Windows 8 In Depth

Blocking Pop-Up Windows

Among the most annoying things on the Web are those ubiquitous pop-up windows that infest your screen with advertisements when you visit certain sites. (A variation on the theme is the pop-under, a window that opens under your current browser window, so you don’t know it’s there until you close the window.) Pop-up windows can also be dangerous because some unscrupulous software makers have figured out ways to use them to install software on your computer without your permission. They’re nasty things, any way you look at them.

Fortunately, Microsoft has given us a way to stop most pop-ups before they start. Internet Explorer comes with a feature called the Pop-up Blocker that looks for pop-ups and prevents them from opening. ...