[Mitten Kitten]

This has been happening for the last couple of days. When I switch on my laptop, it automatically links to the internet. I use firefox as my browser, but before I have even clicked on anything, one of those "Enter competition" windows pops up and the internet explorer opens up all by itself. It then takes ages to get rid of it as every time I try to, up pops another box with "are you sure" etc. Is there a way I can disable it? I use IE very rarely - only when I am having problems viewing pages on firefox - occasionally photos are missing or web pages don't load properly so I use IE then. A superantispyware scan has shown nothing. Any suggestions as to what I can do? Thanks.

[Stig]

Try a Malwarebytes scan. Don't be suckered into installing the trial of the paid version.

[Mitten Kitten]

It hasn't worked. I had malware bytes on my computer anyway. Just did a scan and did a restart.

http://life-localized.com/prize/uk/i...2C86.144.49.84

Is the wesbite I keep getting. It popped up again.

[Sandgrownun]

Try running Malwarebytes in Safe Mode.

[Smiley433]

This would appear to be affecting a few forums judging by the search engine results. Unfortunately none of the forum threads offer a resolution although they do suggest installing an adblocker.

If you can access your router firmware, you might be able to add the offending life-localized.com URL to the "block sites" or such-like section.

[Mitten Kitten]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

This would appear to be affecting a few forums judging by the search engine results. Unfortunately none of the forum threads offer a resolution although they do suggest installing an adblocker.

If you can access your router firmware, you might be able to add the offending life-localized.com URL to the "block sites" or such-like section.

I did a full scan in safe mode and that hasn't worked either. I have adblocker on Firefox but not on IE. The bit in bold makes no sense to me - too technical!
Thanks.

[Smiley433]

The other forums I've seen that web address mentioned don't appear to indicate that they are having problems with it other than it being annoying so maybe that's why SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes aren't finding anything.

Would be interesting to know where it was coming from but in the meantime I'd suggest trying to stick with Firefox and adblocking add-ons where possible if it's only appearing via IE.

[LION8TIGER]

What is your home page set to in FF ? (tools options).

[Mitten Kitten]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

The other forums I've seen that web address mentioned don't appear to indicate that they are having problems with it other than it being annoying so maybe that's why SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes aren't finding anything.

Would be interesting to know where it was coming from but in the meantime I'd suggest trying to stick with Firefox and adblocking add-ons where possible if it's only appearing via IE.

It has stopped. I did another superantispyware scan and also changed the homepage on IE to google. It was previously on Bing (which I hadn't put on to it as far as I remember). It made no difference whether I used firefox or not. The ad started up on its own when I switched on my computer. I didn't even have to click on a browser for it to appear.

Thanks everyone

[Smiley433]

Sorry, should have read your first post again - hadn't appreciated the advert was appearing before you started any browser.

If SuperAntiSpyware/Malwarebytes isn't finding anything, then if you're running XP/Vista then I might be able to talk you through adding an entry to the hosts file which should block access to that site. Granted it's not the best of solutions but it may stop them delivering something untoward on your laptop although the advert may still appear with a "unable to connect to site" message.

But if anyone else has some better suggestions then please feel free to jump in.

[Sandgrownun]

Just guessing here, if it's launching when the computer boots up, could it be an entry in the start up items in msconfig?

Click on the Start Button - type msconfig in the search box (or the Run box if you're using XP) - click on the Start Up tab and see what items have ticks next to them.

[Smiley433]

Indeed. Or even just the startup folder but I'd assume it was something a bit more sophisticated than that - no harm in checking though. And also have a look in the "Add/Remove Programs" application from the Control Panel to see if there's anything there that obviously shouldn't be.

[psionic]

Perhaps also check for rogue toolbars and browser add-ons?

[the gold room]

go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc
open the hosts file
type "127.0.0.1 life-localized.com"
save file, then reboot.