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Screen locked with a possible nasty

Dagwood

iPF Noob
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While on a quite innocent looking site I have had a pop up lock my screen with an invitation to become a possible winner of an iPad. It does not appear to be connected with the site and it seems as if the only way to progress is to hit OK. Trouble is I don't know or trust the site so I'm wondering how to get rid of it. If I go into Safari it isn't there but it comes back as soon as I go into the Google app. It has also made me wonder about how I get the equivalent of Avast on my iPad in case that would prevent this sort of thing. For now I'm at a loss to know how to clear it as it still appears even after switching off the iPad and disconnecting the internet.
Can anyone help please? :(
Dagwood
 
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Oftentimes, a lot of web sites do those annoying pop ups. it's not a virus that you have to protect yourself from - its just the way the web site is coded to react when you visit with a mobile device. Yes - its very annoying! There are two ways to get rid of them:

One is to go to the Safari tab in your Settings app. Scroll down the right side and ensure you've got the line "Block Pop-ups" turned ON. Oftentimes, however, this doesn't always work, so...

When the pop-up appears, somewhere on that pop-up is a teeny tiny "X" to close it or there is a line (in very tiny font) that says something like "skip" or "go to site" or something like that. I find that you really have to hunt for this on some of these pop-ups (and you may have to scroll to reveal off the page - then the close action will appear).

After I've closed the pop-up, I usually make a mental note to never go back to the website that forced me to view it. YMMV.

Hope this helps and reassures, because you don't have a virus ... just an annoying web page designer. :)

Marilyn
 
Sounds good, how do I do it?
Thanks
dagwood

G'day Dagwood. Do this to reboot your iPad, which is really a good thing to do periodically to tidy up RAM, and generally sweeten up your iPad. And apologies if you have already tried this.

Simultaneously hold down the Sleep/On and Home buttons. Keep holding down (the slide On button may appear - ignore it). Keep holding until the white Apple logo appears. Then let go and still keep waiting until the iPad has rebooted and you can switch the slide to On. Any good? If not, come back there are other possible solutions.
Regards, Andrew
EDIT: Marilyn's knowledgable advice got in before I finished my slow fumbling response. Do look at that carefully first.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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My thanks to all three of you . Not in order:

Johnboy I'm not jail broken, new iPad , wouldn't know how and still struggling with basics, but thanks

Marilyn Thanks for the PM and with your reassurance, and because I could not find any tiny x or anything else, I clicked ok and then got the x on the next screen and it cleared ok....phew!

The OB G'day to you too! I found your advice very interesting and would like to follow it up when a tad more confident. Excuse my ignorance but assuming that following your suggestion had done the job what else would go if I reboot? Would I lose paid for Apps or anything else I might regret? I guess I need to Google "Rebooting your iPad" and see what comes up

Thanks again all of you.
 
My thanks to all three of you . Not in order:

Johnboy I'm not jail broken, new iPad , wouldn't know how and still struggling with basics, but thanks

Marilyn Thanks for the PM and with your reassurance, and because I could not find any tiny x or anything else, I clicked ok and then got the x on the next screen and it cleared ok....phew!

The OB G'day to you too! I found your advice very interesting and would like to follow it up when a tad more confident. Excuse my ignorance but assuming that following your suggestion had done the job what else would go if I reboot? Would I lose paid for Apps or anything else I might regret? I guess I need to Google "Rebooting your iPad" and see what comes up

Thanks again all of you.

I know you addressed your question to The OB - but since I'm here... :)

The reboot that The OB describes (or reset, as Apple calls it) does nothing to the iPad as far as wiping it out or anything like that. It's the same process as re-booting a PC; it clears caches and reloads the system. It's a very good thing to do to the iPad every now and (IMNSHO). Keeps it running smooth, I've found.

A good, normal maintenance thing to do for the iPad is to shut it down every now and then. That is, hold the sleep button until you get the red arrow and the "slide to power off." The technical details are beyond the scope of this post - but even Apple recommends turning the iPad off every now and then.

Then, for more "intense" iPad maintenance, do the reset process as described by The OB. This doesn't have to be done as often...

In my experience, combining the two process ensures a smooth running iPad. And, they are the first things to try should you discover any weird behavior by your iPad (do restart first, then the reset if needed).

Glad to hear the pop-up solution got fixed. I really wish there was a way to stop those darn things from appearing! Until then, ya just got to stifle annoyance and close them. Thanks for letting us know your issue got resolved. Always good to hear back ... especially on the success stories. :)

Marilyn
 
Hi Marilyn , I'll follow the advice you and The OB have given and whilst I do shut down completely around twice a week I'll make a point of doing the Reset occasionally.
Do you, or anyone else, have any thoughts on whether Avast or similar anti-virus product needs to be ,or indeed can be, installed on an iPad?
Dagwood00
 
...[little snip to focus on this question]...Do you, or anyone else, have any thoughts on whether Avast or similar anti-virus product needs to be ,or indeed can be, installed on an iPad?
Dagwood00

No, you don't need an anti-virus application on the iPad. See this thread for a very good discussion on this topic of anti-virus apps: http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-3-forum/92759-do-i-need-anti-virus-my-new-ipad3.html

In fact, this quote from the linked thread (in post #14, by my fellow moderator, f4780y) is one of the best ones to help explain why (1) an anti-virus is not needed and (2) why anti-virus apps (written by other than Apple) would not be effective:

The irony is that nobody but Apple would be able to write any kind of effective anti-virus tool, IF a virus was to be written and released into the wild, as a 3rd party tool cannot operate outside of the sandbox!

Hopefully, these words and that linked thread will put your mind at ease. As it stands today, there is no need for an anti-virus app on the iPad.

Marilyn
 
Hi Marilyn, Many thanks for your reply and the link therein. I feel much more comfortable now:)
Dagwood00
 

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