Address.com is driving me crazy.

[zmzhang]

I downloaded address.com's free interent and used it once. Now i am paying for internet access, but address.com's ads are still being displayed. This is the way address.com's free isp works. It is like the other free isps, but every 20 or so minutes, it takes control of internet e. and displays an ad that you have to watch for 10 seconds. I uninstalled address.com but the ad thing keeps appering. Now instead of appering every 20 min, it apperes every 5 min. Does anyone know how to fix this? I tried reinstalling internet explorer, but that didn't work.

 

[Slikkster]

If you click the Start button, then Run, then type in "msconfig" without the quotes and hit OK, it will tell you what programs you are running at Startup (click the "Startup" tab...last one on the right when the msconfig program appears). Everything that's running will have a checkmark next to it, and chances are if this is the first time you've ever used msconfig, everything will be checked. You need to find the name of the program that's running and uncheck it from the list. Clicking on the box with the checkmark in it will remove the checkmark. If you're not sure about which one to uncheck (don't uncheck "explorer" or "systray&quot😉, post the names of all the programs in the list that are running and we should be able to tell you which one looks like the culprit.

 

[zmzhang]

This is my list of start up things

aim
msmsgs
cacheman
aim??
msmsgs??
scanregistry
taskmonitor
system tray
loadpowerprofile
ensoniqmixer
MMHID
esafe Protect
StillImageMonitor
WinampAgent
Adaptec Direct Cd
Create CD
Loadpowerprofile
scheduling agent
esafe protect
ps2rate
rain
mysmart.links
Shortcut to QUICKMON.EXE
Epson back ground monitor
Run= hpfsched

What things can i remove? why is there two copies of Aim and msmsgs? And last thing, i don't seem to find address.com

 

[Slikkster]

Whew, you have lots of stuff there. No, I don't see the address.com add-on, either, but I'll get to that in a minute. I recommend you ditch some of the stuff you have there as it's just taking up memory. Don't worry, you'll still be able to use the programs you remove from msconfig (uncheck, actually)...it's just that they won't be sitting there eating up your memory doing nothing productive until you need them.

Ok, I recommend unchecking:


aim?? (no reason to have two copies trying to load)
msmsgs?? (no reason to have two copies trying to load)
WinampAgent (waste of time and memory to have this running all the time)
Adaptec Direct Cd (should be able to get to this via start menu)
Create CD (should be able to get to get to this via start menu)
Loadpowerprofile (you have 2 of these trying to load)
scheduling agent (only need this if you schedule defrags, etc.
mysmart.links (Does this really need to run at startup? Can't you get to it some other way?)
Shortcut to QUICKMON.EXE (are you really getting any benefit out of this cdrom cacher?)

Now, back to the address.com thing. I almost went ahead and installed this myself just to see how it was doing this, but held back at the last minute. One of the questions was "Do you agree to always use Microsoft Internet Explorer?" That tells me that they probably use a "plug-in" for IE to activate the program.

So, do this. Open up Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer, just Windows Explorer) and go to the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins

List all the files in that folder here if you would. Most of them are .dll files. Let's see what's in there.

 

[zmzhang]

There is only one file in the plug ins folder. it is npincplg.dll. Is that it?😕

Slikkster, for the Loadpowerprofile, should i disable both or just one of them?
And your right, the quickmon.exe doesn't give me any benifite

 

[zmzhang]

sorry, double post

 

[Slikkster]

Well, I don't have that file here. That's not necessarily important, but let's test it...temporarily move that file out of the plugins folder and put it somewhere else where you can safely return it if need be. Make sure IE is closed when you do this. Then, restart Internet Explorer. If that doesn't do it, try the next thing below:

One more area to check if that doesn't work is this:

Go to Control Panel, then click on Internet Options, then click on the "Settings" button next to "Temporary Internet Files". Another screen will come up. Click on "View Objects". This is Java stuff of which one might be your Address.com thing. For instance, I have a Google Toolbar file I use on Internet Explorer that shows up in the View Objects folder.

See if there is an obvious Address.com file there; something that definitely tips you off to that website. If you're not sure,
RIGHT-CLICK on each filename and choose Properties. It will tell you what website address the file came from.

 

[zmzhang]

Thanks, i found an address.com folder under plugins which i couldn't delete. I went into pure dos and deleted it. Now its normal agin. Thanks for all those who helped.