Pop-up Messages

[Greg]

I'm running WinXP Pro.
I have a broadband connection to the internet.
A few months ago, I beleive I was able to eliminate
unwated pop-up messages by turning off the Messenger
service. However, I just started getting them again,
and the Messenger service is not running.
Any advice on how I can eliminate pop-up messages?

 

[root]

-----Original Message-----
I'm running WinXP Pro.
I have a broadband connection to the internet.
A few months ago, I beleive I was able to eliminate
unwated pop-up messages by turning off the Messenger
service. However, I just started getting them again,
and the Messenger service is not running.
Any advice on how I can eliminate pop-up messages?
.

First off, when you say you turned off the messenger
service, do you mean "Windows Messager"? These two are
not related. The pop-ups which you are getting come
directly from the internet and not through the Windows
Messager software. Most likely, you are getting these
pop-ups because you are currently hosting any number of
adware or "spyware" programs. If you are not familiar,
these are small programs which reside in your system and
monitor your transactions and internet usage and then
forward this information via the internet to localized
databases. The owners of these databases then sell your
information to the highest bidder. I would suggest
downloading a spyware detection software (such as Ad-
aware or Spybot). These can oftentimes be aquired from
your ISP provider.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bearcat]

Sounds like a spyware/adware problem to me. To quickly
find out and fix the problem, get a copy of Spybot Search
& Destroy or Adaware. These both can be found free at
www.download.com. There are loads of other software that
will clean pop-ups caused by spyware/adware but those two
work really well and are easy to use.