A reader wants some help with an annoying pop-up:
“I keep getting a pop up in the upper right hand corner of my browser (I use Chrome), that says “New survey available Get 10 points for this Survey” and then there’s a link that says Get started. I have no idea what it is, where it’s coming from or anything. I never click on it I just click on the x in the corner to get rid of it, but it comes back after about 10 minutes. Any ideas on what is causing this?”
It sounds like you’ve picked up some adware. Programs like this often piggyback on top of legitimate downloads. Let’s see if we can’t track it down.
If you have a program like Malwarebytes, run it. It may be able to take care of the problem. If it doesn’t find anything, we’ll go looking for the culprit.
Start by checking Chrome for unwanted extension. Click the three-dot menu icon at the top right and choose More tools from the drop-down menu.
Then select Extensions.
When your extensions open, look for programs you don’t remember installing. If you see something fishy, choose Remove.
Now, let’s check Windows for any unwanted installations. Type Add or remove programs into the search box and click on the results.
When Apps & Features opens scroll down to view your apps.
Click on Filter by and select dates to view recently installed apps.
Click on anything you don’t recognize and choose Uninstall.
Another option is to reset Chrome. Type or copy and paste the following into the address bar for Chrome:
chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings
Then hit the Enter key.
This notice will pop up. Click on Reset settings. This will reset your start page, search engine, and pinned tabs. Extensions will be disabled and temporary data is also cleared.
Hopefully, one of these steps will work.