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Tech: popups

07 Sep 03 - 08:27 PM (#1014609)
Subject: Tech: popups
From: kendall

Is there such a thing as a FREE popup killer?

08 Sep 03 - 08:53 AM (#1014691)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Dave the Gnome

I have just downloaded the new google toolbar. Not exactlt a free lunch (Is there such a thing ;-) ) but free from financial costs. What it does is downloads information about your browsing habits with no personal details to Google. Check it out on Google.com

Seems to do the trick with killing popups! I have blocked 3 up to now (1 hour)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

08 Sep 03 - 09:17 AM (#1014702)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

google toolbar? is that what I type in?

08 Sep 03 - 09:19 AM (#1014704)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Jim McLean

There is a free on at panicware.com which works for me.

08 Sep 03 - 09:25 AM (#1014707)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Jim Dixon

The Google toolbar can be downloaded from this page. I use it and I'm delighted with it.

08 Sep 03 - 09:29 AM (#1014715)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Dave the Gnome

Like Jim sez...

08 Sep 03 - 09:33 AM (#1014719)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Sorcha

I use the Panicware. Free.

08 Sep 03 - 11:17 AM (#1014782)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: NicoleC

Webwasher is completely free for personal use.

08 Sep 03 - 12:37 PM (#1014832)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Geoff the Duck

Some people are not happy with Google as a company, or the Google Toolbar. Click here to read Google Watch website. Scroll down to Point 6 for another slant on the Toolbar.
I don't know to what extent we should be concerned by the practices of BIG Internet Companies, but some people out there are definitely worried that these companies do things which they cannot justify as being for OUR benefit.
Quack!
Geoff the Duck

08 Sep 03 - 01:07 PM (#1014855)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: GUEST,Peter from Essex

Most of the anti-Google campaign is initiated by people who are pissed off at being unable to spam the search engine. On the other hand Google doesn't exist for Geoff's benefit or mine but for its shareholders.

I got a popup and ad killer bundled with Norton. A bit too efficient at times, as well as taking out popups and most banner ads it takes out the occasional legitimate site graphic as well.

08 Sep 03 - 01:20 PM (#1014858)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

Thanks a lot folks. I went to gooigle the other day and all they offered was free trial on stoppers that would eventually require payment. This appears to be totally free. Thanks again.

09 Sep 03 - 10:54 AM (#1015467)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

Now the damn popup stopper is a popup! Everytime I log on, up it pops, and everytime it blocks a popup it pops up to tell me!

09 Sep 03 - 11:14 AM (#1015487)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Dave the Gnome

No such problems with the google tool bar for me yet! 23 and counting...

:D

09 Sep 03 - 11:34 AM (#1015511)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Sorcha

If you got the panicware one, there should be an X in the pop up box to close that part. You will still get a red circle but it goes away fairly fast.

09 Sep 03 - 02:16 PM (#1015610)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Bill D

Like I have been posting for months, I use a couple of programs and browsers that do their work quietly and efficiently. I get NO pop-ups and no little popups telling me how they are stopping popus..*grin*

A forum search on the word "Proxomitron" will find almost everything I have said about it.

09 Sep 03 - 02:28 PM (#1015615)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Amergin

i never had a problem with popups with opera....instead of popping up on the screen and annoying the hell out of me....they would just show up on the toolbar at the bottom...where i can close them at my leisure...

09 Sep 03 - 04:38 PM (#1015709)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Bill D

*nod*..Opera and Mozilla and/or Firebird do quite well with built-in controls, I just use two lines of defense...just in case.

09 Sep 03 - 06:29 PM (#1015821)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

All I want is a totally free popup killer that doesn't become a popup itself.

09 Sep 03 - 07:38 PM (#1015863)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Bill D

http://www.proxomitron.info/

http://www.webwasher.com/

either one of these will do. I prefer the first.

16 Sep 03 - 09:08 AM (#1019825)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

I downloaded Panicware a week or so ago, and now it not only drives me nust poping up to say it just blocked a popup, but it now allows competing popup killers to popup!

16 Sep 03 - 03:24 PM (#1020093)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Mark Clark

Security and privacy online will continue to be a challenge. Most of us will never be completely private while online. Forty years ago I used to browse at Chicago's Modern Bookstore (AKA the Communist bookstore) on Chicago Ave. near Loyola University's downtown campus. As you left the shop, you could look across the street at a second story window and see a camera mounted on a tripod pointed at the door of the shop. I assume my picture is in an FBI file somewhere showing me smiling and waving at the camera. Privacy is more of a concept than a fact these days.

Still there are some things one can do to make online computer use safer and less irritating.
  • First use an operating system with features that allow security measures to be taken. These include Windows XP Professional, Mac OS X, Linux, UNIX and a few minor OSs only used by extreem geeks. These OSs may not be secure out of the box but they can be made to operate securely.
  • Use a firewall product that allows you to specify the filtering rules in detail. I prefer Kerio Personal Firewall because it gives me the ability to compose rules directly, learn its own rules as I work, never interferes with my computer and is free for personal use at home.
  • Use a highly-rated and well-supported anti-virus program. I use (and recommend) AVG from Grisoft. AVG is a new design and architecture that employs a single powerful detection engine for use by each subsystem being monitored (i.e., email, RAM, boot sector, browser, download, executables, document scripts). Unlike Norton and McAfee, it never interferes with the Windows OS or causes problems with other software. And of course they have a free version for non-commercial use at home.
  • Use a program designed to monitor your startup settings so Internet sites and trojans can't introduce mischief without your knowledge. I prefer WinPatrol Plus from BillP Studios. This very nifty program stays in the background using very few system resources but quitely barks (woofs) if anyone tries to add or change a startup program. There is a free version available but I paid the USD 19.95 for the Plus version which documents the purpose of everything that's started when you boot your system. It takes care of startup folders, the registry, .BAT files, the works, and lets you easily manage your computing environment for speed and safety.
  • Run some type of adware/spyware catcher. I've recently replaced my free veresion of Ad-Aware because they seem no longer to be updating the product. If these programs aren't regularly updated, they quickly become useless. I've switched to the very highly recommend Spybot Search & Destroy. Spybot is free but donations are accepted. There is no penalty in function or support if you choose not to donate. The author is passionate about fighting spyware and the program is very thorough.
  • If you have two or more computers in a network at home, your internet connection should be connected to a router with its own internal firewall. Mine is wireless and made by D-Link.
It's not by design but it's interesting to note that all of the security products I use were developed in countries outside the U.S. I don't claim to be immune from every possible attack but I have taken a few steps to minimize risk.

I do use the Google Tool Bar and have no trouble with it. They include, at your option, a program that lets you donate unused CPU cycles to a worldwide supercomputing project. I tried that but found I don't like it running all the time so I've turned it off. It does do a good job of preventing most popups and allows you permit popups on specific sites if they are a desireable part of the content at the site. My other security/privacy tools prevent my being tracked in any personally identifiable way. I'm not as paranoid as some people but I am a computing professional with a good understanding of what is possible and what is reasonable.

It's a pain to have to take all the precautions but once installed and understood, these steps will take much of the worry out of being online.

      - Mark

16 Sep 03 - 04:37 PM (#1020144)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Bill D

great suggestions! (I know, because they are what *I* use..*grin*)(except for Google toolbar)...but Kerio, AVG and Spybot S&D don't directly deal with pop-up ads...I stand by my suggestions above for those.

Using a browser with anti-popup protections (Opera or Mozilla)is a good start, but nothing beats Proxomitron once it is set up..(as an example, you can choose to not see banner ads on web pages, but if you wish, it will put a little red [ad] where the banner was, to show you it's being blocked)

16 Sep 03 - 07:10 PM (#1020251)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

I dumped panicware and it still pops up!

16 Sep 03 - 07:11 PM (#1020254)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Mark Clark

Right, Bill, those fundamental pieces, Kerio, AVG, WinPatrol and Spybot don't specifically addresses popups. However the Kerio FAQ at Blarp.com offers suggestions for stopping popups before they need detection. You need to understand where they come from but the rule helps.

I'm not sufficiently annoyed by popups to need anything beyond what the Google toolbar provides but, should popups become a problem for me, I'll definately be trying Proxomitron. I tend not to visit sites that are often plagued by popups, only because I usually have no interest in the content on those sites.

      - Mark

16 Sep 03 - 07:40 PM (#1020279)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: McGrath of Harlow

Windows and Intenet Washer- this is free and has a pop-up killer among lots of other facilities. I only put it up a cpople of days ago, but it seems pretty effective.

16 Sep 03 - 09:16 PM (#1020333)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: kendall

I now have webwasher. It is working well.

16 Sep 03 - 09:17 PM (#1020334)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Mark Clark

I haven't yet researched Winows and Internet Washer but I looked on their site and couldn't find a license document. The program sells for USD 34.95. A lot of software sold this way, with a free version available, include ad-ware and or spy-ware in the free version to recoup costs. Buying the registered version lets you run without the spy-ware. If you run Windows and Internet Washer, you might want to run Spybot Search and Destroy right behind it just to see if it's clean.

Sometimes the license for the free version of software requires that you leave the spy-ware component enabled since that is how the publisher recoups costs. For these programs, if you disable the spy-ware the application may no longer run or, if it does run, you may no longer be entitled to use it.

      - Mark

16 Sep 03 - 09:33 PM (#1020351)
Subject: RE: Tech: popups
From: Bill D

good, Kendall! I have heard it does pretty well!