evolt.org Workers of the Web, Evolt!

thanks for the updated list.. i had a slightly older one...
I also use a freeware software called proxomitron which is pretty decent for killing popup ads

another method i use is to enable the IE prompt for active scripting (do yu want to run scripts on this page ..yes or no..) if i say no it kills the popup from launching...can be a bit tiresome when yu gotta click no on each page...!

... (of course, I run Opera to shutdown popup windows) but it seems that most of the time that the ad server is running out of Russia on a 14.4 modem. This article is godsend... if it works.

Hi neoliminal
This works great on both my win 9X and 2K boxes. Hasn't slowed it down at all. Although I suppose all installs can be different. But I dont have a problem.

if you are a frequent user of Yahoo or other web sites that have ad-servers as well as content-servers, make sure you check the hosts file if you are suiddenly getting unexplained "file not found" messages. I found that I could not make travel reservations on travel.yahoo.com until I removed rd.yahoo.com from my hosts file.

I block pop ups and ads using my firewall which is called outpost (works better than the "buzz" programs tiny and zone alarm) If you find that a pop up has been removed and you want to see it you can turn it off easily. You can limit ads by size etc

Greetings.

I have been using this method for some time now, and there is one little issue with removing ads from your surfing this way.

If you are on a page with a number of ads you will notice that they all will display 404 errors in their allocated IFRAME or DIV, TD -- whatever. Now, try to use your browser BACK button....guess what? Another request is made for each of those links. So you end up hitting BACK several times to actually get back to the previous page.

I have found a slight workaround is to use the drop down on the BACK button and select the page you want. Interestingly enough you will also see in there all of the ad server links.

Another idea I had on this but have not yet attempted would be to actually try to some sort of redirect of the names to some other IP address that one may have setup say in their home network. Basically anything that would return something else but a 404 error would do the trick.

Lastly, I also use PopUp Killer, which works pretty well. The only hitch on any of these automatic apps is that they may kill something you actually want. Be sure to work with your exceptions list for those cases.

Someone else mentioned blocking Javascript as perhaps an "annoying" thing added to a page...annoying? Javascript has great utility for a number of reasons, and shouldn't be killed off on a whim.

Currently, I use Mozilla combined with Ad aware. I use Ad aware once a week to check cookies, registry and other nasties and Mozilla to browse the web, with the"Open unrequested windows" unchecked.

I did however receive 1 popup since making the changes to the host file. It was sent out by www.gainnetwork.net and apparently tons of people are complaining about them. They have created a how to uninstall GAIN supported applications from your computer so that the pop ups stop! Definitely find out their ad server name & address and add it to the host list!

The website for Spybot S&D was changed to http://spybot.eon.net.au. Sorry for the confusion, the previous link was to a german page.

Older versions of Kazaa Lite intall described this trick. There was also attached a well expanded hosts file with addresses of the biggest spammers.

try this one http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/ its the biggest file I've found in years.

.jeff

Why switch just to block pop-ups? That's a really good point. I want to stir the pot a bit by asking if the majority of computer users (certainly not referring to this crowd) cannot shutdown their computer, is it really easier to setup trusted zones, browser wrappers, or toolbars (regardless who provides them). Alan Lloyd's suggestion is one that I've never considered, but no matter what we suggest, the best choice is whichever works the easiest - and it'll be different for everyone.

Among those who frequent evolt, there are plenty of power-users who are not afraid of playing with hosts and installing software. Often we are the ones who bring suggestions to the non-technical users of all ages who ask if you have any secret tricks which are not too technical. I've been teaching computers to all kinds of users for years and many people do not recognize that the [downloaded]-toolbar was not provided directly by Microsoft. Between Hotbars, Gator, misc. spyware, cookies, privacy concerns, HTML pop-up ads, Messenger pop-ups, firewalls... it's too much for the average person.

I would argue that, to a point, this is the way it should be. An accountant should be an expert in the field of accounting, not checking for security patches and Windows/software patches every day. Switching browser is a good choice not because we can to 'stick it to the man' or make a statement, but has to do with user-friendliness. With two or three programs installed the user has to keep tabs on all of them, whereas the majority of people can find a simple selection box in the Mozilla [or, name your choice browser] preferences.

You want searching? Mozilla and most other non-IE browsers make it clear you can switch. Have a large monitor, or bad vision? The 'other' brands let you enlarge text where IE won't. I've personally seen many seniors switch just so they could read CNN.com without a mangnifing glass. These are benefits which are hard to sell (it took ages for me to switch) but you'd never go back. Even though these browsers have more features than anyone can keep track of, they are in one place and one place only. Even the preferences for add-on's at mozdev.org appear in the main preferences window.

Consistancy saves that valuable then the time a person would spend trying to compare several IE add-on's and praying that some loophole in the licence doesn't allow for even more spyware to be installed. Consistancy saves us having to re-learn a new interface, which can be daunting for the average person. Most people switched from Netscape to IE... they can switch to a newer, innovative browser today and get friendly with the features they want, or they can continue to hack-into IE.

No one wants to switch, but we all switched to IE at some point. It was 'weird' at first too, but it really was the best for a long time. Times have changed. I tried Mozilla because it seemed that I could avoid testing my websites in it. It grew on me.

So to specifically respond to your question, there's 2 answers: the quick-and-dirty, or long-term. If we start encouraging others to use modern browsers with the features they want, then they won't be encouraged to say "yes" then next time their offered a utility that "blocks ads, updates your clock, makes you coffee..." If you don't care to change, install a toolbar like the great one from Google. Like Luc points out, this problem is serious and it's not going to go away. It's only a matter of time though... if you haven't switched yet, you'll kick yourself for it later.

I use a program called "eDexter" to replace 99% of the blocked image ads/banners/flash ads
being served from whatever server addresses I've got blocked in my HOSTS file.
And you can use your own images, if you wanna customize things, y'know.

Here's the company/site URL to find out more about eDexter: Pyrenean.com

I haven't noticed any significant slowdown on my Windows2000 machine by using the HOSTS file, or by using eDexter.
At last check, my HOSTS file was around 45k big.
I do remember reading somewhere that Windows2000 systems don't like very large HOSTS files, "large" being like 200-300k, etc.
I've discovered that things like Google's search & pop-up blocker toolbar are usually the culprits when it comes to a sluggish or slow-opening Internet Explorer.
( although I'm very fond of Google's toolbar, and won't part with it unless I'm forced to! It's the most reliable and user-friendly pop-up stopper I've seen yet. )

But there will NEVER be a 100% effective way to remove all ads & banners & pop-ups, because there are just too many different methods to call on images & pages.