How do you stop a website from placing itself into your 'favorites' every time you log on?

Answer 1

Stop using internet Explorer. The other answers here tell you how to disable a fundamental flaw in Internet Explorer: ActiveX. But that fundamental flaw is also the only thing that sets it apart from other browsers. A reasonable response, then, would be to stop using it.

Firefox (http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox is an excellent free alternative (and what I use). Opera (http://www.opera.com is a good alternative for a fee.

Try turning off JavaScript. The easy way is to (in IE) hit "tools", "internet options", click the security tab, and set the slider bar to "high". If there is no slider, click "default level".

don't forget to reverse this as you leave the website, since you're also not accepting cookies right now either.

In preferences disable active-X. Then you're also rid of unwanted downloads/installs as well.

Install Spybot Search & Destroy and also AdAware. These two free programs will help you remove malicious programs running on your computer. They will also help you clean bad entries in your registry that are starting bad programs. Update their definition files frequently.

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I'd agree with the use of Spybot Search & Destroy as it has functions that lock Internet Explorer settings from being changed without your knowledge and there is also the inbuild Tea-timer which does the same with other Windows system settings...

Very powerful and useful

The website might be related to the adware. There are thousands of methods about how to stop or remove adware such as removing that program which brings you the adware, terminating Internet explorer plug-ins and even reinstalling your operations system. To remove adware safely and instantly, you can use adware removal tool such as Spyware Removal Toolkit.

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These are odd solutions IMO. Stop using IE isn't really a solution especially since the questioner did not specify which browser he/she uses. Lots of browsers have "Favorites" folders. And other answers are a bit over the top for this issue - like reinstalling your OS. To what purpose would that serve? First of all that takes a full day or longer AFTER you have copied all videos, music files, data, pictures, etc to another source and if its a virus 9 times out of 10 it won't let you wipe your pc successfully, so you would have to do a dirty install and THAT won't make it go away.

I use IE and have been for many years and not once in all that time has it ever AUTOMATICALLY placed a website in my favorites folder. It has to be done manually. Maybe its a different browser?

You said everytime you "log on" did you mean your pc or the internet? or do you mean everytime you VISIT an individual site? If so is it all sites or just one?

I suppose it COULD be a virus or adware but even then it wouldn't place a page in your favorites it would attach itself to your OS system files - like in user/temp/ or user/java folders and always in your cookies. Its possible you somehow installed an add on that does that but I've never seen or heard of one that does that. The only other way it could be happening is if you (or someone else) have somehow configured your browser to do that - but again I have never seen that option in the tools of ANY version of IE. Are you sure its the "FAVORITES" folder and not your Temporary or Cookies folder?