Messenger Service Pop-up dialog

[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

 

[Eric Cross [MVP]]

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

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

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.