Greetings Jim,
Do these "pop-ups" that are appearing have "Messenger Service" in their titlebar? If so, what
you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not* Windows Messenger (which
are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor can
Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.
To get rid of these, you'll need to disable the "Messenger Service", click Start, then Run,
enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to "Messenger", select it, right-click and then
choose Properties. Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then choose the 'Stop' button.
After the service is stopped, click OK. Nothing in Windows or any real third-party
applications should be effected by this.
Just as a little reminder, make sure you've protected yourself against the latest security
issues by visiting WindowsUpdate and installing the security patches:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
(This isn't related to the Messenger Service in any way, just a reminder)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com