Mysterious ad blocking software

[onefixedstar]

So it seems that somewhere, somehow, I installed some sort of banner ad blocking software. Not a problem, you think. After all, who really needs to see all of those ads on websites? And well, yes, except that this particular piece of software appears to employ a very unsophisticated algortithm for determining what is and is not an ad. As a result, it sometimes blocks rather important non-ad things, like, oh, the menu on the graduate student section of my department webpage. And there doesn't seem to be anyway to disable it for particular pages. Or to eliminate it completely, since I have no idea where it's coming from.

Hints about its source:

1. It's an equal-opportunity program that happily blocks ads on Firefox, IE, and Opera.
2. I don't actually recall intentionally installing any general ad blocking software, so there's a good chance that it's a side function of another program.
3. In further support of number 2, when examining the list of installed programs in Control Panel, I can't find anything labelled "ad blocking software" or any software that suggests it might be ad blocking software.
4. My internet security-type programs include Zone Alarm personal firewall, Norton corporate anti-virus, AdAware, and Spybot Search & Destroy. I haven't found anything in any of those programs that suggests they might do ad blocking, but maybe I'm missing it. Does anyone know of any ad blocking features in any of those programs?

Any thoughts out there?

Comments

[reiber.livejournal.com]

Did you install anything at all on your computer right before (like maybe a day or two) it started doing this? Some programs install things that you can't find unless you know where to look, and do all sorts of funky things. A good example is StarForce, which has been attributed to slowed IDE drive speeds through a whole lot of technical jargon. It is installed as a copy protection device for games.

On your computer, right click on My Computer, go to properties, go to Device Manager. Go to View, select Show Hidden Devices, and look under the "Non-plug and play" drivers tree for anything unusual.