Using AdsOff!
Using AdsOff! for many people will be as simple as installing AdsOff! and browsing normally using AdsOff!'s default settings.  However, if you want to get the most out of AdsOff! you may want to tweak the AdsOff! filter settings.

If you are having a problem using AdsOff!, please also check the online Troubleshooting FAQ.  For general questions about AdsOff!, please see the General FAQ.

 Getting started
 
 

 Adjusting the settings for AdsOff!
 
 

Answers

Getting Started
 
How do I install AdsOff! and what are the system requirements?

AdsOff! can be downloaded from our download page.  

If you are running Windows 95, you must have the Winsock2 update installed to allow AdsOff! to function correctly.  Winsock2 is a small, free upgrade available directly from Microsoft.  

If you are running Windows NT 4, you must have Service Pack 4 or later installed.

AdsOff! works with any browser and should work with any connection to the Internet, including dial-up connections, DSL or cable modems, or networked connections.

 

How do I use AdsOff! if I connect with AOL?
Using AdsOff! with AOL easy.  You can use the AOL default browser or another browser like IE or Netscape.  Please note that AdsOff!'s popup filter will work for popup windows created from JavaScript commands normally but will not work for AOL's popup windows.

 

How do I turn AdsOff! on or off?

Turning off AdsOff! is very easy. Simply click once on the AdsOff! spray can in the Taskbar and the AdsOff! Option Menu should appear. Uncheck the first choice—"Turn on AdsOff" and then click on the "Close" button.
 
To turn AdsOff! back on, make sure this first box is checked.
 
To turn off specific features of AdsOff!:
 
Advertisement filtering:  Turn the 'Ad Filtering Strength' Slide to the Off position.  To turn filtering for ads back on, slide the arrow to the appropriate strength, either Weak, Medium, or Strong.
Popup window filtering: Turn the 'Popup Filtering Strength' Slide to the Off position. To turn filtering back on, slide the arrow to the appropriate strength, either Weak, Medium, or Strong.
Animation filtering:  Uncheck the 'Stop Animated GIFs after one cycle checkbox' to turn off filtering. 
Cookie filtering: Uncheck the 'Block cookies from the following URLs' checkbox on the Cookie Blocking screen to turn off cookie filtering completely.

These changes do not take effect until your browser goes to a new page.  To view the current page you are on with the new settings, after closing the AdsOff! option menu, go back to your browser and click its ‘Reload’ button. (For Netscape browsers, users might have to hold down the SHIFT key while pushing the 'Reload' button  to FORCE the browser to reload.   For Microsoft browsers, users might have to hold down the CTRL key while pushing the 'Refresh' button to FORCE the browser to reload.)

 

Why does "Click here to register AdsOff!" appear occasionally?

On unregistered versions of AdsOff!, AdsOff! will occasionally remove an ad and in its place put a hyperlink that you can use to go to www.intercantech.com and register your copy of AdsOff!  These messages will not appear after you correctly register your copy of AdsOff!

 

How do I register AdsOff!?

Registering AdsOff! is very easy! You can register AdsOff! by visiting our web site, www.intercantech.com.   AdsOff! costs $19.95 to register, and includes free filter updates for one year.   One way to register is to click on one of the links that AdsOff! creates for you while you are browsing.  Another way is to run the ‘Register AdsOff!’ utility in the AdsOff! folder, accessible from the Windows ‘Start’ button.   After you receive a registration number you need to enter it in the 'Register AdsOff!' utility mentioned above.

 

How do I uninstall AdsOff!?

To uninstall AdsOff! just select ‘Uninstall AdsOff!’ from the AdsOff! folder (accessible from the Windows ‘Start’ button).  Alternatively, you can also remove AdsOff! using the ‘Add/Remove Programs’ utility found in the Windows Control Panel.

 

Adjusting the settings for AdsOff!

How can I customize AdsOff!?

Adjusting any of the settings for AdsOff!, including turning it on/off, is very easy. Simply click once on the AdsOff! spray can in the Taskbar.  The AdsOff! option menu should then appear.  If AdsOff! is not shown in the Taskbar, you can also access the AdsOff! options by going to the AdsOff! program folder from the Start Menu.  Change any of the settings in the options menu, and then click on the "Close" button.  Any option changes will take place with the next page your browser downloads. 

Many different settings for AdsOff! can be adjusted:
 
AdsOff! v2 has a new filter that can intelligently detect and prevent browser windows from opening when you arrive on a page or depart from a page that normally opens other windows automatically.  This filter leaves other JavaScript operational.  Since these extra pop-up pages are almost always advertisements and are annoying to most users, we think you'll like this function activated.

AdsOff! can also be set to display ads in different ways:  they can be displayed as text hyperlinks, as empty picture frames, or they can be removed completely. All three options make browsing faster because in each case the image is never downloaded. 

AdsOff!’s filter strength can be adjusted between three settings:  ‘weak’, 'medium', and ‘strong’.  Each setting dictates how AdsOff! handles images that it is not certain about. The ‘medium’ setting offers a nice balance between the other two settings, and is recommended for most users.

 

Can I prevent windows from opening automatically when I go to or leave a page?

AdsOff! v2 uses smart filtering to prevent most pop-up windows from automatically opening when you arrive on a page or depart from a page.    This filter leaves other javascript and vbscript operational.  Since these extra pop-up pages are almost always advertisements and are annoying to most users, we think you'll like this function turned on.  To turn on this feature, make sure you have the "Popup filtering strength" set to at least weak.  If you really don't like popups, we suggest setting the strength to strong.  Note that the strong setting will prevent almost all popups, but might in very rare occasions remove some other web page functionality also.

 

What is done with removed ads and what are my options for viewing ads?

Nothing is done with removed ads. Your web browser is simply told to not download them, and so they are never requested by the web browser.
AdsOff! can remove ads completely or it can partially display the ads in one of two ways: as text hyperlinks or as picture frames without the image.  All three options make browsing faster because in each case the actual image is never downloaded.  However, each setting has its own advantages:

Removing the ad completely is for people who don’t want any clutter from advertisements or any description of the ad.  Our special formatting technology will keep the page's formatting, so the page will still be formatted properly even without the ad.

Displaying ads as text hyperlinks still gives you some information about the ad (it gives you the description that the web author has used when publishing the ad). It also makes the ad much less intrusive, and removing images that are not ads is less of a problem, since you can still read about the link. However, sometimes funny results are obtained if this selection is chosen. This formatting problem occurs if a small ad is removed and is replaced with a big, descriptive hyperlink, and there isn’t enough room for the full hyperlink to be displayed on the web page. Often no alternative text is available for an ad.  In this case, no part of the ad is displayed.

Displaying the ad as an empty picture frame also still gives you information about the ad displayed in the frame, and usually lets you know exactly how big the ad was and exactly where it was displayed.  The only disadvantage to this option is that it is visually "unattractive."

 

Is there any way to make AdsOff! more or less sensitive to ads?

Yes! AdsOff!’s filter strength can be adjusted between three settings. Each setting dictates how AdsOff! handles images that it is not certain about.  To adjust any of the settings, click on the AdsOff! spray can that appears in the Taskbar.  The filter strength setting is the third setting option.
 
Selecting the ‘weak’ setting tells AdsOff! to never remove an image if it is unsure whether it is an ad or not.  With the ‘weak’ settings, very few non-advertisement images will be removed, but also a bigger number of ad images will get through unremoved.

The ‘strong’ setting does just the opposite, and will remove any images that have the possibility of being ads.  This setting is for people who want to remove the most ads possible, and they don’t mind if some non-ad images are also removed.
 
The ‘medium’ setting offers a nice balance between the other two settings, and is recommended for most users.
 
You can also customize AdsOff! to remove specific ads or to prevent AdsOff! from removing pictures it mistakes for ads.

 

How do I manually tell AdsOff! to remove an ad?

Probably the easiest method to use if you want to block an ad that is not normally removed involves using the Event Log.  Open up the AdsOff! options screen and go to the Event Log.  Select the image that was recently removed from the 'Recently Blocked Items' list and then click on the 'Remove from Blocklist' button.   When you visit and download the page the next time, the ad will be removed.  You may need to force your browser to refresh for this to be observed.

You can also add items directly to the Blocklist by going to the Custom Ad Blocking screen and pressing the top 'Add' button.  You can add whole urls, such as 'www.adsoff.com/advertisement.gif' or you can add partial urls, such as 'advertiseme'.  You can also add phrases such as 'click here!':  AdsOff! will search the alt section of the ad for this phrase.  

Note: the phrase you add will be searched for case insensitive.  Thus, if you added 'click here', then 'Click Here', 'CLICK HERE', and 'click here' will all be blocked.   

 

Is there a way to prevent errors that AdsOff! makes with its normal filter?

AdsOff! can sometimes remove pictures that it thinks are ads.  If you have popup window filtering enabled, it may also destroy some JavaScript if it believes the script opens windows automatically.  AdsOff! can be customized for dealing with specific sites in non-standard manners.

To prevent AdsOff! from removing a specific picture:

Go to the Event Log in the AdsOff! options panel and select the picture url

To prevent AdsOff! from filtering dynamically generated pictures:

Some pictures that might change may also get filtered by AdsOff!.  For example, if you visit a map site and some of the urls for maps that are being removed are:

You could go to the Custom Ad Blocking screen in AdsOff! and add 'www.maps.com/maps/' to the 'Don't block ads from these urls' list. 

To prevent AdsOff! from filtering for ads for a specific domain:

To prevent AdsOff! from filtering ads for an entire domain, go to the Custom Ad Blocking screen in AdsOff! and add the domain, for example, 'www.maps.com' to the 'Don't block ads from these URLs' list. 

To prevent AdsOff! from filtering JavaScript for popup windows for a specific domain:

To prevent AdsOff! from filtering popups for a specific domain, go to the Custom Popup Blocking screen and add the domain (for example, 'www.maps.com') to the 'Don't block windows from these URLs' list. 

 

How do I customize what cookies are removed?

You can add other sites to AdsOff!'s cookie blocklist.  The easiest way to do this is to go to the Event Log, select the cookie you want to block, and click on the 'Add to BlockList' button.

 

For more support

I still have questions or problems.  How can I get more help?

The fastest way to obtain technical support is by e-mail at  support@intercantech.com.  Please be sure to mention which operating system and browser(s) you are using if you are having a problem.  For general feedback you can email us at feedback@intercantech.com.