HOT DO I STOP THE POP UPS!!!!!!????

[EC]

ANYBODY KNOWS HOW TO STOP THE POP UPS? EVERY TIME I LOG
TO THE INTERNER I GET THIS GRAY WINDOS WITH MESSAGES FROM
EVERYONE, SOME OF THEM READ "YOUR COMPUTER IS OPEN TO
OTHERS THOUGOUTH THE MESSENGER" HOW DO I STOP THEM.

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

First of all, please unstick your CapsLock key. Posting in all
caps, as you have done, is the Usenet equivalent of shouting, and is
considered very rude. More importantly, posting in all caps makes the
post very hard to read, further reducing your chances of getting help.

There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the solutions
vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is troubling you?

1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger Service?"

This type of spam has become quite common over the past several
months, 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 may well be open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm that
recently swept cross 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

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?

2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the free 12Ghosts
Popup-killer from http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm, Pop-Up Stopper
from http://www.panicware.com/, or the Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/, which is what I use.

3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort of "adware" and/or
"spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors, Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or
KaZaA, and their remnants, that you've deliberately (but without
understanding the consequences) installed, two products that are
quite effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware) are
Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search & Destroy from
www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free versions. It's even
possible to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system
against most future intrusions. I use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"EC" > wrote in message
...
> ANYBODY KNOWS HOW TO STOP THE POP UPS? EVERY TIME I LOG
> TO THE INTERNER I GET THIS GRAY WINDOS WITH MESSAGES FROM
> EVERYONE, SOME OF THEM READ "YOUR COMPUTER IS OPEN TO
> OTHERS THOUGOUTH THE MESSENGER" HOW DO I STOP THEM.

[Drew Tognola]

EC,
click 'Start', 'Programs','Administrative Tools', 'Services'. When the
window opens scroll down & double-click 'Messenger', now open the 'Startup
type' menu and click 'disable' & 'OK'. Everyone of these messages are coming
through this.
Drew

"EC" > wrote in message
...
> ANYBODY KNOWS HOW TO STOP THE POP UPS? EVERY TIME I LOG
> TO THE INTERNER I GET THIS GRAY WINDOS WITH MESSAGES FROM
> EVERYONE, SOME OF THEM READ "YOUR COMPUTER IS OPEN TO
> OTHERS THOUGOUTH THE MESSENGER" HOW DO I STOP THEM.

[Chris Holden]

"EC" > wrote in message
...
> ANYBODY KNOWS HOW TO STOP THE POP UPS? EVERY TIME I LOG
> TO THE INTERNER I GET THIS GRAY WINDOS WITH MESSAGES FROM
> EVERYONE, SOME OF THEM READ "YOUR COMPUTER IS OPEN TO
> OTHERS THOUGOUTH THE MESSENGER" HOW DO I STOP THEM.

<japes> I would recommend keeping them, as they obviously annoy you.
Chris

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Please stop deliberately posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service, as you advise, is a "head in the
sand" approach to computer security that leaves the PC vulnerable to
threats such as the W32.Blaster.Worm.

The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're
actually providing a useful service by acting as a security alert. The
true problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only
advice, however well-intended, was to turn off the warnings. How is
this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario: You over-exert your shoulder at work or
play, causing bursitis. After weeks of annoying and sometimes
excruciating pain whenever you try to reach over your head, you go to
a doctor and say, while demonstrating the motion, "Doc, it hurts when
I do this." The doctor, being as helpful as you are, replies, "Well,
don't do that."

The only true way to secure the PC, short of disconnecting it from
the Internet, is to install and *properly* configure a firewall.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"Drew Tognola" > wrote in message
...
> EC,
> click 'Start', 'Programs','Administrative Tools', 'Services'. When
the
> window opens scroll down & double-click 'Messenger', now open the
'Startup
> type' menu and click 'disable' & 'OK'. Everyone of these messages
are coming
> through this.
> Drew
>
> "EC" > wrote in message
> ...
> > ANYBODY KNOWS HOW TO STOP THE POP UPS? EVERY TIME I LOG
> > TO THE INTERNER I GET THIS GRAY WINDOS WITH MESSAGES FROM
> > EVERYONE, SOME OF THEM READ "YOUR COMPUTER IS OPEN TO
> > OTHERS THOUGOUTH THE MESSENGER" HOW DO I STOP THEM.
>
>

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Please stop deliberately posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service, as you advise, is a "head in the
sand" approach to computer security that leaves the PC vulnerable to
threats such as the W32.Blaster.Worm.

The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're
actually providing a useful service by acting as a security alert. The
true problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only
advice, however well-intended, was to turn off the warnings. How is
this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario: You over-exert your shoulder at work or
play, causing bursitis. After weeks of annoying and sometimes
excruciating pain whenever you try to reach over your head, you go to
a doctor and say, while demonstrating the motion, "Doc, it hurts when
I do this." The doctor, being as helpful as you are, replies, "Well,
don't do that."

The only true way to secure the PC, short of disconnecting it from
the Internet, is to install and *properly* configure a firewall.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"Zyrix" > wrote in message
...
> Start --> Run --> Services.msc
> Double click "Messenger"
> In the Messenger Properties window, choose:
> Startup type: Disabled
> Service Status: Stop
>
> ps. I think your caps lock is on ;-)
>

[Zyrix]

Start --> Run --> Services.msc
Double click "Messenger"
In the Messenger Properties window, choose:
Startup type: Disabled
Service Status: Stop

ps. I think your caps lock is on ;-)