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I had an annoying one yesterday or the day before - I'm sorry, Kael, I forget what it was for. :( It was one of those annoying ones that pop up over things on webpages and make you click the "close" button. Every time I moused past the ad, it would pop out and be on top of every window (not just WAU) until I clicked "close".
Yup, same thing just happened to me, which is how I ended up here looking for alternatives. I didn't like, but did understand, the addition of the ad panel to WAU. This time it forced open an IE (not even my default browser) pop-up window, and then twice refused to closed before finally closing the third time I assured it I did NOT want to install a random 3rd party Active-X control. That is not something I will deal with.
It just happened to me (4:15am ET, April 13). This disturbs me greatly because I don't use IE at all, preferring the relative safety of Firefox + NoScript.
Now I'm going to be paranoid for weeks that I've had a keylogger put on my machine by a stupid ad.
Seriously "scroll over me now". isn't funny anymore. on the other hand if clicking close this big window covering 30% of my screen real estate pays for more of you guys work. salute,
I have it open here right now. It's an ad that cycles through 3 pages.
1. 'Shop Online' with shopping carts flanking the text.
2. Pictures of stuff you can presumably buy (A coffee mug, towels, a camera and a PDA/Smartphone)
3. Text that says 'Click to get discount!'
At least that's the one that opened the 'Antivirus check' for me here.
I know that the problem is trying to be resolved, but I got the popup ad just now for WAU. I never like to click anywhere on those frames, even to close them, so I hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to close it manually. When I told Task Manager to end the task, I saw that the ad had hacked into the next window that pops up (the one that says Cancel or confirms if you want to really end the program). There was an overlay along the top of the window with an [X] to close it and the logo/icon image was different. It looked like an unsuspecting person would click the [X] and follow the ad anyway.
Just getting this out there so that no one does it.
I don't want to remove the ads from WAU because, while there are ones that are a PITA, Kael really does work to try and make sure that they're all safe. And I always do my obligatory click before updating.
edit: oh yeah - and it was the same ad as listed above. It says "Click to get discount!" and "Shop Online" with a couple of shopping carts. Then has a couple images of items to buy. The image quality on everything is total crap.
Just got another pop up ad - 3rd one today too - Each time it was this same ad. Installed updates on my laptop, and got the popup. Installed updates on my bf's computer, got the popup.. Installed updates on my desktop, got the popup.
The ad is for a fake registry cleaner, which is really a trojan with malware which hijacks your computer until you pay for their 'product'. Only then do they give you your system back.
The product's called WinErrorFixer, and is a duplicate of WinAntivirus Pro 2007. Doing a search for it, you can see many people have difficulties taking it off their system.
The larger issue I'd say is not this specific trojan but the fact that trojans are coming across the ads. Someone could custom code one to keylog, and a virus scanner wouldn't catch it, and then a lot of accounts would get hacked...
The larger issue I'd say is not this specific trojan but the fact that trojans are coming across the ads. Someone could custom code one to keylog, and a virus scanner wouldn't catch it, and then a lot of accounts would get hacked...
6 months ago we had ad issues which caused wau to crash after a 30 seconds (this was usually IE protecting itself from one of the ads by immediately killing the application). We got very little help from users to resolve the issue. They either refused to help since wau had the ads in it, or they disabled them, or used other updaters.
I never really recieved enough information back then, otherwise I would have written some code to help solve the problems wau was having with certain ads. Mostly, users wanted to use the issue to revive the whole "ad debate".
The "ad debate" and the discussion of "security" are philosophical, and unprovable discussions.
It's all just a rehash of Pascal's Wager: just substitute "security" wherever you see "god" in the following link.
I question whether it is possible to have only ads that are pure JPGs or pure GIFs files, with a specified link to open onclick. There is no need for all these flashy new ads these days that rely on flash players or javascript code and whatnot.
I question whether it is possible to have only ads that are pure JPGs or pure GIFs files, with a specified link to open onclick. There is no need for all these flashy new ads these days that rely on flash players or javascript code and whatnot.
Yes, it is - see the "trojan" thread for some discussion on that topic
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I haven't looked yet, but I hope there is a way to SVN update the mods instead of using WAU.
Go get 'em! :D
I recommend JWowUpdater: http://www.wowace.com/forums/index.php?topic=5917.0
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Curse Premiumjdk
Thanks. I just reg'd to report this, but see it's already been done.
The popup's URL was http://www1.winerrorfixer.com/code/adv/index2.php
I broke the link above so no one would accidentally open it.
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Curse PremiumCheers, and see ya!
Took me a minute to figure it out since I'm a die-hard Firefox user, not IE, but I've done this. Thanks for the hint.
Now I'm going to be paranoid for weeks that I've had a keylogger put on my machine by a stupid ad.
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Curse Premium1. 'Shop Online' with shopping carts flanking the text.
2. Pictures of stuff you can presumably buy (A coffee mug, towels, a camera and a PDA/Smartphone)
3. Text that says 'Click to get discount!'
At least that's the one that opened the 'Antivirus check' for me here.
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Curse PremiumJust getting this out there so that no one does it.
I don't want to remove the ads from WAU because, while there are ones that are a PITA, Kael really does work to try and make sure that they're all safe. And I always do my obligatory click before updating.
edit: oh yeah - and it was the same ad as listed above. It says "Click to get discount!" and "Shop Online" with a couple of shopping carts. Then has a couple images of items to buy. The image quality on everything is total crap.
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Curse PremiumThe ad is for a fake registry cleaner, which is really a trojan with malware which hijacks your computer until you pay for their 'product'. Only then do they give you your system back.
The product's called WinErrorFixer, and is a duplicate of WinAntivirus Pro 2007. Doing a search for it, you can see many people have difficulties taking it off their system.
This one REALLY needs to go.
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Curse Premium6 months ago we had ad issues which caused wau to crash after a 30 seconds (this was usually IE protecting itself from one of the ads by immediately killing the application). We got very little help from users to resolve the issue. They either refused to help since wau had the ads in it, or they disabled them, or used other updaters.
I never really recieved enough information back then, otherwise I would have written some code to help solve the problems wau was having with certain ads. Mostly, users wanted to use the issue to revive the whole "ad debate".
The "ad debate" and the discussion of "security" are philosophical, and unprovable discussions.
It's all just a rehash of Pascal's Wager: just substitute "security" wherever you see "god" in the following link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager
For example:
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/11/19/pascals-wager-on-global-warming/
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Curse PremiumYes, it is - see the "trojan" thread for some discussion on that topic