A pop-up is small box that appears over a visited page to deliver information or display an ad. When you visit a new web page a little ad will pop right up in front of you! Sometimes these tricky little ads trick people into thinking they have bad things happening to the computer...saying click here you are in danger! But it is just one of the many tricks they use to get you to visit the website that bought the advertisement. Most that time if you just click the X in the corner they will disappear. They seem to be very popular on any site that gives things away free...Like the free ecard and fun pages you will read about below. You can get a free pop-up blocker. A pop-up blocker is a program (software) that helps your browser tell the ads not to show. Pop up blockers come with toolbars (a bar that a website will give you that has special tools that do extra things) like the Google tool bar http://toolbar.google.com/ If you have a newer computer it often comes with pop up blockers. Be very careful who you download from! Alot of websites will add spyware/adware to your computer.

Spyware is a program or software that secretly gathers your information through your Internet connection without your knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are sometimes bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. Stealth advertising components that are installed by some "shareware"(free stuff you can download) products (and sometimes, legitimately purchased commercial software) and may collect personal information from your computer. These "advertisers" are usually tied to a free or shareware program you have installed. You can get rid of alot of these programs and protect your self from them by getting a software program that comes with your anti-virus software or download a free tool .