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Pop-ups - 5 Ways to Stop
By Jason Kohrs
5 Ways to Block
Pop Ups...
Advertisers are constantly looking for any way to draw attention to their
products. Although typical banner ads are still used heavily, they now seem
to be almost invisible to the average web surfer. Pop ups and other
intrusive types of advertising are now used to thrust an ad in your face
that you have no choice but to at least acknowledge. Regardless of the
nature of the ad, pop ups are a nuisance, and there are now many options
available for keeping them off of your computer screen all together.
1. Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2
This summer’s release of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP brought about a few
significant changes to the operating system. One of the most noticeable was
the addition of a pop up blocker to Internet Explorer.
The pop up blocker is integrated into the browser and can be customized by
browsing to the “Tools” tab at the top of the program. Like many pop up
blocker applications, personal preferences can be set to allow/block pop ups
from certain sites, as well as providing customization for how the user is
alerted to the fact that a pop up has been blocked.
For those using Windows XP, upgrading to Service Pack 2 is an excellent idea
for your system’s security as a whole, but specifically for the additional
convenience of an integrated pop up blocker. For those with a Microsoft
operating system other than XP, sorry, this is not available for you.
2. Alternative Web Browsers
There are other choices for web browsers available, and many have included a
pop up blocker long before Microsoft decided to include one with Internet
Explorer.
The Mozilla Firefox browser version 1.0 was officially released on November
9th. This browser has already received a great deal of acclaim and has
become quite popular as an alternative to Internet Explorer.
Firefox is a highly customizable web browsing application that includes an
effective pop up blocker, tabbed browsing, and many other features not found
in Internet Explorer.
Crazy Browser is another option that was released in 2002, which is not as
much an alternative browser, as it is a skin for Internet Explorer. In order
for Crazy Browser to run, a system must have Internet Explorer 5 (or
greater) installed, as well as Windows 95 (or greater) installed as the
operating system. The Crazy Browser application then takes the base
functionality of Internet Explorer and adds features similar to Firefox,
such as the pop up blocker and tabbed browsing.
3. Browser Tool Bars
A growing trend is for websites to offer a downloadable toolbar for use with
Internet Explorer. Many of these toolbars offer unique features intended to
enhance the user’s web browsing experience in different ways, but they
generally also include a pop up blocker. Although there are toolbars
available from dozens of websites, Google, MSN, and Yahoo are some of the
more reputable names with one available.
The installation of these toolbars is quick and easy, and the most difficult
part may be reading the fine print in the license agreements.
Although these toolbars may do an excellent job blocking pop ups, they may
also be retrieving data on your web surfing / search habits. If you feel a
toolbar may be the right solution for you, stick with one from a trusted
name, and just be sure to read the fine print.
4. Pop Up Blocker Software
Stand alone pop up blocking software is available from dozens, if not
hundreds, of different sources. With various interfaces, and prices ranging
from free to $30 (and higher), choosing one can be a difficult task. Many of
the programs that are not available for free do come with a free trial
download, so you can at least get a sense of whether the program is right
for you before committing. Some of the options in this category include
STOPzilla, Secure IE, Zero Popup and Pop Swatter, to name a few.
The main drawback to this type of pop up blocking solution is that you now
have another independent application running on your computer. Although they
are generally not resource intensive, why run a program
to do something that can be handled by one that is already running anyway?
Additionally, with so many reliable solutions available to eliminate pop ups
for free,
spending money on one is hard to justify.
Along with a dedicated pop up blocker, another recommended tact for
eliminating pop-ups is eliminating spyware on your computer system. Some
pop-up programs use accompanying spyware to target pop ups specifically to
you and your web surfing habits. An excellent, free program for eliminating
spyware of all type is Spybot Search & Destroy.
5. Internet Access Software from Select ISPs
Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) now incorporate a pop up blocker with
the software they provide to subscribers for accessing the internet.
Earthlink, Optimum Online, and AOL are just a few of the larger providers
that add value to their packages by adding a pop up blocker. Bundling this
functionality with the ISPs base software definitely makes things easy for
the subscriber, as there may be no need to find one elsewhere.
In general, these blockers are effective, but are not the most feature rich
and may have limited options for customization by the end user. One draw
back with ISP provided pop up blockers is that some only work with their
service. So, if you ever switch to a new provider, you’ll need to be
prepared to switch to a new pop up blocker
as well.
Final Words
Pop ups are a fact of life on the internet, but that does not mean you need
to put up with them. Among the five general solutions presented above, there
are literally hundreds of options available for eliminating the clutter of
pop up ads, allowing you
to enjoy only the content you intended to see.
About the author:Jason Kohrs
Computer Geeks
tech tips and
computer advice
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