BleepingComputer.com: Ad Blocking in AOL

Hi. Firstly, this site has helped me so much to fix computer issues that I decided to join and this is my first post. Thank You for all the advice in the forums which were an enormous help and valuable resource before I became a member.

I have Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit OS (about to uograde to Windows 7); AVG; Superadblocker 4.6 version; Malwarebytes; Spywareblaster; Spywareguard; C-Clean & Defraggler active and installed. I browse in IE and never get any pop-ups or flash ads. However AOL is my ISP and e-mail provider and whenever I open AOL desktop to access my e-mail, I am bombarded with irritating flash ads and pop ups to the extent that I can hardly read my e-mail. I have configured AOL settings to block pop-ups but it only has 2 options for animated media 'Allow All' or 'Block only on these sites'. There is no option to block all.

Can anyone suggest ad-blocking software that would work in AOL or any other steps I could take? I don't really want to have to uninstall Active-X.
Thank you so much for your help.

Hi and Welcome to BleepingComputer,

I have no suggestions on how to stop that from happening other than maybe try an older version of AOL if it would be compatible with Vista. I say that because I use AOL 7.0 and I do not get any popups at all when using it. It works for me but I am using XP, not Vista.

Thanks for the suggestion Stang777. I have to run AOL9VR with Windows Vista, but thank you for the reply.

You are welcome, sorry that it won't work for you though. I have a lot of friends that use 9.0 and none of them have complained about an excess of popups recently, and I think they would have mentioned them if they were getting them. Have you always had a problem with them? I do not know if they are using the exact same version as you, but I do know they are using 9.0.

Actually, a couple of them probably are using the exact same version if that is the only one that works with Vista as a couple of them are running Vista.

When using AOL's software (i.e. AOL 9.1), you can block pop-ups and animated ads by setting preferences at AOL Keyword: Pop-Ups.

How do I get rid of America Online (AOL) pop-up ads?

If you are using a web browser other than the one provided by AOL, refer to How to Block Pop Ups Using AOL.

If you want a third party utility, you can check into Pop-Up Stopper: Pop-Up Ad Blocking for AOL, MSN, Internet Explorer, Netscape ... or just do a Google search for other alternatives.

Thank you again, Stang777.
Quietman7, thanks for the links and your suggestions. I have set up all the pop up/animated media blocking settings that AOL allows me to. It's the Flash ads that keep bombarding and no AOL setting or Superadblocker scan stops them. It doesn't happen in IE or Firefox, just AOL 9VR.
Does the pop up blocker you recommend stop Flash ads too? I have spent a fortune buying software that doesn't work on these AOL ads!
Thanks very much for your help, Carricklady.