or maybe with C4) so almost no installed "programish" things work, with the possible exception of StopZilla.

A web search found that about 90% or more of people who have accidentally or intentionally acquired StopZilla believe it's a virus and would like to remove it but can't.

I did find two reputable sites that said that their testing showed no "malicious content or behavior" so they concede that it "might be an anti-malware program," although the presets likely would interfere with what you really want to do with your computer. There was no comment on whether you can change settings to make it behave.

Theoretically, Windows Control Panel | Add Remove Programs should be able to remove it, but lots of people have claimed it can't – on their machines. (Apparently one of the presets is to block any attempt to modify – or uninstall – StopZilla.) In my case, I got an error message and no removal.

Web instructions say that if Control Panel doesn't remove it, you need to open the StopZilla program and "turn off all its functions" and then try using Control Panel again.

I couldn't open the program to change settings because of a popup that appeared any time I tried to click on it, saying that "your subscription has expired" and offering NO OPTIONS except "renew now" or "renew later." It's quite possible you'd get the same popup if you leave the "free download" version on your machine until the "trial period" expires, which may be the problem most are having.

If you have it and paid for a subscription, I'd recommend being very careful about removing it while your subscription is still valid, as it appears to be nearly impossible to remove without paying the StopZilla people for a new subscription just to be able to turn it on so you might be able to turn off enough of its blocking functions to get rid of it.

In my case, I may have been lucky, since I had the StopZilla entry in Start|Programs "expanded" when "something else" caused the computer to begin a shutdown. I went ahead and clicked the "uninstall" and didn't get the usual error message, so it might have been removed(?) if its processes had been shut down and the uninstall did run. At present I can't tell, since the computer refuses to reboot. (I hope the smoke that appeared at the same time as the shutdown was harmless.(?))

Since I think I have the disk for a good Win2K copy that went on the shelf when the machine it was on was replaced, and reasonable assurance that the machine once ran it, I may just see if I can reformat and reinstall to get enough running to get the machine details.

On a machine currently in use, StopZilla apparently could be a real disaster case if it gets installed and subscribed, and the subscription expires, or if a trial copy is left on the machine past the end of the trial period(?).

Not my idea of a good program, but YMMV.

John