Yahoo Problems with Spybot

[doodleswest]

I have posted this before and never got a good answer, I use MY Yahoo as a portal. With resident IE set to "block pages silently", 80% of the time, it blocks the main ad on the My Yahoo page. This indicates Yahoo is connecting to a page spybot sees as "bad". This seems odd for such a major Internet giant. Anyway, this is not the main problem. The problem is that when this block occurs, My Yahoo loses other functionality, like the ability to drag modules on the page and roll-over mouse previews on headlines.

This raises the questions:

1) Can it be that the bad pages had some problem in the past that were corrected? Can a bad page be removed from the bad list?
2) Does Yahoo know this is a problem? Can Spybot developers let them know?
3) Why do I lose the other functionality? Is that a Spybot or Yahoo problem?

[drragostea]

Have you read my last post?

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=26598

I'm not sure if it is Spybot-SD's program. And I'm pretty sure it's no Yahoo!'s fault either. Have you tried Mozilla Firefox 2? Also, have you tried running IE without SD-Helper? What version of IE are you using?

Also, what OS (Operating System)?

[doodleswest]

Drag,

Thanks for trying to help. I don't use Mozilla and probably never will, so that is not relevant. You said if I continue seeing the ads I should re-install...I'm not trying to block any ads, just bad pages. I am not going to re-install either.

While this is a minor problem, it raises some issues about how the blocker works and why yahoo is serving up ads from "bad" sites. Once a site gets on the bad list, for whatever reason someone deems it bad, can it ever get off the list? Does someone inform Yahoo they are using a bad ad site and why? Why does blocking an ad disable other Yahoo functionality? These quetsions are interesting, if not earth shaking.

BTW, I use explorer 7.0 and windows XP, all fully updated.

[drragostea]

You said if I continue seeing the ads I should re-install...

Are you recalling this correctly? I never said anything about reinstalling. And I never said anything about ads. I think you're misunderstanding. I said disable Spybot-SD's SDHelper and see if that solves the problem. Mozilla Firefox was a suggestion.

What is odd, is that I don't see any problems with SDHelper in my IE 7, in Yahoo! Mail.

I've seen threads started by members that talked about the same issue. I just need to find it. In the meantime, it'll be a good bet if a Spybot-SD Team Advisor answers your problem.

[doodleswest]

I am recalling correctly...here is your exact reply from before:

Well, doodle, my Yahoo! page on Mozilla Firefox 2 is running smoothly and I have the IE Bad-download blocker on. I have also tried the Yahoo! page with Internet Explorer 7. If you continue seeing these "ads" I would suggest reinstalling a fresh copy of Spybot-SD (v.1.5.2.20). If this does not resolve the issue, then I would suggest disabling the IE blocker. I have the blocker enabled but I do not use IE often.

[honda12]

Hi doodleswest,

I have posted this before and never got a good answer

Firstly, I am sorry you did not get a good answer previously

1) Can it be that the bad pages had some problem in the past that were corrected? Can a bad page be removed from the bad list?
2) Does Yahoo know this is a problem? Can Spybot developers let them know?
3) Why do I lose the other functionality? Is that a Spybot or Yahoo problem?

Unfortunately many people have been experiencing problems with Yahoo Mail while having Spybot's SDHelper enabled

- The problem is not with Yahoo Mail, it is a problem with SDHelper itself. At the moment (1.5.2.20) SDHelper can only block whole domains (I think!). It is not possible to remove 'bad' websites at this moment in time

- Im not sure if Spybot Developers have contacted Yahoo

- This problem will be fixed in the next version of Spybot S&D, for now the only 'work-around' that I know of is switching you mail to 'Classic'

- The only way I can see 'other' functionalities not working is that SDHelper is somehow blocking a bad website which also has the functionality 'tied' into that domain. I am probably wrong, but I'm no expert on this subject!

You can see the Feature Tracker post here: http://forums.spybot.info/project.php?issueid=136


Hope that helps(-ish),

honda

[doodleswest]

Honda,

Thanks for trying to help...nowhere in my question did I mention Yahoo Mail...I do not use Yahoo Mail...the problem is with the My Yahoo Home Page.

[drragostea]

Sorry doodle. I was skimming through the contents. What I really meant was to disable the SDHelper BHO.

The Spybot team is developing version 1.5.3. But, it is still in alpha testing. Maybe honda is right... SDHelper problem.

[honda12]

heh lol,

Sorry again doodleswest - I wrote that post late at night!


Anyway, I think you could still apply most of the same explanations to My Yahoo:

1. Same as before, bad pages cannot be removed at this moment in time from SDHelper. They can however be removed from Spybot's Host file
2. No-one from Spybot has contacted Yahoo, one possible reason may be that My Yahoo is in beta status
3. Same as before, maybe some 'bad' websites/advertisements are 'built in' to the concerned functionalities

I have tried My Yahoo in IE7 with SDHelper enabled and have no problems, hmmm

***

Also have you tried drragostea's suggestion of trying using My Yahoo with SDHelper disabled?

If you do not know how to disable SDHelper, here's how:

1. In Spybot, go to 'Mode' then click 'Advanced Mode'
2. Click 'Yes' at the warning
3. Go to 'Tools' then 'Resident'
4. Uncheck 'Resident "SDHelper" (Internet Explorer bad download blocker) active.'

***

If you are still experiencing problems, can you please list some of the blocked websites?

[doodleswest]

Honda,

When I set Resident IE to "Ask for Blocking Confirmation", instead of "Block Silently", if a warning comes up I click allow and My Yahoo works properly...the problem is when visiting Amazon or Ebay, I am then bombarded with these warnings. Something is wrong with either these major Internet giant's ad policies or the way Spybot determines a bad webpage. And it still doesn't explain why My Yahoo should lose functionality in other aspects.