Category:	Pop-up Ad Blocker
Skill Level Required:	Beginner
System Requirements	Windows XP and XP2 Windows 2000 Windows NT Windows 98 Windows 98 Second Edition
Browsers Supported:	AOL, MSN, Internet Explorer 5.0 and above, Netscape 4.x, 6.x, 7.x, Opera 6.x - 7.x, SBC Yahoo, WMConnect, CompuServe, Juno, NetZero, Mozilla 1.7.3 or older
Available for immediate download? Program Available on CD?	Yes Yes, for additional cost.
Link To Purchase & Download: More Information:	Purchase through RegNow's secure site Panicware Web Site

Panicware has been a leader in software to kill pop-up ads since pop-ups were invented. Their Pop-Up Stopper program has evolved several times to provide continued protection against pop-up ads. Their latest version is Pop-Up Stopper Professional, and it is an excellent program. Pop-Up Stopper Professional incorporates Panicware's patent-pending XA (eXtensible Architecture) technology - a neat idea that allows Panicware's software developers to continuously provide updates so that your protection will never be out of date. All of the Panicware products we've used are easy to install and set up, even for computer newbies. They provide excellent protection, and regular updates keep you safe from new threats.

Pop-Up Stopper is one of the few programs we've found that works in all of the most popular browsers including AOL, MSN, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, SBC Yahoo and Windows Messenger. Pop-Up Stopper also provides protection against ads from file swapping applications such as KaZaA and the very aggressive Gator. The program allows you to control what sites can show you pop-up windows. With Pop-Up Stopper set at the highest level, all pop-ups are blocked. When you find a legitimate site that uses pop-up windows for additional information, support or for links to other sites you can teach Pop-Up Stopper to allow pop-ups from that site only. If you don't want to permanently allow a site to deliver pop-ups, you can override Pop-Up Stopper's blocking by holding down the 'Ctrl' (Control) key to allow one pop-up window to open when you click on a link.

Panicware provides excellent privacy protection, allowing you to heep your surfing habits private and protecting you against identity theft by removing private information from your computer's URL history, browser history, cache, cookies, index.dat and other important files. Pop-up Stopper provides a handy privacy report to review tracking files on the computer such as cookies and history files allowing you to trace the threats you've encountered.

Pop-Up Stopper Professional also includes additional features to block potential virus scripts from installing on your computer and against 'drive-by downloads' that add adware to your computer when you visit a web site. If you use your browser's 'Make This Site Available Offline' feature to store the site on your computer to allow you to view it even offline, Pop-Up Stopper's protection continues even when you're not connected to the Internet.

Another handy feature allows you to destroy the information in your browser's history and temporary files by emptying your Index.dat file. You cannot edit this file yourself, it is protected by Windows. Cleaning up the temporary files and history will speed up your computer and free up space on your hard drive.

Pop-Up Stopper has an easy to use control panel that let's you set all of your preferences. The help information included with is very good and continues to get better. It has been many years since we needed to ask Panicware how to use any feature. Panicware's Update Notification system tells when program updates are available. Pop-Up Stopper should be able to adapt to new types of threats to keep you protected in the future. You can have some fun, Pop-Up Stopper includes a variety of sound files and cursors that you can program to play when an ad is blocked.

Panicware offers a stripped down version of Pop-Up Stopper Professional for a few dollars less. Called, Pop-Up Stopper Basic, that program blocks ads only in Internet Explorer. You aren't protected from ads & viruses in Instant Messenger and you don't get the privacy protection features. Pop-Up Stopper Basic does a great job blocking pop-up ads in Explorer, but we'd recommend purchasing the privacy protection and blocking ads in all browsers and Messenger. Allowing your machine to become infected to save a couple of bucks is a poor investment.

Overall rating: Panicware has produced an excellent program. It does what they say it will do, is easy to use and reasonably priced. Everyone we've installed Pop-Up Stopper for has been pleased. We're pleased because we get no complaints or questions about how to use the program from our customers. The very few times we've needed support from Panicware, their answers have been prompt and helpful.

Pop-Up Stopper Professional is available for immediate download and installation here.