pop-ups

[rebecca bat]

I have been bombarded with ugly gray pop-up ads from
StopMessenger, KillMessenger, MessengerBye-Bye etc. I
downloaded all available patches for Windows XP and that
didn't stop the messages. If I access one of the annoying
sites I read "You received this message due to a built in
feature that Microsoft included in Windows XP, 2000, and
NT." Then they offer to sell dowloadable software to cure
the problem. Do I have to buy this software to stop these
ads? Thanks, R. Batt

 

[Alun Jones [MS MVP]]

I have been bombarded with ugly gray pop-up ads from
StopMessenger, KillMessenger, MessengerBye-Bye etc. I
downloaded all available patches for Windows XP and that
didn't stop the messages. If I access one of the annoying
sites I read "You received this message due to a built in
feature that Microsoft included in Windows XP, 2000, and
NT." Then they offer to sell dowloadable software to cure
the problem. Do I have to buy this software to stop these
ads?

Of course not - that's ridiculous, and it just shows how despicable these
companies are - they're like a glazier who advertises by throwing rocks
through your windows.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp
has a good, simple explanation of these adverts, and how to stop them.

Alun.
~~~~

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[My Name]

Learn to search for your OWN answers! Get them faster! Go to the web pages
at the bottom of this message in my signature!

It would also be a lot better if they would actually subscribe to the
group instead of posting from the microsoft web page. That way they
could see just how many times questions like this are asked each day and
perhaps find their own answewr. It is difficult to scan past messages
using the web page.

 

[Ian]

-----Original Message-----
I have been bombarded with ugly gray pop-up ads from
StopMessenger, KillMessenger, MessengerBye-Bye etc. I
downloaded all available patches for Windows XP and that
didn't stop the messages. If I access one of the annoying
sites I read "You received this message due to a built in
feature that Microsoft included in Windows XP, 2000, and
NT." Then they offer to sell dowloadable software to cure
the problem. Do I have to buy this software to stop these
ads? Thanks, R. Batt
.
you dont need to buy software, just turn off Windows

Messenger, which is how they get in

Click Start - Control Panel
Click Admin Tools
Click Component Services
Double click services local
Double click Messenger to bring up the options psnel
Right click the highlighted line and choose properties
click thye stop button
slesct disabled or manual on the start up style drop down
menu
click ok

No more popups

Ian

 

[Alun Jones [MS MVP]]

No more popups

Ian, you've got to stop posting this garbage. You're advising people to
leave their systems open to hackers, and remove only a warning that their
systems are vulnerable!

Let's see now... Messenger Service packets come in on UDP ports 135, 137,
138, and TCP ports 135, 139, and 445. A recent exploit in Windows was
reachable through ports 135, 139, and 445.

So, let's see whose advice is best:

Ian: Disable Messenger Service.
Oh, but that leaves you vulnerable to the exploit, because the Messenger
Service spam has already told you that you're reachable through those same
ports.

Alun: Enable a firewall, and leave Messenger Service running.
Let's see, we've installed a firewall, and we know that those dangerous
ports are blocked, because we have Messenger Service running, and there is
no incoming spam. We're safe from the exploit too, even though the exploit
wasn't announced until recently.

Now, Ian may be suggesting the non-firewall approach, because he comes from
AOL. AOL decided when they implemented their TCP/IP connectivity to ignore
the existing stack, and build their own. Only they know why, but this means
that many of the existing Windows tools for maintaining and securing your
computer don't work. Ian, and any other AOL user, needs to contact AOL and
ask them how to block unwanted incoming traffic. Non-AOL-users need to
enable their firewall, as described in
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

AOL users should generally stop giving advice to non-AOL users as to how to
secure their systems, until those AOL users know how to secure their own
systems.

Alun.
~~~~

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