A Review on Sunbelt Software's "iHatePopups"
May 09 '03
The Bottom Line No fuss, no muss. Install it and get rid of pop-up windows. Fine tune it as necessary to let the ones you want through.
Software: iHatePopups
Company: Sunbelt Software
Web Address: www.sunbelt-software.com
Requirements: Internet Explorer 5.5 and up
Price: $9.95
30-day trial available
One of the major weaknesses of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser (the default web browser that comes with Windows), is its lack of control over annoying popup windows. When you open a web page, it can open up any number of advertisements in separate, floating windows. Not only is this annoying, but it consumes your bandwidth, slowing down your Internet access while the ad loads. Pop-up windows also consume memory and processor time. They are usually just simply a waste of your computer's resources.
Even worse, many web sites have resorted to pop-under ads. These are opened under your browser windows, and you don't know that they are there until you close the windows. You don't know when the ad opened and where it came from. Some overly aggressive sites open many, many windows, and will open even more when you close one. Like the Hydra - a mythical monster that would sprout two new heads for every one that was cut off - when you close one popup browser window, more pop up in its place. There is no way to control this disaster short of killing the browser task or restarting windows.
There are some "free" solutions to this problem. You can switch browsers and use Netscape or Opera, which have built-in control over pop ups. But these browsers tend to be less compatible with add-on software. You can create your own blacklist of ad sites to block in c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts (whew!), but this must be maintained manually, can block some legitimate sites, and doesn't stop stray windows from popping up. You can download one of the many, free tools available, but these tend to need maintenance or are overly problematic. Popup Stopper is one of the most popular, but I've found myself fighting with it more than its worth. PC Magazine's Cookie Cop 2 is great, but requires proxy setup, doesn't work through some Internet connections, and modifies the web pages themselves - a potential source of problems.
Sunbelt's iHatePopups is a simple, yet powerful, utility to take care of the problem. Just install it and forget about it. You will have to restart your system after installation, because it must insert itself into the inner workings of Internet Explorer -- something that can't be done while IE is running. Once installed, a little icon appears on your Task Bar to tell you that it's working. Double-clicking on this icon will bring up the program's options.
It will tell you when a popup window is blocked with your choice of notifications, from a sound to a discreet little window that appears to nothing at all. If a window is blocked that you needed or wanted to see, just click on the link provided in the notification window, or right-click the entry in the "Blocked History" log. Most popups can be recovered this way. The ones that can't are those that use unconventional tricks in an attempt to foil the popup blockers -- these are usually ads that you don't want to see, anyway. The notification window goes away a little to quickly for my tastes -- I'd like to be able to "hold" it in place while I decide what to do, or at least configure the time delay that it stays up. The information is always available in the log, at any rate.
To avoid blocking legitimate popup windows in the future, you can tell the program about it. There are multiple ways to do this, from holding down a key combination when opening a web site, to explicitly listing friendly web sites in the program's options. If you ever need to allow all popups to appear, you can temporarily turn it off by clicking a checkbox.
The software has a few other extra features that help you control your web browsing experience. You can prevent invasive behavior such as rogue web sites changing your home page, or activity generated by adware that has installed itself on your system. The software can block Windows Messenger Service pop ups, a problem unrelated to Internet Explorer popups but just as annoying. It can also inhibit IE's own dialog and error windows if you don't want to be bothered by these. It won't stop adware from installing itself. See PestPatrol, another utility sold by Sunbelt.
Finally, iHatePopups provides a lot of information on its popup-blocking activity. A simple counter tells you the total popups blocked. The "Reports" tab shows you more detail in the form of a bar chart. The "Blocked History" log tells you where the popups came from, and allows you to open the popup windows. This list is very useful for tracking misbehaved sites that you may want to avoid doing business with. Popups are almost as invasive as spam e-mail -- do you really want to deal with the businesses that adopt these methods?
I tested iHatePopups on a multitude of offending web pages, from the popular web portals to the darker, underbelly-of-the-net sites. It caught all of the popups, while allowing any windows that I "requested" by clicking on a link. Sunbelt seems to have all of the popup techniques covered, from the standard window.open() call to the more shady tricks. It has the smoothest operation that I've seen with any of the popup-blocker utilities. Others either block too many windows, don't block others, or don't allow windows to open when you click on a link.
I wholeheartedly recommend this utility for anybody who uses the World Wide Web. It takes browser window control away from the web sites and places it back into your hands, as it should be.
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Epinions.com ID:
gsearle
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Member: Greg Searle
Location: Nashua, NH
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Computer graphics designer and software developer with interests in technology, home improvement, and family life.
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