Managing Popup Windows

The Popup tab in the GIE Settings/Control Panel allows you to turn on or turn off the Popup Blocker, as well as control various options for previewing blocked pop-ups.  You can also specify pop-ups to Always Allow using this control.
 


Popup Blocker Control
 
Automatically block popup when opening new browser windows: Check this box to deny all popups in all browser windows.  You can override this choice in each browser by un-checking the popup icon in the toolbar (i.e. the popup icon will have a red X through it).
 
Note:  Every time a popup is suppressed, the mouse cursor briefly changes to the icon shown at right.  As described above, an audio sound can also play when a popup is blocked


 
Play sound when popup window has been prevented:  Check this box if you wish to hear a sound every time a popup is suppressed.  Click the speaker icon to the right of the text to select custom sounds.

 
Enable Smart Popup Blocker: Checking this box allows links you press on a web page to bypass the popup filter.  Make sure this option is checked if you wish to avoid having to bypass the popup filter by pressing the shift and/or control keys while pressing the link, or doing the extra click within 2 seconds as shown below. 
 

 
Show a preview of blocked pop-up windows:

Show a preview of blocked pop-up windows: If you wish to see pop-ups, but have them vanish after being displayed, select the "Show for 2 seconds" option in the "Popup Preview" box.

Windows-XP and Windows-2000 users: can instead select "Fade Out" to have pop-ups dissolve away after being displayed for a couple of seconds.
Save snapshots of blocked pop-up windows:

Guard-IE stores a list of blocked pop-ups. These are stored as URLs, however, you can ask Guard-IE to store a small picture (called a snapshot) of blocked pop-up windows in its history. If you prefer this select a snapshot size in the "Thumbnails" box: 

Please note: Snapshots are not available for Windows 95 users.  Also note that snapshots cannot be made for some pop-ups as they are created dynamically.
Viewing Snapshots
Snapshots can be viewed by clicking the Guard-IE button in the toolbar and selecting "View recently blocked pop-up windows." 
 
Caution: While quite handy, if the snapshot option is selected, then the actual pop-ups are brought over the network and converted into small images. Hence, choosing the option to store thumbnails will utilize more bandwidth than not choosing this option. If not checked, pop-ups are killed BEFORE they get to your computer!  Do not use the thumbnail option if you wish to save bandwidth!

 

  
Open Pop-up Blocker Allow List (Bypassing the Pop-up Blocker):
 
Every time a popup is suppressed, its name will show up in the Pop-up Blocker Allow List.  This list will also be visible from the Guard-IE toolbar by clicking the Guard-IE castle and selecting "View recently blocked pop-up windows."

The names of all pop-ups that were blocked will be shown unchecked in the Allowed Popup List.  If you wish to allow that popup in the future, simply check the box to its left.

If you wish to allow all pop-ups from that particular site, simply double-click the entry in the Allowed Popup List window and edit the name. Example: In the example below, if you wished to allow ALL pop-ups from the FailSafeTechnologies domain, you would double-click the entry, and remove all text to the right of the domain leaving: "www.FailSafeTechnologies.com."

Pop-ups can occur even when the "Prevent Pop-ups" box is checked if:
  • You have turned off the pop-up filter on a particular browser window by un-checking the popup icon in the Guard-IE toolbar (you would see the red X removed from the popup icon in the toolbar.) In this case, pop-ups will be allowed in that particular browser only.
  • The popup in question, or its root domain name, is checked in the Allowed Popup List. For example, in the Figure below, you can see that a specific popup from www.FailSafeTechnologies is allowed, and ALL pop-ups from www.GuardWall.com are allowed.
If you wish to allow pop-ups from a site not currently listed in the Allowed Popup List, simply click anywhere under the last entry in the Allowed Popup List and type in the domain name, or specific popup name, from which to allow pop-ups.
 


Other Methods for Bypassing the Pop-up Blocker:
 
You can also hold the SHIFT or CONTROL key down when pressing a link to allow that link to occur (even if it attempts to open a new browser window).  And you can right-click a link, and select the "Open in New Window" option.
 
Most of the time, however, if you click a link on a web page you would like that link to open and not be forced to make any special key sequences.  You can achieve this by checking the "Enable smart pop-up blocker" option mentioned above.