Windows XP Patch

[Gillian]

I keep getting a message pop up on my computer screen that
says there is an error in my Windows XP program, and that
I need to download the windows patch. It then tells me to
go the WWW.Windows-Patch.Info right away. When I go
there, they are trying to charge me $19.99 to download
some patch to fix my server. Is this legit? If not, how
do I get this to stop popping up on my computer?

Any help would be incredibly wonderful. I can be reached
at the above e-mail address. Thanks so much!

Take care,
Gillian

 

[John Ringler]

Hi,
What you get is nothing more than a scam.
There's probably nothing wrong with your computer, you
just accidentally installed a a spyware.
Go to www.download.com and donwload a free version of As-
Aware 6.0 (by Lavasoft).

The address you can download from is:

http://download.com.com/3000-8022_4-10214379.html?tag=pop

Install the software, and before running it, update with
the latest patch then run it.
It should find a whole bunch of sypwares/adwares on your
hard drive. Just clean the whole thing, that should take
care of your problem.

 

[Gerry]

You have been tricked with a pop-up advertisment.
Disregard the message. You can get your updates "FREE"
from Microsoft's website. Just go to www.microsoft.com
and click on the link for Windows Update in the left
column. If you want to prevent these pop-up messages,
go into the services and disable the messenger service.
(Not the same as windows messenger)
Good luck.

 

[RHinNC]

Download and run Ad-Aware or Spybot.

 

[Baz]

I've had similar pop ups. Yuo need to install some spyware
software that will remove the cookie from your hard drive
plus any others that might be there.. Search the net,
there are lots available. I belive adaware is free.

 

[Phil \(purplehaz\)]

Secure your hacker prone computer:

If they say messenger service in the title bar, these pop ups have nothing
to do with MSN messenger or Windows messenger. What this is a new way for
spammers to attack your computer and send you pop-up ads. If you receive
these ads it means that your computers netbios ports are wide open to the
internet and this could be a real security problem. What you should do is
install a good firewall that will block the ports the spammers use and stop
the ads. A good place to start is Zone Alarm ( www.zonelabs.com ) for an
inbound/outbound blocking firewall or use the inbound blocking only firewall
built in to XP. If needed configure the firewall to block ports 135, 137-139
and 445. Zone Alarm will block these ports by default.

Use this site to test some of your ports security:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

You can/should also disable the messenger service, which is the service the
spammers exploit, but it isn't needed to stop the ads and disabling the
service will not block the open netbios ports.

Note: If the Messenger service is stopped, messages from the Alerter
service (notifications from your antivirus software, for example) are
not transmitted. If the Messenger service is turned off, any services
that explicitly depend on the Messenger service do not start, and an
error message is logged in the System event log. For this reason,
Microsoft recommends that you install a firewall and configure it to
block NetBIOS and RPC traffic instead of turning off the Messenger
service. To turn off the service goto, control panel, administrative tools,
services, find messenger, right click, properties, hit the stop button, set
startup type to manual or disabled. (be sure to stay patched at windows
update as well)

If the pop-ups appear while surfing web pages then download and install one
of the many pop-up blocker programs. Search www.download.com for popup
blocker, you'll find many free ones.

Also get a good spyware cleaner:

Spybot - http://www.safer-networking.org/

Ad-aware - http://www.lavasoft.com

 

[Mike Kolitz]

Is this legit?

Absolutely not!

Download some anti-spyware software, such as Ad-Aware from Lavasoft. It's
free, and works wonderfully.

--
Mike Kolitz MCSE 2000
MS-MVP - Windows Setup and Deployment

Remember to check Windows Update often,
and apply the patches marked as Critical!
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

It's a scam, plain and simple. It's from a very unscrupulous
"business." They're trying to sell you patches that Microsoft
provides free-of-charge. It's also demonstrating that your PC is very
unsecure.

This type of spam has become quite common over the past year or
so, 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 most definitely open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm
that still haunts 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

Whichever firewall you decide upon, be sure to ensure UDP ports 135,
137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and 445 are _all_ blocked. You
may also disable Inbound NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). You'll have
to follow the instructions from firewall's manufacturer for the
specific steps.

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

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

 

[Alex Nichol]

I keep getting a message pop up on my computer screen that
says there is an error in my Windows XP program, and that
I need to download the windows patch. It then tells me to
go the WWW.Windows-Patch.Info right away. When I go
there, they are trying to charge me $19.99 to download
some patch to fix my server. Is this legit?

No. There are a lot of scams around that purport to have detected
trouble, or measured bad performance and then offer to 'correct' it for
a fee. They have made no such measurement, and the only correction they
would make would be to set a flag to tell that popup next time to say
'see how wonderful the fix is'. Junk it

And get a PopUp stopper - such as the free one from
http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree_download.html