The Knock-Down Pop-Ups 2003 Compendium
You don't need me to tell you how hateful pop-ups and their evil twins, pop-unders, are. But I need to do it anyway, just to get it out of my system. These unwanted advertising browser windows are annoying and often crass. They waste time, interfere with browsing, and generally deserve to be annihilated.
There, I feel better.
Yes, I know, even wonderful sites like PCWorld.com sometimes use pop-ups. Nevertheless, they must die. Pop-up habitu?? X-10, you're gonna miss me.
If pop-ups afflict you, I'm willing to bet that you use Internet Explorer. That's because the current versions of every major Windows-compatible browser--except Microsoft's--offer settings (often hard to find) that block pop-ups and pop-unders.
Mozilla 1.3b and Netscape 7.02: The latest versions of the Mozilla and Netscape browsers include a Popup Manager that permits you to block pop-ups from some (but not all) sites. To block all pop-up and pop-under ads, choose Edit, Preferences, double-click the Privacy & Security category, select Popup Windows, choose Suppress popups, and then click OK. Note that this change disables the program's Popup Manager tool, as well.
Unfortunately, blocking all pop-ups can prevent some desirable Web content--such as streaming video playback or log-in dialogs--from opening. To block pop-ups at some sites but not at others, you have two options. The first is to suppress pop-ups as described above, but choose Exceptions to enter a list of sites you'll allow pop-ups from (see FIGURE 1). The second is to leave the Popup Windows setting on the default 'Allow popups'; then, whenever you encounter an obnoxious pop-up, choose Tools, Popup Manager, Suppress Popups from this Site.
Opera 7.0x: Opera is no slouch at blocking pop-up ads, though it doesn't quite match Mozilla's Popup Manager in flexibility. To block all pop-ups, choose File, Quick preferences, Refuse pop-up windows. Another setting, File, Quick preferences, Open requested pop-up windows only, lets some desirable pop-ups open as expected; but in my experience, the setting also blocks some video-playback windows.
Send your questions and tips to nettips@spanbauer.com. We pay $50 for published items. Go here for more Internet Tips. Scott Spanbauer is a contributing editor for PC World.
Dedicated Pop-Up Killers
If you don't like your browser's pop-up controls, you can try using a third-party program. Several commercial Internet utilities, including Symantec's $70 Norton Internet Security and InterMute's $30 AdSubtract, do a dandy job of nuking pop-ups along with performing their other duties. And numerous commercial products focus just on stopping pop-ups.
But if all you want is a good pop-up killer, you don't have to spend a dime. AnalogX's tiny POW does the job for free, though it requires some hands-on effort and works only with Internet Explorer. The utility sits in the Windows system tray, tracking open browser windows and closing those it recognizes as pop-ups.
POW knows about a few pop-up types in advance, but you'll have to add new ones to the block list as they arise; this involves launching POW's interface from the system tray icon, and then double-clicking the title of the pop-up in POW's list of open browser windows. Go to www.analogx.com to get your copy.
For industrial-strength ad-blocking and pop-up prevention, try WebWasher.com's WebWasher Classic 3.3 (see FIGURE 2). The 1MB program is free for home and educational use, and $29 for business use.
Designed to work with Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, and Internet Explorer browsers, WebWasher Classic 3.3 quashes pop-ups automatically without manual configuration. The program also blocks banner ads, cookies, and Web bugs (those minuscule, invisible images that track your Web browsing on the sly). Go to www.webwasher.com to download the program.
Deactivate TurboTax's Product Activation
C-Dilla, now called SafeCast, is a copy-protection utility that comes bundled with many applications, including AutoCAD and MathCAD. Notably, it's part of Intuit's product activation for TurboTax 2002. Both Intuit and SafeCast's maker, Macrovision, deny that the antipiracy software monitors your computer usage or communicates with either company's servers. Nevertheless, SafeCast does remain installed and active on your PC even after you uninstall TurboTax.
In response to customer complaints, an Intuit Web page now offers a SafeCast uninstaller and detailed instructions for using it. Go to TurboTax for Windows Technical Support to download both. Warning: Some copy-protected programs won't run if SafeCast--or its predecessor, C-Dilla--is not installed on them.
PDFs Want to Be Free
The internet is a great way to distribute documents, but some document types are better suited to a particular use than others. Web pages are good for sharing links and photos, but they may look different in different browsers, and they may not print the way you want in various operating systems. Similarly, documents in Microsoft Word may not look the same when viewed in anything but a Windows version of the program--and some of them carry viruses.
Adobe's PDF (short for Portable Document Format) manages to overcome most of these difficulties. Forms, resumes, newsletters, and other highly formatted documents usually come out looking just about the same whether the destination is a Mac, a PC, or a Unix computer. Unfortunately, Adobe's Acrobat Distiller program, which converts your page-layout, HTML, or word processing files to.pdf format, is pretty dear at $250.
But you can use any of several free or low-cost products or services to become a PDF publisher on the cheap. The one to try first is Adobe's own Create Adobe PDF Online. (see FIGURE 3). This is normally a $10-per-month or $100-per-year service that allows customers to convert an unlimited number of files from dozens of popular formats to PDF, but a trial offer lets you convert five files gratis (with limits on the number of pages per document, total download/upload size, and processing time). I ran my r??sum?? through Adobe's service and received the finished PDF file as an e-mail attachment within minutes. Alternatively, you can choose to visit a temporary Web page and download the converted file from there.
BCL Technologies offers a similar but less-limited free service that you can reach at www.gobcl.com; it converts.rtf,.txt,.doc,.xls, and.ppt files under 500KB into.pdf format, and then e-mails them back to you. After signing up, you can mail files to a BCL address and receive the converted files by return mail.
Online conversion services aren't your only route to free PDFs, however. If you are technically savvy, visit The ZipGuy's Free PDF site and download his Free PDF version 0.95 beta and the equally important Free PDF configuration instructions. The ZipGuy's tool acts as a front end to several other free programs that add PDF as a virtual printer in Windows programs.
For a novice-friendly solution, enlist EHelp's RoboPDF Home Edition. Free to home users, RoboPDF Home Edition lets you print documents in the.pdf file format, using the print dialog box of any Windows application. Unfortunately, it also inserts an ad for RoboPDF on each page.
Nuke IE's Image Toolbar
There you are browsing the beautiful images at www.lomography.com, using IE 6, only to discover that the browser's pesky image toolbar keeps popping up, obscuring the view. What's a low-tech photo connoisseur to do? To make it go away for good, select Tools, Internet Options, click the Advanced tab, scroll down to the Multimedia section, uncheck Enable Image Toolbar, and click OK. A little less clutter, a little more action.
Revision Control: Return of the Spy Catchers
Updates exist for two popular spyware utilities, but not without some gotchas.
Ad-aware 6: Once the gold standard of spyware removal tools, Lavasoft's Ad-aware 5.x gradually went stale as the company focused on preparing this new version instead of updating the older app's list of known spyware and adware. The lesson: For best results, you may do well to rely on more than one spy catcher (see below). This program is an 871KB download.
Spybot-Search & Destroy: Patrick Kolla's free adware and spyware remover lacks some of Ad-aware's interface polish, but Kolla's regular updates keep you safe from all the latest sneakware. This program is a 2.5MB download.