Browsers forum: How to delete ad website from my browser window

The Hosts file should not have an extension, eg ".txt". It should just be Hosts.

To open it, right click it and select "Open with..." and then select Notepad. But remember, when you want to save it, goto File > Save As, and in the Save As window, click the down arrow under "Save as type:", and select "All files", then make sure the name being saved is just Hosts, and not Hosts.txt.

But a question about the ad. When you open the AT&T browser where does this ad display? Is it a web page, or does it display in a toolbar or something?

If it's a web page you could try changing your Home Page to something else, but if it is in a toolbar then that is because it is AT&T's customised version of Internet Explorer and you would need to find the registry entry to change it.

You could always use your own version of Internet Explorer in Start > All Programs > Accessories, or, better still, download, install and use a different browser altogether, like Firefox. It has less vulnerabilities than IE or any customised version of IE.

Mark

You Hosts file is likely not to be working if it has the .txt extension, because the software that uses Hosts to redirect web address won't be looking for it. I would rename it and remove the .txt extension. Windows will complain when you try and say that the file may not be workable if you change an extension, but just beat it around a bit and tell it who's boss, and it will comply!

Mark

When I open my AT&T Yahoo browser window, I have a series of boxes that display various things that I choose, like, weather, news, and calendar. The unwanted website is a box right over the calendar. It just appeared there when AT&T took over from SBC. Oddly enough, while I can add things to my brownser page, I cannot delete things like this bad website. There is no choice to "delete" when I try to right click my mouse on the site.

When I position my mouse over the ad, the url address is:

http://adq.nextag.com/buyer/dyad/mortgage_180x150_h2255.GIF

I continually run all my anti-adware programs, but it doesn't get rid of this one, which appears in my browser. I am beginning to suspect that AT&T has made some kind of deal to force people to have these ads in their browser windows, because when it was SBC, instead of AT&T, I used to be able to get rid of stuff like this. Now I can't. I've tried complaining, but to no avail. I also tried searching for the above in my program files, but can't find anything. It's not in the temp files either.

MarkFlax, when I turned on my machine this morning, the advertisement itself was gone. However, the box with the word "Advertisment" over it is still on the browser. It looks like your ideas worked, at least for the ad part. I think I'll just have to leave the box itself on the browser, unless I decide to change browsers. Thanks.

Caktus, when I go into drivers, I don't see anything that says "hosts".

I don't have a folder named etc. under drivers. All I have is audio, modem, network, storage, system, video and infcache. I looked into each of those folders, but couldn't find anything. I did a search using the word nextag, but couldn't find it. I also looked into Yahoo browser graphics to see if I could find it, but no luck. It may be embedded under another name or a set of numbers.

Ok -- found hosts file, will now try next step as you suggestsed. Thanks.

Advertizers and ad servers are getting more slick every day.

Right click on the ad and select "Properties". Then copy the URL and paste it a reply to this poating.

BTW, did you find adq.nextag.com in the HOSTS file?

Add "127.0.0.1 adq.nextag.com" wlo the quotes to the HOSTS file. Note that there is atleast one space between 127.0.0.1 and adq.nextag.com

Re: However, maybe I should look for shdoclc.dll."
Are you getting any such errors relating to shdoclc.dll when you try to connect to the Internet or Web sites? If so, update McAfee, Spybot, Ad-Aware and download and update AVG Anti-Spyware Free . Boot the computer to Safe Mode and scan with all of these. When the scans have complete and removed any problems that are found turn off System Restore. This will remove all of the System Restore points in case they have been infected. While still in Safe Mode run all the scans again. Then turn System Restore back on and restart the computer. BTW, when the AVG Anti-Spyware trial period is over you can still use it by updating and running it manually.

To turn off/on System Restore see Steps to turn off System Restore and Steps to turn on System Restore at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405#

Hope this is helpful.

Charlie

What it does ...
The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists.

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems.

Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? ... because in certain cases "Ad Servers" like Doubleclick (and many others) will try to open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing.

So why delete it?

1. The article [Q909604] explains that Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker is enabled by default on a Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computer that prevents most pop-up windows from appearing over Web pages when you are browsing the Internet and describes how to turn Pop-up Blocker on or off.

2. In addition, the article [Q843015] explains that after you install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), pop-up windows may still appear even though the Pop-up Blocker feature is turned on, and describes steps to possible correct the anomaly.