doddaa2001's Full Review: Cosmi Pop-Up Ad Blocker for PC
I hate pesky advertisements! That is why I published a nearly free ISP service ($10 a month max) in one of my last reviews.
While my ISP (www.access-4-free.com) does not flash advertisements at me like some other ISP services such as NetZero, much to my chagrin I still run into the occassional pop up advertisement while visiting some of my favorite sites on the web.
Until recently, I just closed those pesky ads and went about my business while slightly annoyed, because if I hit the back button there was the same dang advertisement I'd already closed!
Being as frugally minded as I am (especially since I'm still working in the IT industry after just being laid off), I searched the web until I came across http:\\www.popupstopper.com developed by PanicWare, Inc.
Once here, I automatically clicked the downloads link. It comes back with a nice list of all the downloads PanicWare has to offer, all clearly labeled. I was able to find the "Pop-Up Stopper Free Edition" easily.
There are other more robust (more expensive options on the site), but being me I figured I'd give the free edition a try.
One click on the double arrow download button, choosing the standard "Run program from its current location" and running through the self explanatory installation wizard and VOILA! It was downloaded and already activated on my PC.
While the download and installation wizard was a breeze (even the most computer illiterate person could get through this), I was a bit misled as to whether or not the program was activated or if I needed to activate it myself or choose any options or preferences.
After playing with it for a few minutes, I realized that the two icons it placed on the desktop as shortcuts seem useless. However, the way you know the program is running is because it places a little white hand in the computer's system tray right next to your computer's clock. If it's white, it's active. If you double click it and it turns gray, it's inactive.
Simple as that!
Now for the real test... I went to some frequently visited sites that always bombard me with advertisements. The little white hand points to several yellow lines indicating it's blocking mulitple pop-up advertisements, then the lines disappear and HALLELUJAH I didn't see even one pop up advertisement. If it's blocking one it shows a square box with a stop hand, and disappears within a few seconds and your cursor turns into the big red no symbol.
(Helpful hint: If you want to see them on occassion just deactivate the hand by turning it gray.)
As for my overall impression, I noticed a slight lag time in loading the sites, but attribute that to the pop-up stopper filtering out all the garbage we put up with these days. All in all I'm one satisfied customer! :)
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