Set Up Pop-Up Blocking on Home Computers
Blocking pop-up ads can be accomplished three ways:
- Enable built-in Internet Explorer pop-up blocker (Windows XP SP2 with IE 6 SP1)
- Install free pop-up blocker (such as the Pop-Up Stopper from Panicware)
- Enable pop-up blocking in the security software bundle you purchased
We trialed the pop-up blocking in the security software bundles and found them more difficult to disable temporarily when needed than the other two methods. So we recommend either the built-in IE approach or the free pop-up stopper program.
Figure 16-7 shows how to enable the pop-up blocker built in to Windows XP SP2. In Internet Explorer, click Tools > Pop-Up Blocker > Turn On Pop-Up Blocker
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Figure 16-7 Enable Windows XP Built-In Pop-Up Blocking
Alternatively, if you are not running XP, we recommend installing Pop-Up Stopper Free Edition from Panicware, available here:
http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree_download.html
After installation, a small white hand icon will appear in the lower left of your Windows toolbar. Right-click on the white hand and you can toggle the pop-up blocking function on and off very easily (see Figure 16-8).
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Figure 16-8 Using the Pop-Up Stopper from Panicware
Note that there are web pages that do use pop-up windows to convey legitimate information that you ask for. So, sometimes, pop-up windows are good. There is no easy answer to this problem except you can either disable pop-up blocking and endure the annoyance, or enable it and when you run into issues with some websites, disable it temporarily.