Trains.com

NOISY ADVERTISING HOW TO KILL!

1933 views
14 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Iowa
  • 3,293 posts
NOISY ADVERTISING HOW TO KILL!
Posted by Semper Vaporo on Saturday, September 26, 2015 2:36 PM

I am now using Winders 10 and the new EDGE browser... and all my anti-advertising add-ons are no longer working and I am stuck with MULTIPLE advertising subwindows that are playing AUDIO that I cannot get to SHUT UP!!!

 

The download time for the audio and video even locks up my PC while I am typing this and I have to wait for it to start playing the Verison advertising and other gobbledgook, and it all sounds like someone rapidly tuning a radio to different stations.

 

I CALL FOR A BOYCOTT OF ALL ADVERTISERS THAT ARE SO RUDE IN THIS MANNER.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

  • Member since
    May 2007
  • 194 posts
Posted by nyc#25 on Saturday, September 26, 2015 2:49 PM

I agree.  Let's put these greedy bums out of business!

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Georgia USA SW of Atlanta
  • 11,919 posts
Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, September 26, 2015 3:22 PM

Semper:  My computer still has 8.1 and no edge.  But the last few days have the same audio ads and they freeze up my computer while running.  Mute button only partially helps..

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Saturday, September 26, 2015 6:10 PM

Windows 7; Firefox. So far, no problem.

Not a big fan of Microsoft's recent offerings.

Norm


  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,276 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, September 26, 2015 6:25 PM

Currently working off my Vista machine with IE8, Firefox and Chrome.  IE8 locks up with some of them.  Firefox crashes and so far Chrome is chugging on.  Some of the audio ads get through.

I am sick of articles that are linked to a video - I want to READ the article, not view the video.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • 3,231 posts
Posted by NorthWest on Saturday, September 26, 2015 6:47 PM

Isn't there some way to still use IE11 on 10? Otherwise, using a third party browser may be your best option. If computer lock-ups were not an issue, you could simply turn off your speakers.

My biggest problem with them is that some freeze the page on the video or automatically scroll to the video while the ad is playing, sometimes repeatedly.

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Iowa
  • 3,293 posts
Posted by Semper Vaporo on Saturday, September 26, 2015 9:55 PM

I would stick a screwdriver in the speaker cones if I didn't need the speakers for other purposes.  I have an alarm program that I wrote that alerts me to events I need to be reminded of and it uses sounds as part of the alerts. So turning the volume down is not an option for me.

BUT!!!! 

I have what I think is a satisfactory fix... but it takes some explaining how to do it.

The gist is to add a bunch (and I do mean a BUNCH) of site URLs to the "HOSTS" file.  This list "redirects" the browser from going to one of the listed URLs to a dummy address that just causes the data to be dropped.

To edit your HOSTS list, do this:

1) Copy and paste the following URL into a blank page of your browser:

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt

This will bring up a text list (a HUGE text list) of advertiser URLs (with some comments that sort of explain the list).  This is the aforementioned "BUNCH".  Don't close this list yet, you will be coming back to it in a minute.

2) In the "Search Windows" box on the left side of the Windows Task Bar (bottom of the desktop) type:

Notepad

and in the list that shows up, above where you are typing, RIGHT-click on the 'Notepad' entry and select "Run as Administrator" to run Notepad.

Then, in Notepad select "File|Open" and wend your way to:

 C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc"

and at the bottom of the file select window select to view "All files" (instead of "*.txt" only).  Then click on the file named 'Hosts' and click the "Open" button.

This will open the present Hosts file, which may be small or large, depending on what other programs might have added to it. ("Spybot Search & Destroy" has an option to insert many URLs known (to them) as being "unsafe", and there are other anti-malware programs that might have added to this list.)

3) Now, back on that web page you opened earlier, type a "Ctrl-A" to select the whole list (it will hightlight), and then type "Ctrl-C" to copy that highlighted data to the Winders Clipboard.

Then select the Notepad windows again and scroll to the bottom of the present list and type "Ctrl-V" to paste the Clipboard into the file to add this additional list to the end of whatever is already there.

Then select 'File|Save'.  Re-select the File Type to be "All files" like when you opened the file and click the "Save" button.  You will get a notice that the file already exists and you will need to give permission to overwrite it.  You may also get a notice that the file is marked "Read Only", if so, right click on the "Hosts" file name and click "Properties" and uncheck the "Read Only" checkbox at the bottom of the dialog that appears and click "OK", then try the Save again.

You can close Notepad and the web page now.  You may need to terminate your browser and restart it for these additions to take effect.

 

So far... I have not been hearing the woman screaming or the multitude of voices sounding like a radio with poor station separation in the tuner and I have not had to pause my typing while a new ad loads. I sure hope this works for a long time!  I suppose that new advertising agencies will come along and those URL's will need to be added in the future but for right now... that LONG list is doing the job!

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Saturday, September 26, 2015 9:59 PM

Designing and selling adware is a huge and profitable business.  Just like our virus/trojan/and other malware producer friends, its a heckuva living...somehow...someplace.  They are the initiators, and everyone else down the line is purely reactive.  AKA 'stung'.

For the past several months, whether on Win7, or with Win10 as of early August, my yahoo news home page shows the little blue halo and everything freezes, except my mouse, whenever a script is activated and a new ad loads per the server's instructions.  That's about every 20-30 seconds by my reckoning.  I'll be posting a comment, and while attempting to type the second 'm' in 'comment', the cursor stops and all I get is nothing as I repeatedly type the 'm'.  Then, the blue halo shows where the cursor arrow should be and I get a countertop dingle bell sound. I have to manually retrieve the cursor and place it after that lonesome 'm'.

I don't know if my enemy is Mr. Software Engineer in Kazahkstan, or if it's Mr. Kasperski just down the road. Angry

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 27, 2015 10:18 AM

I have Windows 10 on my computer and am not experiencing any popups in any of the broswer I have loaded on my system.

Yes, it is possible to use Internet Explorer 11 as well as Microsoft Edge in Windows 10. 

All you have to do is when you are brining up a site....select the option for "open this site with internet Explorer.

 

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Sunday, September 27, 2015 1:28 PM

I don't know if Adblockplus is available for other browsers but works well on Firefox. Keeps the unwanted garbage at bay.

Norm


  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Iowa
  • 3,293 posts
Posted by Semper Vaporo on Sunday, September 27, 2015 2:15 PM

To answer some previous questions...

 

Yes, IE-11 is still available in Windows 10.  You can get to it by searching for "IExplore" or "Internet Explorer" in the 'Search Windows' box at the left edge of the Task Bar.  Also, there is a menu entry in EDGE itself to open the presently displayed web page in IE; Click the three dots on the right side of the menu bar and then select "Open with Internet Explorer".

Secondly, MS has not provided a way to do "add-ons" to EDGE, so there is presently no way to connect a helper app such as an ad-blocker to it... lots of complaints about that on-line... which is where I found the instructions and the list of advertising URLs to add to the Hosts file (in my previous post).

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Georgia USA SW of Atlanta
  • 11,919 posts
Posted by blue streak 1 on Sunday, September 27, 2015 2:43 PM

On this poster's computer the scratchy voice ads only happen on trains' website.  if I go to another site voice stops but returns when going back to trains. It even interfers with trains' audio.  Hey IT better look into this.

 

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: San Francisco East Bay
  • 1,360 posts
Posted by MikeF90 on Sunday, September 27, 2015 3:05 PM

nyc#25
I agree.  Let's put these greedy bums out of business!

Please don't use such a broad brush on 'advertisers', as the vast majority of web sites are funded by some kind of adverts.

I do agree with the OP, some ads are just Rude and overly intrusive. I have Adblock turned off on frequently visited sites like trains.com and still have not heard any audio ads when using Firefox. 

To reduce the 'video noise' I've removed the standard Adobe Flash; I will fire up Opera (which uses 'pepper' flash from Chrome) if I really need to see something that requires Flash.

Using the immature Win10 and Edge brings to mind the expression 'glutton for punishment'. To each his own .... My 2 Cents

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,276 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, September 27, 2015 3:36 PM

I have no idea what is going on with Firefox on my Vista machine.  Crashes on nearly every web page - no matter the site.  Reloaded it and it is still happening, needless to say the machine has been rebooted a time or three.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    April 2015
  • 9 posts
Posted by CSX7527 on Sunday, September 27, 2015 4:29 PM
Ads on which site? Trains? I use Firefox and AdBlockPlus (ABP), as well as Ad Muncher, and never see any ads, either on Trains or anywhere else for that matter. Ad Muncher, which is now free, blocks ads at the system level so it works on all browsers and some programs. However, it's not nearly as effective as ABP. MS Edge, available on Windows 10, is not a mature, competitive browser. Ad blocking, as well as other extensions are coming, but last I heard it wasn't until next year. While using one's Hosts file is one way to combat ads, it's way too time consuming to constantly maintain.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy