Dear Digital Dave,
Tonight, while surfing the Web, I experienced a pop-up on the screen, warning me that a page I just opened contained “attacks” according to my current security settings. I didn’t bother to look into it further than that, but on the pop-up was an option button where I could choose to close the page immediately.
I had never seen anything like this before, so instead of clicking on the button supplied on the pop-up to get me out of possible trouble, I instead opted to close the page through my Task Manager.
Is this a good practice to get into, when you’re unsure of clicking on a button or a link on a Web page, in case that page’s links or buttons will download unwanted programs to your computer?
Jerry Hughes
San Diego, Calif.
Dear Jerry,
It is indeed a good practice when you are unsure about a pop-up window. It is possible that any action such as clicking anywhere on the box will either attempt to download something, redirect you to another Web page, or open another pop-up. If the window attempts a download, then you will most likely get a warning from the operating system, but I too like to close these types of pop-ups without touching the window.
A quick way to access the Task Manager in Windows is to hold down the CTRL, SHIFT and ESC keys simultaneously. This will go directly to the Manager while skipping the logon screen. The rogue window will appear in the Applications tab. Select it and click End Task.
Another even quicker technique is to hold down ALT plus the F4 key. This will most often close the selected window or program without clicking on any other windows or feature.
Digital Dave
Computer Edge
Computer Repair Services, Oceanside, CA
Santee
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