Greetings --
There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the
solutions vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is
troubling you?
1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger
Service?"
This type of spam has become quite common over the
past several months, and unintentionally serves as a valid
security "alert." It demonstrates that you haven't been
taking sufficient precautions while connected to the
Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to
this exploit, you may well be open to other threats, such
as the Blaster Worm that recently swept cross the
Internet. Install and use a decent, properly configured
firewall. (Merely disabling the messenger service, as
some people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does
little or nothing to truly secure your machine.) And
ignoring or just "putting up with" the security gap
represented by these messages is particularly foolish. A
free good firewall you can get is ZoneAlarm.
Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-
us;168893
Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet
Advertisement Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904
Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communic
ate/stopspam.asp
Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Whichever firewall you decide upon, be sure to ensure
UDP ports 135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and
445 are _all_blocked. You may also disable Inbound
NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP).
You'll have to follow the instructions from firewall's
manufacturer for the specific steps.
You can test your firewall at:
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?
langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT
Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/
Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to
do nothing more than disable the messenger service.
Disabling the messenger service, by itself, is 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've been advised to merely turn
off the warnings. How is this helpful?
2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the
free 12Ghosts
Popup-killer from
http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm,
Pop-Up Stopper
from
http://www.panicware.com/, or the Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/. Also a good firewall can stop
these(such as nortons internet security).
3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort
of "adware" and/or "spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors,
Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or KaZaA, and their remnants, that
you've deliberately (but without understanding the
consequences) installed, two products that are
quite effective (at finding and removing this type of
scumware) are Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot
Search & Destroy from
www.safer-networking.org/. Both
have free versions. It's even possible to use SpyBot
Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system against most
future intrusions. Use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.
***Courtesy of Bruce Chambers***
-----Original Message-----
Some people have been advised to enable their firewall
(and possible disable the "messenger service) in order to
get rid of pop ups.
My firewall (window XP firewall) is enabled and still I
get these pop ups. What's wrong?
