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 year, 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 almost 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
Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
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/.
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
http://security.kolla.de/. 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.
When visiting such the sites be careful not to download/install
their "free" viewers. ;-} To repair the current situation, uninstall
the "viewer(s)" provided and then use Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoft.de
and SpyBot Search and Destroy from
http://security.kolla.de/ to clean
up any residue. Both have free evaluation versions.
You should also try using MSConfig to see if something is being
started each time you reboot.
Additionally, Look in the C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\Start Up and C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Start Up folders, and in the
system registry, primarily in the
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run keys.
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310560
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
