Computer help forum: http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client

A couple of things to note:

1: IE, any version to date, is unsafe to use for any extended period of time. Replace it with something like Firefox or Opera, and reserve IE ONLY for those rare pages that won't work with anything else.

2: McAfee is crap. I could explain why, but the long and short of it is that it's crap due to being a huge resource hog.

3: Your problem isn't virus or spyware related, though I can see why you might think that being an IE user. It's just an advertising script gone awry. If you used Firefox, with the NoScript plugin, you could just block all scripts from googlesyndication.com and never have to worry about it again. I don't know how you'd go about doing that with IE, because I try to avoid unsafe things as a general rule.

Most likely it's either the site or Google is having a few problems. However, you haven't done enough yet to completely rule out the possibility of malware. Spybot is a good first step, but you should also be running Adaware, AVG Anti-Spyware, and Windows Defender.

Not really, because I don't care that IE is made by Microsoft, that has nothing to do with it. I don't really know why you feel the need to label me an anti-Microsoft person with an agenda when all I did was point out a simple fact. If it were Mozilla Firefox that was the world record holder for most insecure program in the history of computing, then I'd be telling people to stay away from it.

I'm withholding judgment on IE8, since it's only in beta testing, but IE6 was a complete and total security disaster, you can't deny that. IE7 is an improvement, but it's still far too easy to pick up unwanted hitchhikers without meaning to. IE7 with Vista's "protected mode" is slightly better still, but things like Antivirus XP 2008 still walk right past it.

I'm not dealing in agendas here, I'm dealing in facts, and the facts are that IE is the primary target for malware attacks. If I had some anti-Microsoft agenda, I'd be pushing a specific alternative, not telling people to take their pick between options like Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey, Opera, and Safari. I prefer Firefox myself, but other people can use whatever they like best. If and when Microsoft manages to properly sandbox ActiveX to curtail the malware problem, I'll stop telling people to avoid using it. I don't see that day coming any time soon, but I I do acknowledge the possibility of IE8 finally bringing an end to a rather sorry chapter in the life of IE, however remote that possibility is.

In any case, do you not see the problem with what you're saying? You're already assuming that you're going to get malware with IE, otherwise why would you need a small fleet of programs that do nothing more than clean up the mess IE creates? Doesn't the better solution seem to be to avoid using the problematic program so you don't NEED all those programs? You can eliminate like 4-6 spyware removers from the list just by not using IE. I prefer to be proactive rather than reactive. Rather than cleaning up some giant mess, I just prefer to prevent the mess from occurring in the first place, but that's just me. Maybe you enjoy having your system trashed every now and again, or it makes you feel extra important somehow because you have 5-6 malware removers and you can impress the technically challenged by talking about it. Whatever the case, I would much rather spend time doing something enjoyable with my computer, not spending huge amounts of time on basic maintenance. So if that means "bashing" IE and being "an anti-Microsoft person with an agenda" then I guess I'm guilty as charged.

In that MS Technet post they don't really give a solution. They offer 6 things to try to narrow down the causes.
Your trying #1 might not be sufficient to solve it.

Kees

No problem!

Let us know if any of the solutions posted at the forums worked.

Sincerely,
hfguide

It could be the advertisement mechanism for the site. On the other hand, it could be malware. Primarily, try using a couple of tools to check for malware.. Download, install, update, then run a full scan with both of the tools below.. Delete anything they find:

Malwarebytes Antimalware

Hitman Pro 3.5

Hope this helps.

Grif

If that's the case, since it's your employer's computer, they could (and should) be monitoring it's use to confirm that only work-related activities are occurring on it.. There are a number of types of monitoring software that could be used. That said, the redirect you mention probably wasn't done by someone at work.

What did the malware scanners show?

Hope this helps.

Grif

Open the Control Panel-Internet Options-Security tab.. Once there, click once on the Internet "Globe", then move the security slider to "medium-high" or medium.

If that doesn't help, then go into the "Custom Level" button and disable all Scripting, or at least removing them from "Prompt" options.

I also saw where one member fixed the problem by disabling the "IIS" (Internet Information Service) service from running or uninstalling it in Add/Remove Programs-Add/Remove Windows Components. Most folks don't have IIS enabled on their XP machines but using it such may be causing the issue.

By the way, much like another who mentioned it, my HOSTS file lists the item below to block it.. I have no problems with the issue you're having.

127.0.0.1 pagead2.googlesyndication.com

Hope this helps.

Grif

Hi everyone,

I have read many different sites of people complaining of issues related to this pagead2.googlesyndication.com. However, I've yet to find one similar to the problem I'm having. On SOME sites only I get the windows authentication window that pops up: At the top of the window bar it says:

Connect to pagead2.googlesyndication.com

Then the following is underneath:

The server pagead2.googlesyndication.com at device requires a username and password.

Warning: This server is requesting that your username and password be sent in an insecure manner (basic authentication without a secure connection).


User name

Password

I end up just hitting the RED X to close it...sometimes it pops back up then I close it again.

I have just about every adware....trojan....virus scanner you can have and have run them all.

I also added the following to the HOSTS file in an effort to block it.

127.0.0.1 pagead.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 pagead2.googlesyndication.com #[Google AdWords]
127.0.0.1 www.pagead.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 www.pagead2.googlesyndication.com #[Google AdWords]

THIS DIDN'T work either. Don't know what else to try at the moment.

I'm running WIN XP and IE 8

Any thoughts to stop this login window would be greatly appreciated!

Previouslly you had asked if I checked the IIS installation. I don't have that installed on my system.

I was in the Internet Options window checking Internet intranet and restricted site settings.

Currently there are a ton of Restricted sites listed that were installed by I believe the spybot program. I additionally had added the pagead2.googlesyndication.com to the list. This however still did not stop the windows authentication login pop up from happening on numerous sites. Additionally when I check to find it on the restricted list I can't seem to find it...yet it says it is there...who knows.

My custom settings on the restricted sites list is set to HIGH security by default.
At the very bottom is the setting for User Authentication - Logon...which by default I would also assume was set to PROMPT for username and password. This is the window that I was constantly getting. There is also an option to select ANONYMOUS LOGON. I tried changing it to that and when I did....I no longer get winodows authentication popup stating pagead2.googlesyndication.com requesting unsername and password when trying to go to various websites. I also tried selecting Automatic logon only in intranet zone. This didn't work.

Although this has resloved that MOST annoying popup window....I'm not sure that using the anonymous logon setting in the restricted zone is a good one? Only info I could find on it was this:

Anonymous logon
Disables HTTP authentication and uses guest access for CIFS (Common Internet File System).

Any thoughts would be appreciated....Thanks!
Sas