How can I stop pop-up ads in Windows?

John runs Microsoft Windows 7 and Firefox, but pop-ups are driving him crazy - fortunately there are some free things he can do to make things clear

My question, tongue deep in cheek, is this: will I ever be able to buy a Windows system with no pop-up ads of any kind whatsoever? (What I call pop-ups may include other intrusive ads.) I'd be willing to pay extra! What I have is Windows 7 Ultimate with Firefox as my browser, and I am being driven crazy.

Most likely I have add-ons of which I have lost track. I spend hours web surfing, which can, I suppose, lead to inadvertent nefarious acquisitions. Is there a catch-all list of my add-ons? JohnR.

I was just going to say that there are no pop-up ads in Windows 7 - which is true unless you include the ones promoting Windows 10. Otherwise, ads and various pop-ups may come directly from websites or from "nefarious acquisitions". These include "potentially unwanted programs" (PUPs) and the malware that sometimes infects browsers.