occasionally when i come to this section, i'm flooded with popups... one such popup downloads something to your computer. :|

It's just the way it is...

Ya know, this network has to be funded somehow :p

I suggest using a popup blocker of some sort. I use Google Toolbar, which is available from Google.com - it adds a toolbar to IE and allows you to do Google searches, the popup blocker is built in too. Works a treat for me :)

I just use Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com). An improvement over IE in every way, with a built-in popup and image blocker to boot.

I'm using Mozilla. It has a popup blocker, and is a little bit more secure than the Internet Explorer from Microsoft. But if you prefer to use the Internet Explorer than I suggest to use Avant Browser as Executor32 said. It has lots of options to prevent popups and to close some security leaks. And it isn't very big (2.63 MB).