Pop-ups on A2K?

Right now, the toolbar is set on the counter.

Was it set on the counter when you saw something blocked? Because if so, then it would also be set to block the PM notification popup.

If not, then it would not have blocked anything and you'd not be reporting something blocked.

That's why I'm saying it was either a PM notification or it was offsite.

Probably offsite, seeing as the PM notifications are working fine. I just ran spybot again, and immunized a bunch of tracking cookies. I'll see how it goes. Yes, I noticed the block while it was set on the counter.

Ok, trying again.

If it was set to counter when you saw the block, then at that time it would also be set to block PM popups.

Since tracking cookies can't launch popups without help I am pretty sure what you saw was a PM popup being blocked.

To explain:

When the toolbar shows the counter and shows a block, it will block all popups from that site.

So the only way for you to be on A2K and see the toolbar block something is for you to have your settings such that ALL popups here are being blocked (including the PM one).

You seem certain that it's ads, but I'm not sure why. If it was blocked you didn't see it.

I'm willing to chalk it up to a mystery, as I haven't missed a PM yet. I would assume that PMs would show up in my inbox whether or not the pop-up window was blocked anyway. As I said earlier, I saw the PM windows just fine today, but still saw the blocker, not while I was addressing the PM window. One last question....we are on XP Pro, and Mrs. cav has a different profile. Could it possibly be from some site she visits?

Sorry there Craven, I'm an end-user.

I wouldn't.

Off the top of my head I can think of two scenarios in which you could get a PM popup without a corresponding PM in your inbox.

1) If it's quickly deleted.
2) If you use the back button on your browser and pull a page off of cache (one that is pre-read).

As you said you had some PMs this morning this isn't too safe to assume.



Can you clarify? I am not sure what you mean by "saw the blocker".

Because, like I said, if you are seeing a PM popup then it is not going to be blocking anything from A2K.

If you are seen things blocked on A2K then it's not going to let anything* through.

* There are exceptions.



Only if there is some software on your computer. A website can't launch a popup without being open in a browser at the time.

For it to do so it would need the cooperation of software on your computer.

So a site she visits can't. But the site can try to get some scumware (software) on your computer that can.

But the thing is, if that were the case it would not be showing anything blocked on the toolbar on A2K.

So if it blocked shomething on the toolbar on an A2K page, then at that time it was also blocking everything on A2K (including PMs). And if it were allowing PM popups then at that time it would be allowing all site popups (in which case you would not be reporting something blocked, unless you were confused).



No biggie.

Ahh, okay. What happened was that I did get 2 PM popups today, which I responded to, no problem. The blocker did not go on at that time. It simply went on while I was browsing topics. That to me is still a mystery. Things have been fine so far since immunizing the trackers and registry key changes found by spybot. Also, out of 42 pop-ups blocked, I believe only 3 were blocked while browsing here. I just notice the cursor changing when something is blocked by the toolbar. As a rule, if I do get a PM, I respond immediately. I don't really get too many anyway, so I just reply when I see them.

You've added some valuable info.

That you saw it on the cursor (and not the counter) can mean it came from anywhere (and not the A2K window).

Ahh. How does that happen? I was a bit concerned when I saw registry key changes....

Registry changes?

There were 2 descriptions regarding the nature of the problems from spybot that said 'registry key changes.' The rest were all tracking cookies.

Did you have another browser window open at the same as A2K, cav? Another site may have launched the popups that google blocked. The google toolbar changes the cursor and immediately updates the counter for all open browser windows whenever a popup is blocked.

"Registry key changes" can be serious or no big deal, depending on what keys were changed & what their values were changed to. But if spybot already caught & fixed 'em, no biggie.

All seems good since the cleanup. Thanks for the info. I think it will be smooth sailing now that I understand more about how the toolbar works.