Thursday, August 27, 2009

Pop up blockers & search toolbars

You might have your own browser under control. I know I do. No, really. But the time will come when you get a new computer, or use an unfamiliar computer, or have a frustrated student - that you causes you to come face-to-face with a formidable popup blocker.

Disabling regular popup blockers is simple. The Tools area of both Firefox and Internet Explorer have options to disable/enable popup blockers. The challenges, however, are the Google and Yahoo toolbars. Both these tools have their own blockers that need to be disabled separately. So don't forget to check them out (if you have them) when encountering popup problems.

Additionally, Christy and I discovered that the Yahoo toolbar is NOT easy to uninstall. She uninstalled it three times (at least) through the browser before finally going to the Control Panel of the computer to remove the Yahoo toolbar from the list of installed programs.

And, have you ever wondered how you got those toolbars in the first place? They like to sneak in on you when you update a browser, or install new programs - not even related to Google or Yahoo. So watch for the fine print or checkbox that requires you to unclick a box to NOT install these options.

Roberta

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