Why have I been seeing a lot of pop ups online lately?

[bamabuggin13]

I use Google Chrome & Avast internet security. I have a Dell, Windows 7 laptop that is just over a year old. The avast has been working quite well. However, over the past couple of days my internet browsing has been interrupted quite frequently by numerous types of pop up ads!! Anything from Pinterest to my school work has been interrupted. The only page I haven't seen any excessive ads is Facebook. I have run security checks on my computer to check for viruses, but nothing is found. I checked my pop up settings and everything is set to be blocked, yet I still see all of these annoying ads. My screen right now has about 5 different animated ads on it. I'm so frustrated & annoyed!!! Any clue as to why this could be happening?? I really like avast, but if you suggest that I change internet security, what free software could I download online??
Robert: I had no idea there was a such thing as anti-malware!!! I ran a antivirus scan

[Adam]

If you have google chrome, download Adblock to get rid of most ads.


https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detai...kkbiglidom

[Robert]

Just because you have an antivirus program doesn't mean it will block everything - generally an antivirus program only blocks 70% of the garbage you will find on the internet. It sounds like you have a malware program that pops up random ads. Sometimes torrent files will install a trojan that installs malicious files on your computer. They are hidden in the file you downloaded through the torrent. Try installing Malwarebytes Free. http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/

It's one of the best programs that can help get rid of unwanted garbage. Usually you can't install 2 different antivirus programs together, as they conflict with each other, but Malwarebytes is not actually an antivirus program; it can install together with your existing antivirus program. It might not be a cure-all that will find everything, but it is the first step in the cleaning process. Do a full scan, and let it run for a few hours. Running it overnight before you go to bed is a good idea.

If your cleaner programs didn't find anything, there are several steps you can do to fix the problem. Try editing your Hosts file. This prevents certain malicious sites from showing up on your computer, mainly banner ads and popups. Try this http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm for more information. It can also block YouTube and Hulu video ads, I love it.

If you think you have a malicious program installed, first check your task manager. Hit Ctrl-Shift-Esc and check the 'processes' tab. Then do a search for the processes in that list that seem suspicious. When you find something that shouldn't be there, search for that process online and see how to remove it; some programs are more difficult to remove than others.
If you don't feel comfortable doing the work yourself, and think you might break something, try one of the 'free help' sites:
http://www.geekstogo.com/
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/