Which PopUp Blocker should I use?

Infopackets Reader Chris K. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

My computer has so many popup blockers installed that my web pages won't display properly. For example: if I click a link on a web site that opens a new Browser Window, the page is blocked.

As far as I understand, popup blockers are a part of my antivirus program, my firewall, my DSL connection (through Yahoo and SBC), and even Mozilla Firefox has one. I suspect there may be other popup blockers installed on my machine as years have gone by.

My question is: how do I know which popup blockers to remove, yet keep my computer safe from annoying popups so that I can browse web sites properly? "

My response:

My advice for you is to systematically disable all of your popup blocking software and use only one popup blocker (and one web browser). This is the best way to control what popups are allowed / disallowed, and will avoid any confusion.

I've been using the new popup blocker that came bundled with Windows XP Service Pack 2 since last November, and it works very well. I have my popup filter level set to High, so that it blocks *all* popups (unless I press CTRL on the keyboard and left-click the mouse at the same time to allow a popup). I also have certain, trusted web sites "white listed" so that I don't always have to press CTRL + left-click to allow popups.

If you run Windows XP and haven't installed Service Pack 2, you can download my eBook and video tutorial on how to install it (highly recommended; link below). You can check to see if you have XP Service Pack 2 installed by loading Internet Explorer, and then click Help -> About Internet Explorer. If Service Pack 2 is installed, it will say "updated versions: SP2". More info on the eBook / video tutorial:

XP Service Pack 2 eBook and Video Tutorial