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What is 123Movies?
But before we learn how to watch 123Movies without ads, let’s see if you are familiar with this online service.
123Movies and its sister services GoStream, MeMovies, 123movieshub, and others were a network of free video streaming websites registered in Vietnam. The network was successfully operating for years attracting audience from every corner of the world. It even was called the “most popular illegal site” by the Motion Picture Association of America in March 2018. Later that year 123Movies was shut down on account of a criminal investigation by the Vietnamese authorities combating the illegal film piracy services.
As of today, 123Movies is still active via a number of clone websites. And if you think that 123Movies is ad-free, it’s far from it.
Is 123Movies Safe and Legal? Safety is relative on the internet, no matter the website you visit. However, if we talk about the outright and explicit danger, then no. 123Movies won’t infect your computer with a virus as soon as you click on it. The tricky part comes with the ads. Any free website needs to be maintained, and that costs money. Content such as movies and shows can’t be hosted with wishes alone, and a variety of ads help to pay the bills. And that should matter to you as a visitor – while the site itself is alright, you need to be aware of the ads and the danger they can bring. According to numerous reports found on Quora and Reddit threads, there are pop-up adverts on 123Movies that can install malware onto your system — porn viruses, keyloggers, browser hijackers, etc. Also, 123Movies serves ads that redirect you to third-party websites containing malicious code, online trackers, data collectors, and other scams.
Read Also: How to Block Reddit Ads
Legality is another point of contention. There’s no denying that the content on the website doesn’t have the appropriate licenses (which means the website technically doesn’t have a legal right to display it). But 123Movies relies on the thin line of hosting and displaying, and since the site itself doesn’t host the content itself, it simply shows the content that’s hosted outside their site, it technically avoids some of the legal pitfalls.
The consequences of malware attacks can be catastrophic, but there are some ways to keep your PC safe:
Get an antivirus and anti-malware software; Get a browser-based ad-blocker (most streams may detect adblocking extensions and deny your access to content); Get a reliable standalone adblocker application.
We all know that antiviruses are extremely good in fighting malicious software, files, and redirects. But when it comes to blocking commercials, antivirus can’t help you. The best solution combining efficient ad-blocking, data protection, and prevention of malware attacks is a standalone application AdLock.
Read Also: How to block ads on Fandom
How to Stop 123Movies Pop-up Ads with AdLock AdLock comes as a handy way to get rid of pesky 123Movies ads with the help of filters. The tool will remove the ads before you even see them, keeping your navigation online safe and sound.
Once you purchase AdLock, it’ll automatically check the online content for you, it blocks any 123Movies pop-ups and similar ads. The tool operates with filters that are constantly updated. And because the tool is professionally maintained, you don’t have to worry about it blocking something important.
Because the tool is meant to ease your browsing, AdLock strengthens your security and grants you some options to customize the blocking (which means you can toggle the protection on and off, or selectively filter the blocked content).
Remove 123Movies Ads from Mozilla Firefox Mozilla is one of the most popular browsers in the world. And naturally, it has some of the built-in defenses. The most basic security is within Privacy And Security, which is under the options tab. You can customize the Tracking protection and keep your internet journey somewhat private. There’s also an option to add exceptions to the rule if you want to support a website by allowing it to play ads.
These steps, however, are not the best possible action. For one, while it blocks some of the unwanted ads, it won’t stop the more persistent pop-ups or similar hidden ads. It can also affect how the website is displayed. If you rely on Mozilla’s built-in protection, you have to proceed with caution.
Read also: How to get rid of ads on Fmovies .
How to Get Rid of 123Movies Ads from Chrome If you want to watch 123Movies with no ads in Google Chrome, then you need a slightly different approach than in Mozilla. It can offer basic protection, but you have to keep in mind it’s still lacking compared to other methods. Chrome can deal with unwanted ads in two steps: one aimed towards ads in general, another meant for pop-ups.
Among the setting for the browsers, search out Pop-ups And Redirects or Ads. These tabs will contain a list of websites which state where the ads or pop-ups are blocked, and where it’s allowed. The basic settings should block the most obvious ads on the sites, and you will have obvious signs where the ads used to be.
Websites can be added to the lists by either entering their address or by visiting the site and adjusting the site’s settings from there.
How to Remove 123Movies Popup Ads from Internet Explorer The last of the three most-used browsers is Internet Explorer. The browser’s security setting allows the users to turn on the built-in ad blocker that you can find in a Privacy tab under Internet Options. You can also turn off the pop-ups. However, this method (like with the previous browsers) aims at absolutes. It’ll block any and all ads, and all pop-ups as well – be they good or bad.
Internet Explorer also has a non-tracking option. It’ll mask your steps to a degree, but it can also affect how you view sites as well the feedback you get from it (since your traces are limited and it can impact your viewing experience).
Scan Your PC for Malicious Software
Now, let’s assume you followed the instructions and did everything right… however, you want to be extra sure. Well, our advice would be to look towards additional protection for both your computer and internet browsing. Nowadays, plenty of anti-virus programs have internet protection imbedded in their everyday operations. And with so many options to pick from, we settle on two of them. We’d like to begin with Avast and its pros:
Avast is a great tool that’s free to use It has options to increase your computer’s performance, such as informing you of driver updates Offers great browser extensions that’ll protect your online activities
Avast’s cons:
Many of the more advanced options are locked behind the paid version of the antivirus Freemium version lacks some essential protections, such as webcam shield The program’s pop-up messages can sometimes rely on fear-mongering
Now, another good tool to help you protect your computer is Kaspersky. Let’s look over some cons:
World-class virus protection that can come both as a paid and free version The program has a password protection and master key set-up. Has data protection and other security options (such as application control or secure payments)
And now the cons:
Naturally, a free version of the tool has limitations It can be demanding on the computer’s CPU (especially when using a full scan) Has a tendency to offer certain actions and then display them as lock behind a paywall
Well, in this short guide, we looked at how to block ads on 123Movies. All in all, the antivirus approach is commendable, but more often than not they are not specifically designed to deal with ads. Of course, they are a great solution as internet security, but if you seek to specifically eliminate various ads and pop-ups, it’s a good idea to invest in tools like AdLock.
