Can you stop a web page from playing gifs (i think they're called)?

[Eloise]

My laptop is old and isn't in the best shape. There are so many sites I can't go to because there is SO MUCH going on that it freezes up my comp.

One specific is when I play Zanga Poker via Facebook, there's all the "buy chips!!" and "you found the lucky rabbits foot!!" crap that pops up after every hand. And when that happens, I lag big time!

Is there an option on my comp or on a site that says I don't allow stuff like that?

[10K.BC]

They're shockwave and flash. Gif (even animated ones) are non-interactive and shouldn't make that much difference in performance.

If you're using Mozilla, you can download an add-on called "adblock plus" to block the browser from downloading those ads. Some of the more stubborn ads might need to be added manually to the blocking list.

It's not an official add on, but you can get it from the Mozilla add-on page. (use the Firefox menu and choose "Add-ons"