Turn Off Pop-Ups When Presenting
Posted by Russ Ray on July 2, 2008
Honestly, I’m guilty of this. I never renewed my antivirus subscription, so I get three or four messages from McAfee telling me that my Security Center is not configured properly or something. And honestly, I wish I could turn it off, but I think the only way to do it is to fork over the $50. Hooray.
In a given day, or week, or month, how many messages pop up on your computer to:
- Update Java, RealPlayer, or Windows?
- Connect to a wireless network?
- Remind you of an upcoming meeting or birthday?
- Keep you up to date on your subscribed RSS feeds?
Warning: Some of these pop-ups may appear while you’re presenting in slide show view! Not a pretty picture!
After a few minutes of inactivity (let’s say you’re answering questions), does your screen saver kick in, or does your computer go into hibernation mode?
Before you get into such a situation, right now, start making a list of the pop-ups that you see, and research how to turn them off. It’s not always easy to find the answer, because the software companies want you to see those pop-ups!
I’ve heard of even more embarrassing situations that pop-ups have created. For example, I was at a conference where they told a story of a pastor that had pornographic pop-ups on his computer because he had downloaded some spyware off a pornographic web site he had visited. Instant messengers are also annoying (both in pop-ups and in their “alerts”) sometimes if you forget to turn them off.
Anyway, if you know how to turn off the pop-ups, it might behoove you to do so.
