How to stop Those IP popups

[Jim]

I keep getting these popups without even having my
browser open..I think there called IP Popups.Is there a
way i can configure my XP to stop getting them????

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Open Help and Support and search for "firewall". This will tell you how to
enable XP's built in firewall. If you have a valid reason not to use a
firewall, click Start, Run and enter SERVICES.MSC Locate the Messenger
entry and double click it. Set it to Stopped and Disabled.

However, the reason they can get to the Messenger Service (not to be
confused with Windows Messenger) in the first place, is that your internet
connection is not secure.

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/winmesspop.htm

 

[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 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 are
open to other threats, such as the Blaster and Welchia worms 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

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/. Myself, I use Norton Internet Security,
which, in addition to containing Norton Anti-Virus and Personal
Firewall, also blocks many of the pop-up adds on the Internet.

3) For pop-ups caused by some sort of "adware" and/or "spyware,"
such as Gator, Comet Cursors, or Bonzai Buddy, that you've
deliberately installed, two products that are quite effective at
finding and removing scumware are Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and
SpyBot Search and Destroy from http://security.kolla.de/. Both have
free evaluation versions.


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

 

[Laudon Williams [MSFT]]

Jim, take a look at the information at the following URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/

 

[Thanh]

-----Original Message-----
I keep getting these popups without even having my
browser open..I think there called IP Popups.Is there a
way i can configure my XP to stop getting them????
.

Go to Control panel, then performance and maintenance,
then admin tool, then services, find messenger and turn
it off.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Please stop deliberately posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service is a "head in the sand" approach
to computer security that leaves the PC vulnerable to threats such as
the W32.Blaster.Worm.

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