Pop ups

[Guest]

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I need to purchase a program
to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is this true, or is there something already in my computer
that I can download and eliminate the problem?

 

[Jym]

You do not need to buy one , there are many available on the web for free.
Go to Google and type pop up stoppers. Jym

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I need to purchase a program
to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is this true, or is there

something already in my computer

 

[Chuck]

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I need to purchase a program
to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is this true, or is there something already in my computer
that I can download and eliminate the problem?

Nettie,

These popups are spam, and advertise fraudulent or useless software.
No legit software company advertises this way. There are two
possibilities for eliminating this spam, and its more serious causes..

The first possibility is Messenger Service spam. Is the title of the
window "Messenger Service"? If so, you need to protect youself with a
NAT router or personal firewall to block these messages, and eliminate
many more real threats.

To easily turn these messages off (but provide no further protection),
you can use a free product such as Shoot The Messenger
<http://grc.com/stm/shootthemessenger.htm>.

If you're already protected, you may be seeing spyware popups. Check
for spyware. Use HijackThis <http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/> and Spybot
S&D <http://security.kolla.de/index.php?lang=en&page=download>.
1) Install and run Spybot. Trust Spybot, and accept all
recommendations.
2) Install and run HijackThis. Do NOT make any changes immediately.
3) Have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the
following forums:
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://63.247.79.145/~coyote/forums/index.php?act=idx
<http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?board=17>
<http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?s=8a1e9d7c1978cff54ca06a3210c7c1b0&showforum=32>
<http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/index.php?s=68ddc23721b063d5411ece09e5ac93f9&showforum=11>
(The latter may or may not respond for you as I have read reports that
the SWI site is currently under DOS attack). All of these forums
appear to be rather busy right now, so be patient.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Barry]

One thing that I would be cautious about is downloading some of the "trial
programs" i.e. free programs that deal with pop ups. I downloaded one and
when I decided not to purchase the program at the end of the free trial I
uninstalled it...but found that I was now plagued by ten times the number of
pop ups than I had before...including pop up ads from the "trial program"
that I uninstalled. In essence, the company exacerbated the very problem
that their program was designed to fix....if you tried to uninstall their
free program and not purchase the full program. I complained and they
eventually referred me to a site where I could uninstall the hidden files
that I could not otherwise uninstall. I now use the Google Tool Bar option
for blocking pop ups and it seems to work well.

Barry

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I need to purchase a program
to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is this true, or is there

something already in my computer

 

[Bruce Chambers]

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.

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/communicate/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

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/, which is what I use.

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. I use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


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

 

[Pauline Johnson]

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I need to purchase a program
to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is this true, or is there something already in my computer
that I can download and eliminate the problem?

Popups to advertise popup stoppers
Spam to advertise sapm killers

Both are the worst of the worst!!

Go to:-

http://toolbar.google.com/

and download the FREE Google tool bar and instal it.

As well as giving you a great search tool it also has a popup stopper
which you can activate. I can't remember having a popup since I
installed it.

 

[Patrick]

I recently have been bothered with several pop ups telling me that I
need to purchase a program to avoid an attack of similar pop ups. Is
this true, or is there something already in my computer that I can
download and eliminate the problem?

Have a read on subject, also free utility regarding;
http://grc.com/stm/shootthemessenger.htm

What Microsoft say aboutthe subject;
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Please stop posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service, as you advise and as Gibson's
utility does, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer security
that leaves the PC vulnerable to threats such as the W32.Blaster.Worm.
If you'd have read the Microsoft link you provided, you'd know that
the recommended solution is to use a firewall.

The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're
actually providing a useful service by acting as a security alert. The
true problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only
advice, however well-intended, was to turn off the warnings. How is
this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario: 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."

The only true way to secure the PC, short of disconnecting it from
the Internet, is to install and *properly* configure a firewall; just
installing one and letting it's default settings handle things is no
good. Unfortunately, this does require one to learn a little bit more
about using a computer than used to be necessary.


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

 

[Patrick]

Greetings --

Please stop posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service, as you advise and as Gibson's
utility does, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer security
that leaves the PC vulnerable to threats such as the W32.Blaster.Worm.
If you'd have read the Microsoft link you provided, you'd know that
the recommended solution is to use a firewall.

I am sorry, I guess you are correct, though it is that I had been of the
understanding that the matter was explained on Steves Gibsons's page
(apparently not). However is not 'Shoot the Messenger' preferable to paying
the 'racketeers' for the same thing (if lucky).

Please also note that I did give link to MS blurb as to the matter, (should
have put it first, or only).

The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're
actually providing a useful service by acting as a security alert. The
true problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only
advice, however well-intended, was to turn off the warnings. How is
this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario: 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."

Thanks for your anology (which I have seen before), it happens to be ironic
in that I have said 'Bursitis' (frozen shoulder). As I say 'thanks', it was
you that put me onto the name 'Bursitis' which I 'Googled' and found out
about.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Gibson has been fooling a lot of people for several years, now, so
don't feel too bad about having believed him. He mixes just enough
facts in with his hysteria to be plausible. Gibson's "Shoot the
Messenger" may be free, but I really don't believe that a free bogus
solution is significantly better than unnecessarily paying for the
real solution offered by many of the spammers. To my way of thinking,
they're just unscrupulous salesmen taking advantage of the gullible to
make money; something unscrupulous salesmen have been doing for
centuries. People should know better, Buyer Beware, and all of that.
:-} Gibson, on the other hand, is assuming a presumably morally
superior pose as a White Knight out to rescue the poor, defenseless
computer user, all the while offering a solution that does no good
whatsoever.

In turn, I'd like to apologize for the tone of my response to you.
I tend to get a bit strident on this particular subject, and
over-reacted. You were, I realize, only trying to help the OP, and
should be commended for that.

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