bristolbirder
Well-known member
As an Opera user I have to ask,
"What's a pop-up?"
"What's a pop-up?"
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Getting rid of the most annoying popups (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter walwyn
- Start date
bristolbirder
Well-known member
I have no problem with Javascript nor with the Opera browser which works fine and faultlessly. Do you have an axe to grind with Opera or are you an employee of Microsoft?
Tannin
Common; sedentary.
Gentlemen, gentlemen, no need to shove. Opera - and this is coming from a true-blue Opera user, remember - has a plentiful supply of quirks: quirks that to the non-devotee are infuriating. Internet Explorer has fewer quirks but vast gaping security holes you could drive a truck through, and a severe lack of modern features.
Opera is like French cars used to be. Lots better than most at the things it's good at, weird and downright stupid at others. You either love it or you hate it. With Opera there is very little middle ground. Oh, and it's good at blocking pop-ups.
Explorer is tolerably good at everything except security and doing what you want it to do (as opposed to what Microsoft wants it to do or (worse) what some damn spam-pusher wants it to do). Popups and its inability to deal with common user preferences destroy it as a usable, pleasant product. For example, if you chose not to install Flash, IE insists on putting up a click-window on every single damn page you ever visit that has Flash complaining about it. (Specifics vary: with some versions on some OSs you can get rid of this, but there are plenty of other similar bugs.)
Mozilla is, objectively, the best at almost everything. Best security (bar maybe Opera?) best pop-up blocking, most compatible, by far the most stable. But it's ugly. No matter what they do with it, it still looks mega-clunky.
I can live with that.
Which do I use myself?
Depends on the site. Mostly I use a different browser for my three favourite sites. IE 5 or 6 at Storage Forum, Opera 6 at Wikipedia, and Mozilla here at Bird Forum. I keep all three open most of the time. Sometimes I visit a favourite site with the "wrong" browser and get quite confused when the browser does something I didn't expect!
But if I'm just surfing around, I practically never use IE: it's just too much of an invitation to the pop-up pushers and the spyware vendors. At sites you don't trust, always use Mozilla or Opera.
Opera is like French cars used to be. Lots better than most at the things it's good at, weird and downright stupid at others. You either love it or you hate it. With Opera there is very little middle ground. Oh, and it's good at blocking pop-ups.
Explorer is tolerably good at everything except security and doing what you want it to do (as opposed to what Microsoft wants it to do or (worse) what some damn spam-pusher wants it to do). Popups and its inability to deal with common user preferences destroy it as a usable, pleasant product. For example, if you chose not to install Flash, IE insists on putting up a click-window on every single damn page you ever visit that has Flash complaining about it. (Specifics vary: with some versions on some OSs you can get rid of this, but there are plenty of other similar bugs.)
Mozilla is, objectively, the best at almost everything. Best security (bar maybe Opera?) best pop-up blocking, most compatible, by far the most stable. But it's ugly. No matter what they do with it, it still looks mega-clunky.
I can live with that.
Which do I use myself?
Depends on the site. Mostly I use a different browser for my three favourite sites. IE 5 or 6 at Storage Forum, Opera 6 at Wikipedia, and Mozilla here at Bird Forum. I keep all three open most of the time. Sometimes I visit a favourite site with the "wrong" browser and get quite confused when the browser does something I didn't expect!
But if I'm just surfing around, I practically never use IE: it's just too much of an invitation to the pop-up pushers and the spyware vendors. At sites you don't trust, always use Mozilla or Opera.
Last edited:
digi-birder
Well-known member
Nina,
What sort of popups are you seeing? Is it just a small extra browser window when you visit certain sites, or is it a grey box just like a Windows error message that tells you to make a note of the web address before closing the window?
As you are on AOL, it may be something specific to them and their instant messaging system. I've never used it so I can't comment.
I turned off the Messenger Service, as per Walwyn's post, some time ago and have not received a popup of the second type since.
I also turned off the Microsoft Messenger (not related to the Messenger Service) as I never use instant messaging. The icon would appear in the system tray every time I opened Outlook Express and kept giving me a message that updates were available, etc. I set the preferences so that it didn't launch on startup or when OE was opened. Now there are no more annoyances. You may be able to find something to turn off AOL's Instant Message service to cure the problem.
Are you using the XP firewall?
What sort of popups are you seeing? Is it just a small extra browser window when you visit certain sites, or is it a grey box just like a Windows error message that tells you to make a note of the web address before closing the window?
As you are on AOL, it may be something specific to them and their instant messaging system. I've never used it so I can't comment.
I turned off the Messenger Service, as per Walwyn's post, some time ago and have not received a popup of the second type since.
I also turned off the Microsoft Messenger (not related to the Messenger Service) as I never use instant messaging. The icon would appear in the system tray every time I opened Outlook Express and kept giving me a message that updates were available, etc. I set the preferences so that it didn't launch on startup or when OE was opened. Now there are no more annoyances. You may be able to find something to turn off AOL's Instant Message service to cure the problem.
Are you using the XP firewall?
walwyn
Well-known member
Nina here is a link to the same instructions for turning off the messenger popups on XP.
http://www.jocoed.k12tn.net/Technology/popmessages/popmsgs.htm
Recheck that everything is turned off. If you really have turned of the messenger services and are still getting popups then you may have downloaded some ad server software in the past and it is this that is causing the problems residual problems.
Did you download that ad-aware software and run it? What did it say?
What the software does is scan your harddrive like a virus checker looking for obnoxious spyware and ad server programs it then gives you the option to disable/delete the little beasties.
http://www.jocoed.k12tn.net/Technology/popmessages/popmsgs.htm
Recheck that everything is turned off. If you really have turned of the messenger services and are still getting popups then you may have downloaded some ad server software in the past and it is this that is causing the problems residual problems.
Did you download that ad-aware software and run it? What did it say?
What the software does is scan your harddrive like a virus checker looking for obnoxious spyware and ad server programs it then gives you the option to disable/delete the little beasties.
christineredgate
Winner of the Copeland Wildlife Photographer of th
Very interesting ,i was thinking of trying to find a way to stop these wretched things,but why cannot i print off these messages one at a time ,instead of having to print the whole of the thread.When i tried to print Tannins swar adaptor info,the whole 18 pages,the printer complained after 10,and started spitting blanks sheets all over the place.
but have all the info now,and will have a try.
you really are all a mine of technical no how!!
Christine.
but have all the info now,and will have a try.
you really are all a mine of technical no how!!
Christine.
Nina P
Nina
Diane, yes done all that, as far as I can tell, and yes have XP firewall.
Walwyn I got a billing for $ 39 but have no funds at present to continue that line, Hence the request for non paying help, otherwise I did think of challenging AOL8's popup stopping ability, one of the worst messenger sevice alerts is to say I'm open to interceptions, unsafe user, but what can one do to totally secure my equipment? as I have only been on the net since November and am not the only user in the house, and all are computer learning bodies, and it seems I am now outstripping my daughters over my PC abilities, the ball is now in my court.
I am about to attempt further checks and although the number of messenger services have been reduced they haven't stopped. I am going to try all ideas now, so many thanks and here I go, Nina.
Walwyn I got a billing for $ 39 but have no funds at present to continue that line, Hence the request for non paying help, otherwise I did think of challenging AOL8's popup stopping ability, one of the worst messenger sevice alerts is to say I'm open to interceptions, unsafe user, but what can one do to totally secure my equipment? as I have only been on the net since November and am not the only user in the house, and all are computer learning bodies, and it seems I am now outstripping my daughters over my PC abilities, the ball is now in my court.
I am about to attempt further checks and although the number of messenger services have been reduced they haven't stopped. I am going to try all ideas now, so many thanks and here I go, Nina.
Nina P
Nina
Walwyn,
I logged in on that site, saw the list. and went, yes done that but didnt have the window the first time so thought, go back and have another go! Found it!!!! It had switched to automatic, from manual, so got it disabled completely, and know it is imobilised as the new windows update is now absent on start up. Brilliant, and thanks for the link, have put that in useful info memory, cheers. Nina.
I logged in on that site, saw the list. and went, yes done that but didnt have the window the first time so thought, go back and have another go! Found it!!!! It had switched to automatic, from manual, so got it disabled completely, and know it is imobilised as the new windows update is now absent on start up. Brilliant, and thanks for the link, have put that in useful info memory, cheers. Nina.
digi-birder
Well-known member
Nina P said:
Nina, some of these messages may be banner ads disguised as warnings. They are created in the same colours as the usual Windows error boxes to fool people into clicking on them. My sister got caught with one of these and ended up parting with money to download something that was supposed to speed up surfing. The way to spot them is that they usually scroll with the webpage.
Nina P
Nina
Hi DIane they didnt scroll with the page, and so far since the redoing I have been free from the irritating sales pitches that always want money.
I have been on the net for the last hour and so far the peace has been deafening, BEAUTIFUL.
WALWYN, you are a STAR. thank you for the patience you have shown this old buffer, I have learnt so much from this site that my kids are now asking me questions about computing, and so far I have been ahead of them...... JUST.
I'll never be at genius level but I am fast learning for a wrinkly!! Nina.
I have been on the net for the last hour and so far the peace has been deafening, BEAUTIFUL.
WALWYN, you are a STAR. thank you for the patience you have shown this old buffer, I have learnt so much from this site that my kids are now asking me questions about computing, and so far I have been ahead of them...... JUST.
I'll never be at genius level but I am fast learning for a wrinkly!! Nina.
