Newbie Question

[Nate]

I'm afraid that I am not the most computer literate person in the world, so
if this question sounds dumb, I apologise in advance :-)

I run Windows XP (home), and my default browser is Internet Explorer. I
have a Windows Messenger account.

The problem is, I keep getting these REALLY annoying pop-ups while online.
They just show up out of the blue, usually at the worst possible moment.
Occasionally I enjoy playing MMPORPGs, and these damned pop-ups will...pop
up...right in the middle of a session, which means that I have to select the
game (where my character is getting pounded to death by something, usually)
from my task bar to continue playing. Grrrrr...

I really don't know if these are due to my messenger account, or just a new
"feature" of Explorer, or what. I have gone through the help topics for
both, and have (not suprisingly) not found any information whatsoever.

Like I said, probably a "newbie" question :-)

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[Nate]

After perusing this site for a time, lo and bhold I am not the only one who
has asked this question (guess I should have done that first, huh?).

Now that I have the answer, I formally withdraw my question :-) Instead,
how about another:

I used to have Black Ice Defender installed when I had windows 98 and my
cable modem. Upon switching to DSL and XP, it had many unfortunate
conflicts so I stopped running it.

The question: What security system (firewall or other) do you recommend with
my current setup? Thanks in advance.

[Nate]

After perusing this site for a time, lo and bhold I am not the only one who
has asked this question (guess I should have done that first, huh?).

Now that I have the answer, I formally withdraw my question :-) Instead,
how about another:

I used to have Black Ice Defender installed when I had windows 98 and my
cable modem. Upon switching to DSL and XP, it had many unfortunate
conflicts so I stopped running it.

The question: What security system (firewall or other) do you recommend with
my current setup? Thanks in advance.

[Jim Macklin]

I use Zone Alarm (free version) or you can just turn on the
built-in firewall that is part of XP. It only blocks
inbound traffic and does not alert you to traffic, the way
Zone Alarm can. www.zonelabs.com


"Nate" > wrote in message
...
| After perusing this site for a time, lo and bhold I am not
the only one who
| has asked this question (guess I should have done that
first, huh?).
|
| Now that I have the answer, I formally withdraw my
question :-) Instead,
| how about another:
|
| I used to have Black Ice Defender installed when I had
windows 98 and my
| cable modem. Upon switching to DSL and XP, it had many
unfortunate
| conflicts so I stopped running it.
|
| The question: What security system (firewall or other) do
you recommend with
| my current setup? Thanks in advance.
|
|

[Jim Macklin]

I use Zone Alarm (free version) or you can just turn on the
built-in firewall that is part of XP. It only blocks
inbound traffic and does not alert you to traffic, the way
Zone Alarm can. www.zonelabs.com


"Nate" > wrote in message
...
| After perusing this site for a time, lo and bhold I am not
the only one who
| has asked this question (guess I should have done that
first, huh?).
|
| Now that I have the answer, I formally withdraw my
question :-) Instead,
| how about another:
|
| I used to have Black Ice Defender installed when I had
windows 98 and my
| cable modem. Upon switching to DSL and XP, it had many
unfortunate
| conflicts so I stopped running it.
|
| The question: What security system (firewall or other) do
you recommend with
| my current setup? Thanks in advance.
|
|