Ummm ... I went beyond the topic.
Webwasher kills the popups as they arrive and must necessarily run in the background. The other stuff I referred to deals with other pests.
If Webwasher kills something you don't want it to kill, you can switch it off and reload the page. Also, it is quite configurable. You can set it up so that you don't have to switch it off so much, but then, of course, it lets more junk through. Horses for courses, your choice.
It is an excellent program, IMO.
AA