Just because malicious websites exist doesn’t mean you should limit the capabilities of the trusted sites that you frequently visit. There are already enough cases in life where the majority is deprived due to the actions of a select few. Don’t let the use of your favorite websites become another. Here are some steps you can take to free your favorite, valid sites from their undeserved persecution.

Pop-up Blocker
This can be turned off for specific sites. While enabling the pop-up blocker is generally a good idea, websites that you use on a regular basis will also be blocked. Rather than disabling the pop-up blocker altogether, add your commonly accessed sites to the browser’s “do not block” list. For Internet Explorer you can follow these steps.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on the Tools menu.
3. Click Internet Options.
4. Go to the Privacy tab.
5. Make sure that the option to Turn on Pop-up Blocker is checked.
6. Click the Settings button.
7. Enter the site’s address in the Address of website to allow field. Note that asterisks can be used as a wild card. For example, *.central-insurance.com would cause your browser to allow pop-ups from anything .central-insurance.com.
8. Click the Add button. The site should be visible in the Allowed sites box.
9. Click the Close button.
10. Click the Apply and OK buttons.

Trusted Sites
For Internet Explorer, sites can fall into several categories (called zones). Each zone has a default security level assigned to it. The higher the security level, the less functionality a site in that zone will have. Sites that are included in the Trusted sites zone have the lowest security level and therefore will be able to do more than sites in the general Internet or Restricted sites zones. Using Internet Explorer, you can perform the following steps to include a website in the Trusted sites zone.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on the Tools menu.
3. Click Internet Options.
4. Go to the Security tab.
5. Click on the Trusted sites zone to select it.
6. Click on the Sites button.
7. Enter the site’s address in the Add this website to the zone field. Again, asterisks can be used here as a wild card.
8. Click the Add button. You should see the site listed in the Websites box.
9. Click the Close button.
10. Click the Apply and OK buttons.

Pop-up blockers and the concept of trusted sites are not unique to Internet Explorer. Browsers, such as Firefox and Chrome, contain similar features as well as additional ones. So if there are other settings you have found that make for a more liberating browser experience, please comment and let us know.