Pop-up blocking has come a long way in the last few years, as it has become more and more important to the average computer user. Today, many web browsers feature built-in pop-up blockers – Mozilla Firefox does, for example, as does Opera.

Most people don’t use these ‘alternative’ browsers, however – the chances are that you’re using internet Explorer right now (if you’re not sure, then you almost certainly are). Whether Internet Explorer has pop-up blocking built-in depends on which version of Windows you have. If you’ve got Windows XP and you’ve kept it up to date by installing all Microsoft’s service packs, then you’ll have pop-up blocking. If you have an older version of Windows, however, or if you don’t use Windows Update, then you’ll need to block your pop-ups some other way.

Probably the most popular way to block pop-ups now is to use the Google Toolbar (downloadable from Google’s homepage). As well as integrating Google search into your browser, it quickly and reliably blocks all sorts of pop-ups. Toolbars from search engine rivals MSN and Yahoo! work the same way. If you’re looking for a good, simple pop-up blocker and you like one of these search engines, then you won’t go far wrong with this option.

If you want a standalone package, then you could go for something like KillAd or NoAds (use a search engine to find where to download them). These freeware programs are generally more configurable than the built-in toolbars and browser pop-up blockers, with the added advantage that you can turn them on and off easily whenever you want, often with a simple double-click.

Finally, if you want a more fully-featured, advanced pop-up blocker, consider buying a utilities package such as Norton Utilities or McAfee Internet Security Suite. These software packages also include firewalls and anti-spyware defences, among other things.