Ads are driving me nuts

[ElterAgo]

I don't really know if this a windows, surface, or chrome issue. I am not very computer adept and this is a brand new surface with windows 8.1 which I never used before.

I constantly have ad windows opening and covering or moving what I am trying to look at. I get them all shut down. Then as soon as I click anything on the page, they open up again. This doesn't happen on my old desktop.

The settings say popups are blocked. What am I doing wrong.

 

[ctitanic]

Welcome aboard. You got infected by a virus.

Try installing and running this

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

 

[ctitanic]

Also enable

 

[malberttoo]

I don't really know if this a windows, surface, or chrome issue. I am not very computer adept and this is a brand new surface with windows 8.1 which I never used before.

I constantly have ad windows opening and covering or moving what I am trying to look at. I get them all shut down. Then as soon as I click anything on the page, they open up again. This doesn't happen on my old desktop.

The settings say popups are blocked. What am I doing wrong.

Welcome to the forum Alter!

You have unwittingly installed some spyware and adware. This is definitely not an issue related only to the SP3 or Chrome.

Frank's advice above is spot-on, and is where I would start.

 

[GreyFox7]

Install this hosts file, it will block most ad and malware sites. . If you're using Windows Defender add the referenced exclusion.

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

 

[sharpuser]

If you block advertisements, you are likely to speed up your browser, due to less traffic. This is especially true when accessing a public WiFi such as in a café or airport. Here is a comparison on my home network:

I use the ad blocking mentioned above by @ctitanic, except I also Enable Google blocking.

Internet Explorer Speed while the blockers are disabled (unblocked):

Internet Explorer Speed while the blockers are Enabled:
(Also note the green graph below the meter - more steady)

It is nice to see that ads are blocked even on the speed test site.

 

[GreyFox7]

If you block advertisements, you are likely to speed up your browser, due to less traffic. This is especially true when accessing a public WiFi such as in a café or airport. Here is a comparison on my home network:

I use the ad blocking mentioned above by @ctitanic, except I also Enable Google blocking.
View attachment 5340

Internet Explorer Speed while the blockers are disabled (unblocked):
View attachment 5342

Internet Explorer Speed while the blockers are Enabled:
(Also note the green graph below the meter - more steady)
View attachment 5341

I'm curious what you get with the Hosts file and the blocking disabled...
You don't really need to do anything special just install the hosts file. If using Windows Defender you need to exclude the hosts file from checking.

I don't get decent results with speed tests as my large downloads typically far exceed the test result. I suspect the ISP is throttling or blocking them as some wont work at all.

 

[sharpuser]

I'm curious what you get with the Hosts file and the blocking disabled...
You don't really need to do anything special just install the hosts file ....

Did a test as you suggest, @GreyFox7 .
With the hosts file, speed is somewhere between my previous results. For now, I will stick with Enabling the add-on blockers.

 

[GreyFox7]

Very nice thank you. I'm sticking with my hosts file solution as it works for all apps not just the browser and most malware can't call home either unless its hard coded to IP addresses. I also use the blockers in IE. I suspect with the blockers you don't get out of the IE process where without them its making DNS calls with null results. Good stuff.

 

[buers]

I use the ad blocking mentioned above by @ctitanic, except I also Enable Google blocking.

Is there a trick to enable Google blocking? I don't see it here. I can find easylist and privacy choice, but not Google Blocking. I am sitting in Europe. Isn't this choice availabe everywhere?

 

[sharpuser]

Is Google your default search engine, or a registered search engine on your browser?

 

[buers]

Google was the Standard search engine, when I read your post ... I made Bing the standard and deleted Google as a search Engine, just to check. No difference. To be sure, I rebooted and checked IE add-ons. The only item under search engines is Bing. Under tracking protection, I still don't see anything to block Google, neither do I see Google under "download tracking protection list" (or whatever the correct translation to English would be ...). Maybe, I totally misunderstand this issue.

I had the hope, to further speed up the surfing experience with IE (MUI). I had seen significant improvements after enabling tracking protections. Still I think, especially using "Back" is slower in IE MUI, than in any other environment, I used for quite a while. (I already thought, that this won't be related to tracking, etc. Just wanted to try it anyway).