I want to be able to control the annoying popups that MS Internet Exploder runs automagically. But I can't find any configuration options to do that. It seems like they would give you the option of prompting if I want to run something. Is there a way to do that?

Another question: How do I get rid of an .OCX file?

Internet Explorer doesn't have a feature to kill popups. You need to get another program that does that. There are tons of popup killing programs out there.

EDIT: I'm not sure what you mean by popups, BTW. Could you be more specific as to what type of popups you're referring to?

Another question: How do I get rid of an .OCX file?

Just delete it. Don't know why you'd want to, though.:confused:

There was one popup that kept asking, "do you want to install macromedia flash?" or something like that. Anything that asks me if I want to install something is probably an unwanted popup. It seemed to do that when I browsed certain web pages. I never figured out exactly what triggered it.

OK, I just deleted the .OCX file. I guess I was having trouble deleting it before I restored my boot partition from an image file. Now everything is working better.

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/
Flash is a nice program for viewing moving graphics on websites. The graphics are generally nice looking and very small...I would suggest downloading it from this site and then you wouldn't get that popup anymore.

I like the name, Exploder. :lol:

I'll thnk about it, but their insisten popup P*ssed me off.

Well if you want to get rid of popup ads, go get POW from http://www.analogx.com

If you are only talking about Macromedia Flash player, just install it. Its just a plugin for your web browser so that it can display webpages in Flash. More and more websites are using Flash instead of html (ie, http://www.killfrog.com/). If you're worried about security, don't worry about Flash. Macromedia is a great company that has done wonders in the world of dynamic webpages. Flash Player and Shockwave are free programs available for you to view those webpages among a host of other great programs like Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Cold Fusion, Flash MX, et al.

I guess I feel uncomfortable about IE running programs and scripts without asking me. Is there something you can use that prompts me before it runs things?

I use AtGuard 3.22, which is a couple years old now. It still works fine. Anytime a Active-X, java, etc. is run, it pops up a window with 4 choices with big easy buttons to pick:

Always block (from that site)
Always run

Block this time
Run this time

I can acess the big database of everything that is learned, and customize it even more, including firewalls.

rarely does anything "get thru"

Some options include things by site , like block all java, block popups only, block active X, etc.

Thanks starlifter, sounds good. IE has a long history of security holes.

If you feel like switching browsers, Mozilla has an option that allows you to turn off all popup windows. 1.0 has finally been released (it's been in beta for forever), looks and feels like a Netscape browser (you can import your IE bookmarks), but unlike Netscape, it's nice and stable. Definitely an attractive option to Internet Explorer. Don't know if this really helps you; just wanted to throw that out there.

http://www.mozilla.org

Thanks. Mozilla has some things going for it -- it has a website where people post problems and they actually fix a lot of them....
:)

I use Opera and I can turn it off. It's nice because I don't want to have to run Pop up Stopper in my system tray.

Mozilla rules. With Mozilla, and web-based email (e.g., get rid of LookOut Distress), about the only reason you'd ever need to run an anti-virus app would be to scan d/l's. (BTW, if you're insecure, or just paranoid, not the risk-taking kind, AVG, from Grisoft.com is a freeware a-v, and Zonealarm, from Zonelabs.com is a free firewall). IE and Outlook are the main disseminators of viruses on the 'net.