Pop-ups are those bothersome little windows that open automatically when you visit some web pages. They are more of an annoyance than a hazard, especially when five or six of them open simultaneously. They hide what you are trying to read, most have distracting animations, and the Close button is usually placed in a very inconspicuous location.
How do you get rid of these floating annoyances? The PC HelpDesk recommends downloading and installing the Google Toolbar. This toolbar offers built-in pop-up blocker software, as well as instant access to the Google search utility.

1. Open your browser and go to the Google Toolbar home page (toolbar.google.com).
2. Check that English is selected for the language (shown below) and click the Download Google Toolbar button.

3. The File Download window appears, click the Open button to download and install the toolbar.
4. The Installation/License agreement windows appear next. Read the text of the agreement and click the Accept option, then click Next.
5. In the Choose Your Configuration window (shown below), select the Disable advanced features option and click Next.

6. On the last screen, either allow the installer program to close all IE windows that are open or choose to close them yourself. Click the Next button. The toolbar is installed and a congratulations page is displayed.

The Google Toolbar (shown above) installs with the Pop-up blocker automatically on. Now you are ready to surf pop-up free! The first time the blocker encounters a pop-up window, it displays a window that introduces the block tool. When the pop-up blocker intercepts an incoming ad, your cursor changes briefly to look like this: .
The pop-up blocker button in the Google toolbar displays a count of the total number of pop-ups blocked since the last Toolbar installation.
Each time a pop-up window tries to open; the blocker prevents the action and displays how many windows are blocked on the Blocked button.
* To allow pop-ups from certain sites, click the Blocked button. This adds that site to your allowed list. Repeat this process as you find web sites where you want to see pop-ups.
* To let a pop-up through on a one-time basis, press and hold the CTRL key as you click on a link to navigate to a new page.
* To remove a site from the pop-up blocker list, visit that page and click the Blocked button. The button text will change from "Site pop-ups allowed" to the count of your blocked ads. This indicates that the pop-up blocker has been re-activated on this site.
* To set the pop-up blocker count back to zero, hold down the Shift and Alt keys while clicking on the Blocked button.
You can also hide the pop-up count entirely by clicking the Google toolbar's Options button, selecting the More tab, and checking the box next to the setting Hide pop-up blocker count.
To completely disable the pop-up blocker, click the Options button and clear the checkbox next to Pop-up Blocker in the Accessories section.

Some software (specially adware/spyware/trashware) display pop-ups at random intervals or based on something you type into a web page. You may have these programs or others like them installed on your computer without even being aware of it. If you are experiencing pop-ups generated by one of these programs, you may want to remove the software from your computer.
If you note this kind of behavior you must request a trashware scan and cleaning urgently.