messenger pop ups

[Rob B.]

I get continual pop-ups from that say I can go to
http://www.stopads.net/ to buy software to stop them.
The web site says it is a new form of advertising that
uses programming built into XP. Do I need to buy $25
software from a company that continually bothers me in
order to stop this? I have a firewall and a surf
protection program, but they don't touch this pop-up
generator. They say they are demonstrating my
vulnerability (obviously, and I see their point, but I'm
wondering if Microsoft has any fixes or ideas in the
works to stop this without buying additional protection
software.

 

[John E. Carty]

First, using a properly configured firewall will prevent these messages. If
you also would like to disable the service you can do the following.

Go Start | Run and type in services.msc and click OK. Double-click the
Messenger service and you will then be able to Stop the service and set its
Startup Type to Disabled

 

[mk]

Rob,
You have a built in firewall in your XP called ICF. Click:

Start/Control Panel/Network Connections/right click on your item under LAN
or High-Speed Internet/properties/advanced/check the checkbox: Protect My
Computer/OK. (In the next settings window leave all checkboxes unchecked if
you are not a server!!!!!!!!!!!!)

More, refer to the originator of this excellent advice:

 

[Alex.]

You should try the free popup stopper from
www.ashampoo.com it's called Spamblocker.

 

[mk]

Bad advice, help hackers, goes around the root cause, internet
vulnerability. First the computer has to be protected from attack!
MK

 

[shirl]

-----Original Message-----
I get continual pop-ups from that say I can go to
http://www.stopads.net/ to buy software to stop them.
The web site says it is a new form of advertising that
uses programming built into XP. Do I need to buy $25
software from a company that continually bothers me in
order to stop this? I have a firewall and a surf
protection program, but they don't touch this pop-up
generator. They say they are demonstrating my
vulnerability (obviously, and I see their point, but I'm
wondering if Microsoft has any fixes or ideas in the
works to stop this without buying additional protection
software.

I found a fix on Spybot at no charge.

Acc to them, these are sent using the Messenger service
integrated into Windows 2000 & XP (try the 'net send'
command to see for yourself).

To disable the Messenger service: Click Start, Click
All Programs/ Click Administrative Tools/Click
Component Services. In Component Services,
click on Services (Local), then on the rightside, find
Messenger & disable it.

Note: not everyone will have Administrative Tools in the
Start menu. You need to make it visible under Taskbar
and Start Menu Properties (right click on taskbar -
Properties). The surest way to get to Component
Services is to enter %systemroot%/
system32/com/comexp.msc into the command line.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Please stop posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service, by itself, is nothing more than a
"head in the sand" approach to computer security. The real problem is
_not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're actually providing a
useful, if annoying, service by acting as a security alert. The true
problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only advise is to merely
turn off the warnings. How is this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario 1: Somewhere in a house, a small fire starts,
and sets off the smoke alarm. The home-owner, not immediately seeing
any fire/smoke, complains about the noise of the smoke detector, so
you tell him to remove the smoke detector's battery and go back to
sleep, or whatever else he was doing.

Equivalent Scenario 2: You over-exert your shoulder at work or
play, causing bursitis. After weeks of annoying and sometimes
excruciating pain whenever you try to reach over your head, you go to
a doctor and say, while demonstrating the motion, "Doc, it hurts when
I do this." The doctor, being as helpful as you are, replies, "Well,
don't do that."

An essential component of securing a PC against outside attacks,
short of disconnecting it from the Internet, is to install and
*properly* configure a firewall.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[mk]

Stupid fix. Shoot in the foot. Your computer still remains wide open to
attack. Just do that and wait till a hacker finds you.
MK

 

[James Arrow]

use LanTalk XP
http://www.lantalk.net

I found a fix on Spybot at no charge.

Acc to them, these are sent using the Messenger service
integrated into Windows 2000 & XP (try the 'net send'
command to see for yourself).

To disable the Messenger service: Click Start, Click
All Programs/ Click Administrative Tools/Click
Component Services. In Component Services,
click on Services (Local), then on the rightside, find
Messenger & disable it.

Note: not everyone will have Administrative Tools in the
Start menu. You need to make it visible under Taskbar
and Start Menu Properties (right click on taskbar -
Properties). The surest way to get to Component
Services is to enter %systemroot%/
system32/com/comexp.msc into the command line.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

And exactly how, pray tell, does buying the product you're
advertising help secure the OP's computer or even address the issue of
messenger spam?

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

use LanTalk XP
http://www.lantalk.net



I found a fix on Spybot at no charge.

Acc to them, these are sent using the Messenger service
integrated into Windows 2000 & XP (try the 'net send'
command to see for yourself).

To disable the Messenger service: Click Start, Click
All Programs/ Click Administrative Tools/Click
Component Services. In Component Services,
click on Services (Local), then on the rightside, find
Messenger & disable it.

Note: not everyone will have Administrative Tools in the
Start menu. You need to make it visible under Taskbar
and Start Menu Properties (right click on taskbar -
Properties). The surest way to get to Component
Services is to enter %systemroot%/
system32/com/comexp.msc into the command line.

[/QUOTE]