"Messenger Service" pop ups

[Ray Stahl]

I have Windows XP and for the last 2 months or so I have
been getting pop up adds that say "message from Sysems
Alert to Unsafe user" the adds go one to offer to stop
these pop ups if you go to various web sites such as:
www.endads.com, www.byebyeads.com, www.messagekiller.com
etc. These sites offer to have you down load a program to
stop these Messenger Service pop ups for a fee of
typically $25. They also say that the pop ups are
possible because of a flaw in the MS XP operating system
that allows this to happen. I have a pop up blocker from
earthlink and it does not stop these pop ups. When they
appear you have toget rid of them before you can continue
doing your work. What can I do to stop these pop ups
short of paying these theives for there programs.
Ray Stahl

 

[Rick Hale]

These annoying popups are being sent to your PC via the
NET SEND command. There is a service running on XP
machines that is enabled by default. you can stop it 1 of
2 ways:

1...You can Click on START, then click on RUN and
type: "net stop messenger" (without quotes) This will
stop the service until you logoff and login or reboot.

or

2...RIGHT click on MY COMPUTER and click MANAGE. In the
left pane at the bottom there is "SERVICES and
APPLICATIONS", expand it and then click on "SERVICES". On
the RIGHT pane, find MESSENGER, then RIGHT click and
select PROPERTIES. Under the GENERAL tab, in the middle
of the window you will see STARTUP TYPE, it should
currently set to AUTOMATIC. Change it to DISABLED.

Hope this helps.

Rick

 

[John]

you need a firewall. XP Pro has one built in, i am unsure
of XP Home. in Pro, go to network settings, select the
connection, properties, advanced, and select the internet
connection firewall. otherwise buy a router with a
firewall. here is information from an earlier post.

There is a service running in windows called "MESSENGER" ,
note, it has
nothing to do with Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger, it's
orignal purpose
with in networks, but now being used for adverts.
disable that service and these pop-ups should stop.
More info:
I am getting these strange popup messages, even if I am not
surfing the web.
How can I get rid of them?
This is due to spammers exploiting a feature that has been
in Windows since
Windows NT 3.5, but not Windows 95, 98, Me. It is called
the "net send"
command. This has nothing to do with MSN Messenger, nor is
it "WinPopUp."
The reason spammers have begun to target this "feature" is
the fact that
people are beginning to adopt OS's built on NT, such as XP.
Previously, the
unrequested popups were not a problem because so few people
were running an
OS that supported it.
To test for this security vulnerability, at the command
prompt, (run:
cmd.exe) type:
net send 127.0.0.1 hi
If you get a popup "hi" message, you should disable the
Messenger service.
If you get an error stating, "The message alias could not
be found on the
network," you are safe.
If, for whatever reason, you need the Messenger service
running but wish not
to have spam popups active, you can disable the particular
ports at your
firewall. The Messenger service uses UDP ports 135, 137,
and 138; TCP ports
135, 139, and 445.

 

[Mark]

To stop these pop-ups without any downloads etc; go to
control panel-admin tools-services, scroll down to
messenger, right click, select properties, click stop, on
the pull-down menu-select disabled, then apply!

 

[Wesley VogelX]

Ray;
Have a look here, but whatever you do, make sure you have a firewall
running.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp
Hope this helps.
Wes

 

[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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

This type of spam has become quite common over the past several
months, 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
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?


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

 

[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

 

[Steven]

Try the new software , it can eliminate messenger service

Zero Ad v2.0.0 released 2003-09-27

Key Features:

New Concept intelligent Ad filter inside , Kill annoy pop-ups , allow
info pop-ups .
Hot key to enable or disable pop-ups temporarily.
Stop Macromedia flash banner on the web .
Support all popular internet browsers : Internet explore , Netscape ,
Mozilla , Opera .
Twenty two lovely sounds for notification , Three action level , Five
smart form style .
Eliminate special ads that are not generated by web browsers (new
feature in v2.0) .

What can Zero Ad eliminate ?
Pop-up advert windows from web browsers .
Macromedia flash advert banner on the web .
Messages from IP Messenger Service .
Pop-up window from MSN Messenger .
Internal advert banner of MSN Messenger .
Pop-up window from ICQ chat client .
Internal advert banner in ICQ chat client .
Internal advert banner in ICQ message session window .
Internal advert banner in Kazaa client .
Internal advert banner in Kazaa search window .

download : http://www.magic2003.net

 

[Guest]

Thanx, I am trying it. I had the same problems.

----- Rick Hale wrote: -----

These annoying popups are being sent to your PC via the
NET SEND command. There is a service running on XP
machines that is enabled by default. you can stop it 1 of
2 ways:

1...You can Click on START, then click on RUN and
type: "net stop messenger" (without quotes) This will
stop the service until you logoff and login or reboot.

or

2...RIGHT click on MY COMPUTER and click MANAGE. In the
left pane at the bottom there is "SERVICES and
APPLICATIONS", expand it and then click on "SERVICES". On
the RIGHT pane, find MESSENGER, then RIGHT click and
select PROPERTIES. Under the GENERAL tab, in the middle
of the window you will see STARTUP TYPE, it should
currently set to AUTOMATIC. Change it to DISABLED.

Hope this helps.

Rick

 

[Gordon Burgess-Parker]

Thanx, I am trying it. I had the same problems.

----- Rick Hale wrote: -----

You MUST also activate a firewall. Disabling messenger service only cures
the symptoms, not the cause. The cause is netbios ports that are open. A
firewall will sclose them.