After finally getting a long overdue new PC and I recently made the switch
to Firefox from IE6. Naturally, now that I have a fast PC with a new OS (XP
Pro), I've been doing lots of exploring and customizing etc. I recently
noticed that banner ads while browsing the web no longer appear - the
placeholder where they should be states 'unable to connect' or something
like that. The rest of the page displays normally. At first, you might think
this is a good thing but there are some sites where these banners are
necessary for me. Plus, the 'unable to connect' sticks out like a sore thumb
more than the banners do. At first, I thought this was a result of an
extension I added to Firefox to customize google. One of the options was to
remove 'ads'. This is when I noticed the problem anyway. But [I think] the
ads they are referring to are the ones that appear on the right side of the
screen of a google search. I uninstalled that extension, did a system
restore and even imported an old registry setting and the banners still do
not appear ( the ads in google do though). This 'problem' is not limited to
Firefox. IE6 displays the same way- no banners. the only 'tweaking I have
done to the system is Tweak Powertoys ( and I cannot find any setting in
there that would cause this), and Spyware Doctor ( which I run only on
demand occassionally). What could be causing this?



Thanks in advance!

MajBach wrote:

"Page cannot be found" ?

First place I would look is in your HOSTS file for ad servers.
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

Open the file with a text editor.

I can't think of an instance where a banner ad is desired. :-)

You get used to it. (Actually, in my Firefox, all I see is an empty
space.)

Can't answer the rest, as I don't use any Google toolbars or Powertoys.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

I found that file ( and deleted it - despite the fact that I do not know
what it does) and the banners are back.
What DOES that file do?

Thanks bts!
"Beauregard T. Shagnasty" <a.nony.mous@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:PSXRf.4742$tW2.2651@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

"MajBach" <majbachDELETE@MEsymaptico.ca> wrote:

|>I found that file ( and deleted it - despite the fact that I do not know
|>what it does) and the banners are back.
|>What DOES that file do?

What's a HOSTS file:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

|>Thanks bts!
|>"Beauregard T. Shagnasty" <a.nony.mous@example.invalid> wrote in message
|>news:PSXRf.4742$tW2.2651@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
|>> MajBach wrote:
|>>
|>>> After finally getting a long overdue new PC and I recently made the
|>>> switch to Firefox from IE6. Naturally, now that I have a fast PC
|>>> with a new OS (XP Pro), I've been doing lots of exploring and
|>>> customizing etc. I recently noticed that banner ads while browsing
|>>> the web no longer appear - the placeholder where they should be
|>>> states 'unable to connect' or something
|>>> like that. The rest of the page displays normally.
|>>
|>> "Page cannot be found" ?
|>>
|>> First place I would look is in your HOSTS file for ad servers.
|>> C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
|>>
|>> Open the file with a text editor.
|>>
|>>> At first, you might think this is a good thing but there are some
|>>> sites where these banners are necessary for me.
|>>
|>> I can't think of an instance where a banner ad is desired. :-)
|>>
|>>> Plus, the 'unable to connect' sticks out like a sore thumb
|>>> more than the banners do.
|>>
|>> You get used to it. (Actually, in my Firefox, all I see is an empty
|>> space.)
|>>
|>> Can't answer the rest, as I don't use any Google toolbars or Powertoys.
|>>
|>> --
|>> -bts
|>> -Warning: I brake for lawn deer
|>


--
The Abu Ghraib files
http://salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/200.../introduction/

MajBach wrote:

Not a wise move to delete something without first knowing the
ramifications of that choice.

Did you look in the file before you deleted it? With a text editor as I
suggested? You probably would have found the domain names of numerous ad
servers.

If you can recover it from your Recycle Bin, you should. Put it back in
place, and *rename* it to HOSTS.OLD or something similar. Note that the
real file does not have an extension in the filename.

Trax gave you a good link.

You're welcome.


--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

In news:b4_Rf.566400$qk4.72591@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
Beauregard T. Shagnasty spewed forth:
Yeah - I read that and nearly choked on my lunch I was laughing so hard. How
do I get salsa and chips out of my keyboard? <g>

Lost banner ads are a /problem/? Geez - I do everything in my power to get
RID of them, not to get them back!!!

--
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

Toolman Tim wrote:
10 demerits for wasting salsa and chips, ie, the food of the gods.

"Toolman Tim" <frack.this@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:at_Rf.139$vd5.133@fe06.lga...
While Im sure that made your day, I am not as inept as you might think. I
deleted it to see the impact it would have - if any. I restored the file and
then proceeded to do a search on google to learn more.