Messenger uninstalled; the pop-ups continue?

[giordano1000]

Yesterday I installed MSN Messenger on my computer that's running on
Windows XP. I decided I did not want this program after all, and
although it was difficult, I was able to uninstall it through some
weird tricks I learned online. Ever since I installed that program,
though, pop-ups have been persistently coming. They all advertise to
"stop pop-ups now!" These are not the kind of popups that are just
text in an all-gray box. Even so, I went and disabled "messenger" in
the control panel. I KNOW that these popups are related to MSN
messenger SOMEhow, because they didn't start until I installed that
blasted program. Has anyone else experience this? What can I do to
make them go away?

Thanks a million!

Giordano

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings,

What you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not* Windows Messenger
(which are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor
can Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups, you'll need to disable the "Messenger Service", click Start,
then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to "Messenger", select it,
right-click and then choose Properties. Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then
choose the 'Stop' button. After the service is stopped, click OK. Nothing in Windows or any
real third-party applications should be effected by this.

Just as a little reminder, make sure you've protected yourself against the latest security
issues by visiting WindowsUpdate and installing the security patches:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
(This isn't related to the Messenger Service in any way, just a reminder)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[giordano1000]

Greetings,

What you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not* Windows Messenger
(which are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor
can Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups, you'll need to disable the "Messenger Service", click Start,
then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to "Messenger", select it,
right-click and then choose Properties. Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then
choose the 'Stop' button. After the service is stopped, click OK. Nothing in Windows or any
real third-party applications should be effected by this.

Just as a little reminder, make sure you've protected yourself against the latest security
issues by visiting WindowsUpdate and installing the security patches:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
(This isn't related to the Messenger Service in any way, just a reminder)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

I don't know if you will ever read this, John, but I wanted to let you
know that the solution you gave me did not help at all. Just as I
typed that line, actually, I got a pop-up telling me to "Stop Pop-Ups
Now!"

I followed your instructions exactly and disabled messenger and even
made messenger stop from the services.msc menu. It has had no effect
on the pop-ups. As I said, the pop-ups are not just text boxes
appearing out of nowhere, but they are actually small Internet
Explorer Windows appearing out of nowhere, whether I am surfing the
web or not. I guess it doesn't matter since I have a cable internet
connection.

My questions is: why did they suddenly start appearing only after I
installed MSN messenger the other day? I know spammers must be
exploiting some aspect of MSN Messenger, but how can I stop it? When I
checked my computer this morning I had several hundred pop-ups waiting
for me to close them down.

Please help! someone!

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Hi,

If they're Internet Explorer windows, this isn't going to help you. What's happened in that
case is you've installed some type of spyware application. To remove these, you'll need to
use either Spybot or Adware:
Ad-aware:
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download
Spybot:
http://spybot.eon.net.au/index.php?lang=en&page=download (scroll down to the bottom)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Carl]

I have same problem, I have deleted my Windows XP
messenger, but when I downloaded a free program to stop
internet popups( it did not work) after deleting this
program I started to get new messenger pop up ads. I do
not know where they are coming from. they come into view
whether I am on the net or not. Frustrating