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Resolved Question

Pop-under ads disabling auto-hidden taskbar

by Mar 23, 2012 11:50PM PDT

Hi all. XP pro on a Compaq 6910p laptop, using an auto-hidden taskbar "kept on top" and Chrome, with popups denied in Chrome's settings. When loading videos, a larger-than-full-screen pop-under window opens up (some porn dating crap from naughty.com or some other SOBs). With most pop-unders, I can just bring up the taskbar and right-click-close them. But with this one type, the window is larger than screen size with scroll bars, and it prevents me from un-hiding my taskbar, so that the only way I can close it is to minimize my browser to expose the window and then close it. No doubt to force me to view the damned ad. It's very irritating, the internet version of Billy Mays screaming in your face about Oxy-Clean when you're shopping for candles (and makes me wonder who in their right mind would advertise with someone who uses such intrusive methods. Only an A--hole would override someone's computer. I make it a point never to give anyone money who even uses pop-ups, whether it's Netflix or this porn crap, much less someone who actually interferes with the normal operation of my computer). I want to keep auto-hiding, and I'd rather not keep my browser slightly minimized in order to see the corner of the pop-under. I don't want to use some sort of compromise/work-around like that, because then they win. Any tips to stop it? Thanks!

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Cowcharge has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
5 Posts
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Best Answer

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Pop-under ads disabling auto-hidden taskbar
by Mar 25, 2012 5:35PM PDT

Never mind. I switched back to Firefox and all the pop-unders went away. I guess Chrome just blows when it comes to ads. Thanks anyway.

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Answer
You can start
by Mar 24, 2012 1:20AM PDT

You can start with an old keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + F4 which has long been the shortcut for closing only a specific window of a program in Windows. Plenty of other shortcuts out there you may want to take the time to learn. Never know when it may come in handy.

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Windows XP forum: Pop-under ads disabling auto-hidden taskba
by Cowcharge Mar 24, 2012 4:44AM PDT

That just closes the top window, which isn't what I'm asking to do. Thanks for trying, though. Perhaps I need someone who knows how a window is built that disables auto-hide.

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I'm confused
by MarkFlax Forum moderator Mar 24, 2012 4:59AM PDT

so I wonder if you can tell more.

That auto-hidden Taskbar "kept on top". Doesn't that mean it does not hide, whether auto or manually?

When loading videos. From which web site? I have to wonder if it is the web site itself that is sending these pop-unders, and if so, personally I would steer clear of it.

Pop-ups and pop-unders were prevalent in the early days of internet surfing and in those days the only defence was to avoid such web sites.

Nothing much has changed in that respect although depending which browser you use, there may be add-ons that can help protect you against them. For example I use Firefox for which I have the following add-ons

1] NoScript - Scripts cause these pop-under windows so by having all scripts disallowed when I first visit a web site, I have some control over them.

2] AdBlockPlus - This disables all advertising in web pages. Whether it disables pop-ups and pop-unders, I don't know.

3] WOT - Web of Trust tells me whether a site has been reviewed as safe or unsafe by the WOT community. It is not foolproof but it displays a splash screen on a web page which is classed as dangerous. I then proceed if I wish and ignore the warning, or get out of there.

I also have Malwarebytes' Anti-malware and SUPERAntispyware as manual scanners which I run every week, as I know my anti-virus doesn't catch malware.

I can only offer those comments as suggestions, as I am unsure why you are getting so many pop-under windows.

Mark

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Then try another keyboard combo
by Jimmy Greystone Mar 24, 2012 9:13AM PDT

Then try another keyboard combo first: Alt + Tab to get you to the window you want. Like I said earlier, might be worth taking the time to learn some other keyboard combos.

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