How to Stop Pop-Ups

You click on a link to enter the website of a college and along with the website you get a pop up advertisement that offers you free study materials, how interesting? Or should i say, how annoying? When browsing the Internet, pop ups often happen to be one of the most disturbing factors. This article is hence an answer to the query, 'How to stop pop ups?'
How to Stop Pop-Ups
It's very obvious that you don't want to spend some bandwidth in downloading an unnecessary pop up. If you have a slow internet connection then conditions can worsen. Let's look into the various aspects of pop ups, right from the problems they can cause to the solutions, in detail.

Problems Related with Pop-Ups
For a person who is using a dial up internet connection, downloading pop ups is nothing but a serious wastage of time and bandwidth. Besides, with the increase in the number of pop ups, your computer becomes more and more prone to computer viruses. Pop ups are among the most common methods of spreading a Trojan virus. There is no definite way to identify the pop ups, that download virus into your systems, so the only solution that remains is to completely stop pop ups of all the kinds. Besides, the advertisement pop ups use the same port that you use for browsing the internet. So blocking the port is definitely not an option.

What Causes Pop-Ups?
Even the most popular websites use pop ups for advertisement purposes. If you do not have proper firewalls set for your browser, then pop ups are the most common problems that you may face. If you do not update your antivirus software regularly, then the chances of encountering pop ups pertain, irrespective of the fact that your firewalls are turned on. There are certain cases where allowing the pop ups become necessary. Educational institute's websites for example, generally have their forms uploaded on their servers, as pop ups. For filling up the form you will have to allow the pop up. So, what are the different methods to block the unnecessary pop ups and allowing the ones needed.

Stopping Pop-Ups
Almost all search engines come along with their own provisions to block pop ups. Microsoft Internet Explorer that comes along with Windows XP Service pack 2 and its later versions, have the inbuilt facility to block pop ups. If you are using a version of Windows prior to Windows XP, you can download Google, MSN or Yahoo toolbar. These toolbars will block all sorts of pop ups and ask for permission before allowing the pop up. If you need the pop up, you can simply click on 'Allow'. Firefox and Google Chrome also come along with the pop up blocking capability. There are chances, that a certain type of adware may get downloaded into your computer during the installation of some other software. These adware programs may trigger innumerable number of pop ups when you are browsing the internet. The only option that remains in your hands, under these circumstances, is to remove the adware from your system. This can be done by using tools like Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D. It is very obvious that with web browsers finding ways to block the pop ups, the pop up designers also find out new ways to by pass the pop up blocker. Softwares like Pop-Up Stopper can prove to be of help in such cases. They also provide an additional facility by blocking cookies along with the pop ups. Pop up blockers also come along with various options to suit your purpose.

The list of pop up blocking softwares is unlimited. However, certain things should be kept in mind, when installing a software for stopping pop ups. Take care, that no other additional softwares have been selected along with the pop up blocker, during installation. In general the pop up blocker softwares come along with other softwares, which can simply be unchecked during the installation procedure. However, the best answer to stop all sorts of pop ups is a good firewall. Installing a firewall like the Zone Alarm Pro, eliminates the need of all types of pop up blocker.

By Shah Newaz Alam
Published: 7/15/2009
 
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