Something new???

[pomtzu]

I noticed in some posts, that some words are in blue and underlined, and if you click on them, they take you to an ad related to that word/words. Just what we need - more annoying ads! What's the purpose of all this?????

[happylabs]

Wasn't that always there? I have seen it on other sites.

[pomtzu]

First it's ever been here - to the best of my knowledge.

[Karen]

Whose post? I try to remove those when I see them, it is something the individual poster does.

[pomtzu]

It's all over the place, Karen - even the first post I started this thread with. It's in DOTD and COTD too, just for a couple more examples. They seem to be random and not in every post.

[Karen]

It's all over the place, Karen - even the first post I started this thread with. It's in DOTD and COTD too, just for a couple more examples. They seem to be random and not in every post.

Okay - this must be something your browser is doing, because they are not there on the Dog or Cat of the Day homepages, or in your first post in this thread for me - and I of course can see the base code. What browser do you use? Have you installed anything new lately?

[pomtzu]

Okay - this must be something your browser is doing, because they are not there on the Dog or Cat of the Day homepages, or in your first post in this thread for me - and I of course can see the base code. What browser do you use? Have you installed anything new lately?

Firefox - and I haven't installed anything in ages. It just started today, if that's any help.

[Karen]

Firefox - and I haven't installed anything in ages. It just started today, if that's any help.

Does anyone else use your computer?

We have not changed anything about the sites or the forums today. Is this happening for anyone else? I loaded the pages with Firefox, I have version 12.0, on a Mac, and it still looks normal to me!

[pomtzu]

Nope - I'm the only user.

[Karen]

There is something wrong with your computer then. You need to run a virus scan, and malware scan. It is nothing to do with our particular website, I can assure you.

[Catty1]

This happens when I copy and paste part of an article. I TRY to remove the hyperlink but cannot right-click on it before the message is saved. After that - well, it's too late.

Any pointers, someone?

Thanks.

[Karen]

This happens when I copy and paste part of an article. I TRY to remove the hyperlink but cannot right-click on it before the message is saved. After that - well, it's too late.

Any pointers, someone?

Thanks.

Once it is posted, you can go back into your post by hitting "edit" and remove the link, which will then be readily apparent!

[cassiesmom]

Okay - this must be something your browser is doing, because they are not there on the Dog or Cat of the Day homepages, or in your first post in this thread for me - and I of course can see the base code. What browser do you use? Have you installed anything new lately?

I get it when I sign in to PT on my mom and dad's computer but not on mine. They use an older version of Windows than I do. Dad is constantly installing new stuff, I don't think he realizes he is doing it. Their Internet is so darn slow that he clicks here, there and everywhere to try to speed it up.

[Karen]

I get it when I sign in to PT on my mom and dad's computer but not on mine. They use an older version of Windows than I do. Dad is constantly installing new stuff, I don't think he realizes he is doing it. Their Internet is so darn slow that he clicks here, there and everywhere to try to speed it up.

And I am sure it is something he installed that is doing this, whether or not he realizes he installed anything! Windows is notoriously vulnerable, and spammers target it.

[Grace]

Haven't seen any of that with my computer. I have an iMac, using Safari. Got rid of Firefox a couple of weeks ago when it began to slow my computer down to a crawl.

[Pinot's Mom]

I use three different computers to sign in to PT and have never seen that. On two it's Internet Explorer and on the other it's Google Chrome.

[pomtzu]

Next week when I have some time to sit and concentrate without a ton of weekend distractions, I'm going to clear the cache and run an AVG TuneUp too. I have AVG and it runs a scan everyday, but I'm certain some junk must get thru undetected. I got an email from AVG for one free TuneUp, so I guess it's time to use it and see if that makes any difference.

If I had McAfee, I'd think the somewhat looney developer had put a jinx on his own system! :eek::p

[Randi]

When I copy and paste anything into the text field here from Wikipedea, I cannot get rid of the blue color nor the underlining. I can format the normal text, though.

Christmas (Old English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_language): Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ)'s Mass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_%28liturgy%29)") is an annual commemoration of the birth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_Jesus) of Jesus Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-5)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-CathChrit-6) and a widely observed holiday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday), celebrated generally on December 25 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-altdays-2)[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-Jan7-3)[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-4Dates-4) by billions of people around the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_worldwide). A feast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_day) central to the Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity) liturgical year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgical_year), it closes the Advent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent) season and initiates the twelve days (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas) of Christmastide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmastide).[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-CRI-Christmastide-7) Christmas is a civil holiday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holiday) in many of the world's nations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_holidays_by_country),[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-8)[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-9)[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-10) is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians,[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-nonXians-1)[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-11)[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-12) and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_and_holiday_season).

[Karen]

Randi, if you then go back to "edit" the text, you'll see it really looks like this:


Christmas (Old English[/ URL][/U ]: Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ's Mass[/U RL]") is an annual commemoration of [URL ="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_Jesus"]the birth[/ URL] of [URL ="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ"]Jesus Christ[/ URL][URL ="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-5"][5][/ URL][/S UP][S UP][URL ="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-CathChrit-6"][6][/ URL][/ SUP] and a widely observed holiday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday), celebrated generally on [URL = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25"][U]December 25[S UP][U RL = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-altdays-2"][2][SUP][URL = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-Jan7-3"][3][/ URL][/S UP][S UP][URL= "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#cite_note-4Dates-4"][4][/ URL ][/S UP] by billions of people

I just put a bunch of spaces in the "break" the tags so you can see them! Then it is easy to delete them.

[Karen]

Next week when I have some time to sit and concentrate without a ton of weekend distractions, I'm going to clear the cache and run an AVG TuneUp too. I have AVG and it runs a scan everyday, but I'm certain some junk must get thru undetected. I got an email from AVG for one free TuneUp, so I guess it's time to use it and see if that makes any difference.

If I had McAfee, I'd think the somewhat looney developer had put a jinx on his own system! :eek::p

Until you get this code off your machine, every time you click on one of those ads, you are making money for some Russian or Asian spammer out there ... so resist clicking for now!

[pomtzu]

Until you get this code off your machine, every time you click on one of those ads, you are making money for some Russian or Asian spammer out there ... so resist clicking for now!

Oh don't worry - I'm not clicking. I did on a few when I first noticed them, but not anymore. I just find it annoying to see blue underlined words in an otherwise normal black script.

[pomtzu]

I do believe I found the problem - tho it is rather odd to say the least - IMO

I was trying to think of what I was doing the day prior to this all happening, and the only thing I did different, was to change the wallpaper to a winter Christmas scene. I've had it in a file for several years when I saved it from an email, and I've used it every Christmas season with no issues. Another odd thing I noticed after I made the change, is that when I would shut down, the previous wallpaper that I had been using, would appear for several seconds before the usual "Windows is saving your settings" etc would come up. So this morning I changed the wallpaper back to what I previously had up, and now no more blue/underlined words, and no more hidden wallpapers popping up when I log off.

Any ideas on this - anyone?????

[Karen]

Evil people hide the malware programs that take over your machine in every conceivable way. This may be a good example of a Trojan Horse. They give you the "free" wallpaper that you like, which you download onto your machine, but it also contains the evil hidden software to hijack ads, and who knows what else. Normally once it is installed, it does not let go. You are very lucky if, just by turning off the wallpaper, it turns off the malware too, that is not usually the case.

It would be good if you looked up the name of the wallpaper to see if any of the anti-virus places have instructions to officially remove it, which they may as you said this is several years old.

We're glad you remembered what you did! Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[Lady's Human]

Pom, try running Spybot Search and Destroy. Definitely sounds like malware more than a classic virus.

[Catty1]

Once it is posted, you can go back into your post by hitting "edit" and remove the link, which will then be readily apparent!

Thanks! Never thought of that! :D

[pomtzu]

Evil people hide the malware programs that take over your machine in every conceivable way. This may be a good example of a Trojan Horse. They give you the "free" wallpaper that you like, which you download onto your machine, but it also contains the evil hidden software to hijack ads, and who knows what else. Normally once it is installed, it does not let go. You are very lucky if, just by turning off the wallpaper, it turns off the malware too, that is not usually the case.



But this is nothing that I downloaded from any site. I just don't do that because of all the risks - just as I never open any links - even from people I know and trust. That picture I was using was in an email from a friend and I received it several years ago, and I never had any problem using it until now. If it was contaminated with anything at all, why didn't it show up before this year? That's what has me baffled!

[Karen]

But this is nothing that I downloaded from any site. I just don't do that because of all the risks - just as I never open any links - even from people I know and trust. That picture I was using was in an email from a friend and I received it several years ago, and I never had any problem using it until now. If it was contaminated with anything at all, why didn't it show up before this year? That's what has me baffled!

Every piece of malware targets different parts of the Windows operating system code. It could be you didn't have the version of the operating system you currently do when you saved it from that person's email - and by the way, email attachments are just as likely to have malware embedded, that's very common.

This is why I am glad I am on a Mac, so I can receive folks emailed pet nominations with no worries!

[Randi]

Karen, I did do that, but it's not much help since it's rather tedious to have to delete so much code in between the text. Thanks anyway. :)