Messenger Service Advertisements

[Dan Suehr]

I recently rebuilt my PC and reinstalled all of my
applications (approximately 20 applications). I now
receive advertisement pop ups during the night when the
PC is sitting idle. No applications are running when
this occcurs. The pop ups appear in a window that
consistently bears the name "Messenger Service" in the
title bar.

I am looking for guidance on how to troubleshoot the
cause of these messages and prevent them from appearing.

Thanks,
Dan Suehr

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

I recently rebuilt my PC and reinstalled all of my
applications (approximately 20 applications). I now
receive advertisement pop ups during the night when the
PC is sitting idle. No applications are running when
this occcurs. The pop ups appear in a window that
consistently bears the name "Messenger Service" in the
title bar.

I am looking for guidance on how to troubleshoot the
cause of these messages and prevent them from appearing.

Thanks,
Dan Suehr

Apply WinXP's firewall to your connection and they will stop.

 

[Mcploppy ©]

Dan Suehr bashed at the keyboard and said :

I recently rebuilt my PC and reinstalled all of my
applications (approximately 20 applications). I now
receive advertisement pop ups during the night when the
PC is sitting idle. No applications are running when
this occcurs. The pop ups appear in a window that
consistently bears the name "Messenger Service" in the
title bar.

I am looking for guidance on how to troubleshoot the
cause of these messages and prevent them from appearing.

Thanks,
Dan Suehr

If your messages look like this: http://tinyurl.com/is9k

The messages are coming from "The Messenger Service" (NOT MSN Messenger)

However, the messenger service is not the problem.

The real problem is the fact that you are not running a firewall, or if you
are, you haven't blocked ports 137-139

A good firewall can be found at www.zonelabs.com

To remove the ability for anyone in the world to pop up messages on your
computer, you can disable the Messenger service.
Its easy to reverse at a later time if you wish to do so.

The small (free) "ShootTheMessenger" Messenger service enabler/disabler will
turn off the messenger services for you.

http://grc.com/

Or you can do it manually.

*Windows XP Home*
Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services Scroll
down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.
Click the STOP button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar
Click OK

*Windows XP Professional*
Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
Click Administrative Tools
Click Services
Double click Services Scroll
down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.
Click the STOP button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar
Click OK

More information on thsis can be found at:

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

HTH
--
Mcploppy ©

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