April 24 2006
Q: When I try to log on to my bank website using Internet Explorer, I get a blank screen and the technical support at my bank hasn’t been able to help.  Is there anything I can do?

A: This problem usually stems from a security feature called the Pop-up blocker which is a new security feature included in the Windows SP2 update.  When the SP2 update is downloaded to your computer (usually automatic) it installs itself into your Internet Explorer.  This feature is designed to suppress unwanted windows from popping up uncontrollably if you land on a less-than-scrupulous website, but it sometimes it suppresses the ones we need to access.

What we need to do is to add the friendly websites to the Allowed list for Pop-ups.  Here’s how:

In Internet Explorer:
1. Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Pop-up Blocker Settings…
2. Type in the website you want to allow in the ‘Address of Website site to allow:’ field (be sure to include the ‘www’ & ‘.com, .net, etc’
3. Click the ‘Add’ button
4. Click the ‘Close’ button

Note:  If you have installed a Toolbar plug-in from Yahoo, Google or another search site into your Internet Explorer and are still having the same problem, you have to turn-off the Pop-up blocker that is included with the respective plug-in (Yes, these Toolbar plug-ins have their own pop-up blocker that runs separately from the one in Internet Explorer).

Each one of these differs slightly, but what you want to do is look for the Tools > Options menu that is on the specific Toolbar or look for a button that has cross-hairs or a target icon and click on it.  Once there, you will see an option to turn-off the pop-up blocker.  Select this option since Explorer already is doing the Pop-up blocking duty.