Next to spam and viruses, popups are one of the most annoying
and commonly seen ailments on the web today. Popups are most often
caused by either webpages or adware/spyware.
Dealing with webpage-based popups:
Webpage popups are the ones that show up as ads only when
you open specific websites. These are usually very legitimate
and often are related to the content of the website you are
visiting. Methods to prevent these include:
- Avoid webpages known to have popups as much as possible.
The less you visit these sites, the less you'll have to deal
with their advertisements.
- Get
some popup-blocking software. If you are using Windows
XP, updating to service pack
2 will install a built-in
popup blocker in Internet Explorer.
If you are using an older version of Windows, there are a
number of free and commercial options available. Another
option is to use a browser with built-in blocking such as
FireFox.
Note: ACCS does not support third party popup blocking software,
any use of such software is at your own risk
Dealing with adware/spyware:
If your popup problems are more severe, they may be caused
by adware/spyware. Symptoms may include popups that show up
without browsing the web, or large numbers of popup ads appearing
all at once. Here are a few tips to help reduce your popup
woes:
- Download a spyware cleaning program such as Spybot S&D
or Ad-Aware (please note that Ad-Aware is for use on personal
machines only - it cannot be used on university computers).
Be sure to update the program and then run it.
- If a spyware cleaning program isn't enough, you may also
need to add a hosts file to Internet Explorer. The purpose
of this file is to block known bad websites and prevent your
browser from going out and getting ads from them. Here is
a tutorial on where to get and install a hosts file from
MVPS.org.
- Finally, be sure you have an anti-virus program installed
and updated. Some adware/spyware can be detected and removed
by these programs as well.
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