# Why the hell does this happen?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 19, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917 "2001-05-19T18:02:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/1 "2001-05-19T18:02:35Z")
When I took a peak at Opals web site, I clicked on something that kept making porn sites pop up. I couldn’t get rid of them. As soon as I’d “X” one out, 2 more would pop up. I couldn’t get out of them. This really p\*ssed me off. Why are they allowed to do that? Even if I wanted to look at 1 porn site doesn’t mean I want 50 more popping up all over my screen.
To make matters worse, they attatched themselves to my “Favorites” section of MS Internet Explorer. How the hell did they do that? I most certainly didn’t want them there? Why are those sites so obnoxious? You click on one and they seem to take over your computer.
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/2 "2001-05-19T18:18:55Z")
Why do they do that? Simple – they want your credit card number, and they figure that there’s a better chance of you signing up if the screens are still there. (When in reality, this increases the chances of you taking a baseball bat to the computer… 😉 )
How do they do it? Javascript.
How do you stop it? Disable Javascript in your browser settings.
Yes, this sucks because there are some pages out there that do some pretty cool things with Javascript. Unfortunately, these invasive porn pages aren’t among them.
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### Author:  [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/3 "2001-05-19T19:00:51Z")
But why would clicking on something on Opal’s page get you into the mess described? Is some porn site invading Opal’s site?
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/4 "2001-05-19T19:37:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Hazel \*
> \*\*But why would clicking on something on Opal’s page get you into the mess described? Is some porn site invading Opal’s site? \*\*
Theres a section on there you can click on that connects to a porn site. I was clicking on everything in her site, so I clicked on that too.
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### Author:  [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/5 "2001-05-19T20:56:52Z")
How does one disable Javascript?
I can’t seem to find it in my Internet Options.
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### Author:  [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/6 "2001-05-19T21:07:45Z")
[http://www.webwasher.com/](http://www.webwasher.com/)
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/7 "2001-05-19T21:19:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \*
> \*\*How does one disable Javascript?
>
> I can’t seem to find it in my Internet Options. \*\*
I guess that depends on the browser you are using. In Netscape, it’s easy to find (on both Mac and PC versions) – Preferences dialog box, on the “Advanced” tab.
On my Mac, I found the option to enable (or disable) scripting for Internet Explorer 4.5. But for IE on my Windows machine, I can’t find an option like that either. Maybe they didn’t include that option in this version. Anybody else know if Windows IE allows Javascript disabling? (I guess I assumed it would, since I’ve always been able to disable it on Netscape).
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/8 "2001-05-19T21:36:05Z")
For Internet Explorer, disable Javascript by making these menu/button selections:
Tools\>Internet Options\>Security\>Custom Level
Down near the bottom of that options page is one for Active Scripting. Select Disable for that option.
I normally leave it disabled, but to do some things (like at my bank and broker) I have to enable it. It’s kind of a pain in the butt to do it.
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### Author:  [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/9 "2001-05-20T23:17:42Z")
Have you told Opal? She might not know how annoying this is.
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### Author:  [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/10 "2001-05-20T23:32:20Z")
To sum up:
1. Disable Javascript
2. Download & use Webwasher
3. Tell Opal!
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### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2001, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/11 "2001-05-21T05:07:16Z")
Who’s **Opal**?
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/12 "2001-05-21T06:37:43Z")
Another option is Killad.
[http://wwwwin.wplus.net/pp/fsc/](http://wwwwin.wplus.net/pp/fsc/)
Killad: kills popups dead.
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/13 "2001-05-22T05:48:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dtilque \*
> Tools\>Internet Options\>Security\>Custom Level
> Down near the bottom of that options page is one for Active Scripting.
Ahhh! Thanks! Trust MicroSloth to make it as hard as possible to find… 🙂
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### Author:  [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-this-happen/65917/14 "2001-05-22T06:51:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kniz \*
> \*\*Who’s **Opal**? \*\*
OpalCat, a regular around the boards and website guru