CTRL – ALT – DELETE is your friend

September 24th, 2009 by Ken

Not a day goes by that we don’t field a call from a frustrated user who’s swamped by pop-ups while browsing the internet, usually because of an easily avoidable error that’s often committed by those who otherwise think they’re responding as they should.

The scenario is normally as such: While browsing the web, a user will happen upon an unfamiliar site, clicking on a link that results in a number of pop-ups appearing. What many people do — including those who’re normally given to exercising caution when navigating the web — is close the pop-up as they would your standard window. More often than not, this results in additional pop-ups. Oftentimes, after being inundated with by even more pop-ups, the user is forced to restart their computer out of frustration.

The easiest means of addressing any instance of a pop-up of questionable origin can be summed up with three keys found on your keyboard:

CTRL – ALT – DELETE

By simultaneously pressing the keys above, you will bring up the Windows Security window, an invaluable menu of options that affords users an opportunity to select the Task Manager. After selecting Task Manager, you will be met with a window that includes several tabs. When dealing with pop-ups, the two Task Manager tabs that will be of most importance are Applications and Processes. Applications is more straightforward, listing the programs you have running, while Processes shows every “process” — the instructions associated with the programs running — linked to the application in question. What you should concern yourself with are those applications and processes related to your internet browser. Whether it’s Internet Explorer or Firefox, select the application and click on End Task. If the pop-ups remain, click on the Processes tab and click on End Process to close those processes related to the internet browser you’re using.

This will end your immediate use of the internet browser, effectively removing the pop-ups. Before doing so, make sure you’ve saved any data you’d like to retain (i.e. if you’re writing an email while the pop-ups appear).

Once this is completed, you can always use your internet browser immediately afterwards, but the pop-ups are almost guaranteed to return. The source of those pop-ups remain, in the form of malware that’s infected your computer.

Removing that malware is our job, and Geek Choice is here to assist you in its removal.

Schedule a visit today.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “CTRL – ALT – DELETE is your friend”

Tweets that mention CTRL – ALT – DELETE is your friend | Geek Choice Blog -- Topsy.com says:

September 24, 2009 at 8:18 pm

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Geek Choice. Geek Choice said: New blog post – http://bit.ly/13JLnz [...]
If you are using Adobe Shockwave, your computer may be vulnerable! | Geek Choice Blog says:

November 5, 2009 at 7:24 pm

[...] If you mistakenly find yourself on a website you’re unfamiliar with, close the web browser. If the web browser refuses to close, press the following key combination: CTRL – ALT – DELETE. Doing so will bring up your Task Manager. From there, you will be able to select the process associated with your web browser. For a more in-depth look at how beneficial Task Manager is, particularly when dealing with a stubborn web browser, visit this link. [...]