Messenger Service Pop-up dialog

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ned
  • Start date Start date
N

Ned

I am 1) running XP 2002 SP 1, 2) have Norton Internet
Security 2004 Installed, 3) subscribed to a DSL service
provider. So far my system is secure against hacking.
However, I sometimes get a pop-up window titled Messenger
Service. The dialog announces a message purportedly
from 'Microsoft Networks' about a Microsoft Security
Bulletin. The dialog has an Okay button but I do not
click it for fear of putting a virus or trojan horse
program on my pc. I ignore the dialog and restart my
pc. Is the Messanger Service part of XP services? Is
there a way to disable the Messanger Service or disable
thse pop-ups? Is this related to the Windows Messanger
in the forum by that name?

Thanks, Ned
 
Greetings Ned,

The Messenger Service is not related to Windows Messenger. For more details,
see the following link.

Disabling Messenger Service in Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/learnmore/stopspam.mspx

Just a little reminder, please visit the Windows Update website and download
the latest service pack for Windows XP. This will ensure you are protected
with the latest security issues.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

________________
Eric Cross
Microsoft MVP (Windows Networking)
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Norton IS isn't doing its job properly, or you've inadvertently opened up
too much in it. 'Messenger spam' is not in itself harmful, but is
symptomatic of a larger problem - your computer has ports open from the
Internet.

You can disable the Messenger service, but that is unwise as a solution as
you'll still have the underlying problem that caused you to get the messages
in the first place - consider the messages a useful warning that you have
inadequate protection from the Internet. This is all too important now,
given the recent rash of RPC worms....never connect to the Internet without
a properly configured firewall in place, not even for a nanosecond.

For a home PC, you shouldn't allow *any* inbound traffic at all.
 
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