Where do Pop-Ups Come From?

The first thing that should be realized is that if you are being inundated with pop-up ads, you should first check your computer for ad-ware or Spyware. Sometimes programs running in the background will create pop-ups based on the websites you visit. You can use a number of free programs such as "Spybot Search and Destroy" or "Ad-aware" by Lavasoft. Look up either of these products in a search engine for more information. Legitimate websites are not going to annoy you with more than one or two ads because they want you to come back to their site. Whereas sites that are offering things for free will load up the pop-up ads because that is how they make money.

Pop-Up Blockers

There really is no need to pay for a pop-up blocker because there are so many free ones that do the job well. Also, many browsers already come with pop-up blockers built in. Netscape, Mozilla and Internet Explorer (Service Pack 2) all have blockers already built in.

Then there are the "Toolbars" that people like to install or in many cases do not realize they were installed with something else that they have downloaded. Most all toolbars also have a built in pop-up blocker. Some of the more popular toolbars are Google, Yahoo! and the AOL toolbar. MySearch is an example of a toolbar that is downloaded pretty much without the user's knowledge and you may have better luck figuring out who killed JFK than you will trying to uninstall the program. Many toolbars have great features and their pop-up blockers can be very effective, but you just need to educate yourself on how to use them properly. Some anti-virus programs have blockers built in as well such as Norton Internet Securities. There are also hundreds of other pop-up blockers that you can pay for, but again, I say why bother when there are so many legitimate free ones.

Allowing Pop-Ups

While you will not want to see pop-ups on most websites, some pop-ups are necessary. A great example is when you try to print something from a site like CNN.com. When you go to print something a new window normally "pops-up" and sometimes a blocker will see this as a pop-up ad and not allow it. When something is blocked most blockers make a sound and even flash something on the screen. Yet still many people tend to not even notice. For example the Yahoo toolbar will make a "thump" sound and you will also see a small "explosion burst" icon flash a few times near the top of your browser. If you know the pop-up being blocked is legitimate, you can click on the "burst" icon and will then be given the option to "View Recently Blocked Pop-ups". Here you can also choose to "Allow Pop-ups from this Site". Most all other blocker programs work in a similar fashion.

Another trick you can use is to hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while clicking on a link that should produce a legitimate pop-up. Holding the CTRL key creates a temporary disable feature for many of the blockers built in to toolbars. This trick will not work for all pop-up blockers.

Typically a client of mine will have the following: Windows XP SP2 which means that Internet Explorer will already have a pop-up blocker built in. They downloaded the Google toolbar because it looked neat and it came "free" with their last update of the Adobe program. Many times they will have one, two or even three more toolbars built into their browser not even realizing it. So now they have a total of at least four pop-up blockers. They also have Norton Internet Securities. Depending on the version, this too has a pop-up blocker built into it. So now we have 5 blockers that we are aware of. It is rare that I see someone has a pop-up blocker purchased separately.

Basic steps to Configure Pop-Up Blockers

So here now is my personal quick fix for a similar situation. We will assume you are using Internet Explorer since that is what close to 90% of all PC users have and are familiar with. Lets also assume you have Windows XP SP 2.

With Internet Explorer open, click on Tools (top of screen) and then highlight "pop-up blocker" and then click on "pop-up blocker settings." (Or you can choose to turn off pop-up blocker). Click Add. Type in the address of the website you wish to allow pop-ups on. (For ex www.cnn.com) Click Add. Click Close. If you are configuring this blocker I recommend turning off all other blockers you may have (if you choose not to simply uninstall them). If you wish to turn off these other blockers now, do the following. Click on View (top of screen) Highlight Toolbars and then look for the name of any toolbar(s) you might have. (For Ex Yahoo! Toolbar, Google Toolbar etc.) If they have a check next to them, click on them. This menu will disappear. If there were other toolbars listed, repeat the steps above starting with "Click View." As you click on the checked toolbars, the checks will be gone next time you view that menu. If you have an antivirus program with a built in blocker, read the owners manual on how to configure or disable them.

In Conclusion

Again, there really is no need to have more than one pop-up blocker. Simply configuring one and eliminating or disabling the others should be effective enough. Everyone has their own opinions on which blockers work the best. I feel the Internet Explorer blocker works fine. As for the toolbars, the Yahoo! Toolbar has given me the least trouble out of the three I have mentioned. (Don’t confuse this with Yahoo! Companion which is a different product but still has a blocker built in.) This program seems to conflict with a lot of other programs. If you've got money to waste and dont want to send it to me, then feel free to purchase a pop-blocker. Do a search online for pop-up blockers or even check your local Best Buy, Circuit City or other similar stores.