internet explorer and pop up ads

[Joe]

Help if you can! I have windows 2000 and I don't know what
I did but all of a sudden I have ads pop up on my desktop
even without IE being open.
They just keep coming up and some even try to download. Is
this something that anyone has heard of. If so please
reply. I am trying not to reload windows if I can help it.
Thanks Joe

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Does the window title say anything about Messenger? If so, you need a
firewall. 'Messenger spam', is not in itself harmful, but is symptomatic of
a larger problem - your computer has ports open from the Internet.

You can disable the Messenger service, but that is unwise as a solution as
you'll still have the underlying problem that caused you to get the messages
in the first place - consider the messages a useful warning that you have no
protection from the Internet. This is all too important now, given the
recent rash of RPC worms....

For a standalone machine, see www.sygate.com for a free personal firewall,
or if using Windows XP, you can enable the built-in internet connection
firewall (ICF).

See http://securityadmin.info/faq.htm for more info.

Also - to rid your computer of spyware which can cause similar problems, see
AdAware from www.lavasoftusa.com