disable messenger

[Steve]

Is there any way to disable Messenger? Totally ****ed
about the pop-ups. Thinking about heading to a Mac.
Thanks.

[Alvin A Brown]

Hello

You can turn on the Firewall for XP

How to Enable or Disable Internet Connection Firewall in Win XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;283673


Alvin


Steve wrote:

> Is there any way to disable Messenger? Totally ****ed
> about the pop-ups. Thinking about heading to a Mac.
> Thanks.

[Pete Baker]

Hi Steve

See if these WebPages ring any bells.

They should help you deal with this problem simply and
quickly although you may want to install a third-party firewall as a further
precaution.

"Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles"
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Or, in more detail, here

"Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement Appears"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330904


Hope that helps
Pete
----------------

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Is there any way to disable Messenger? Totally ****ed
> about the pop-ups. Thinking about heading to a Mac.
> Thanks.

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

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

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

This particular "sales method" is strikingly similar to the
"protection" rackets offered to small businesses by organized
criminals. Yes, it's a scam; no reputable business would need to
resort to extortion. Particularly since they're trying to sell you a
type of protection that is already available to you free of charge.

This type of spam has become quite common over the past few
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. Install and use a decent,
properly configured firewall. (Disabling the messenger service, as
some people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does nothing to
secure your machine.) And ignoring or just "putting up with" these
messages and the problem they represent 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

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service 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 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?

Equivalent Scenario 1: Somewhere in a house, a small fire starts,
and sets off the smoke alarm. You, not immediately seeing any
fire/smoke, complain about the noise of the smoke detector, and are
advised to remove the smoke detector's battery and go back to sleep.

Equivalent Scenario 2: 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 some of your respondents,
replies, "Well, don't do that."

I'm beginning to think that the people deliberately posting such
bad advice are hacker-wannabes who have no true interest in helping
you secure your system, but would rather give you a false sense of
security while ensuring that your computer is still open to
exploitation.

For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the free 12Ghosts
Popup-killer from http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm or Pop-Up
Stopper from http://www.panicware.com/. Myself, I use Norton Internet
Security, which, in addition to containing Norton Anti-Virus and
Personal Firewall, also blocks most of the pop-up adds on the
Internet.

For pop-ups caused by some sort of "adware" and/or "spyware" that
you've inadvertently installed, two products that are quite effective
at finding and removing scumware are Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and
SpyBot Search and Destroy from http://security.kolla.de/. Both have
free evaluation versions.


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


"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Is there any way to disable Messenger? Totally ****ed
> about the pop-ups. Thinking about heading to a Mac.
> Thanks.

[steve]

>-----Original Message-----
>Greetings --
>
> There are several varieties of pop-ups, and the
solutions vary
>accordingly. Which specific type(s) is troubling you?
>
> Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger
Service?"
>
> This particular "sales method" is strikingly similar
to the
>"protection" rackets offered to small businesses by
organized
>criminals. Yes, it's a scam; no reputable business
would need to
>resort to extortion. Particularly since they're trying
to sell you a
>type of protection that is already available to you free
of charge.
>
> This type of spam has become quite common over the
past few
>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. Install and use
a decent,
>properly configured firewall. (Disabling the messenger
service, as
>some people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does
nothing to
>secure your machine.) And ignoring or just "putting up
with" these
>messages and the problem they represent 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/commun
icate/stopspam.asp
>
>Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
>http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
>
> Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you
to do nothing
>more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the
messenger
>service 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 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?
>
> Equivalent Scenario 1: Somewhere in a house, a
small fire starts,
>and sets off the smoke alarm. You, not immediately
seeing any
>fire/smoke, complain about the noise of the smoke
detector, and are
>advised to remove the smoke detector's battery and go
back to sleep.
>
> Equivalent Scenario 2: 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 some of
your respondents,
>replies, "Well, don't do that."
>
> I'm beginning to think that the people deliberately
posting such
>bad advice are hacker-wannabes who have no true interest
in helping
>you secure your system, but would rather give you a
false sense of
>security while ensuring that your computer is still open
to
>exploitation.
>
> For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the free
12Ghosts
>Popup-killer from http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm
or Pop-Up
>Stopper from http://www.panicware.com/. Myself, I use
Norton Internet
>Security, which, in addition to containing Norton Anti-
Virus and
>Personal Firewall, also blocks most of the pop-up adds
on the
>Internet.
>
> For pop-ups caused by some sort of "adware"
and/or "spyware" that
>you've inadvertently installed, two products that are
quite effective
>at finding and removing scumware are Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoft.de and
>SpyBot Search and Destroy from
http://security.kolla.de/. Both have
>free evaluation versions.
>
>
>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
>
>
>"Steve" > wrote in message
...
>> Is there any way to disable Messenger? Totally ****ed
>> about the pop-ups. Thinking about heading to a Mac.
>> Thanks.
>
>
>.

Thanks alot, Bruce. I need to renew my Norton
subscription soon, so I think I'll try the Internet
Security.
Steve
>