Windows Messenger Pop-ups

[Dan Lewis]

I am being bombarded by pop-up advertisements, most are
solicitations to stop the pop-ups. I believe it is linked
to Messenger. Do you know if this is true? How do I stop
it? How do I disconnect Messenger from my computer?

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Dan,

Do these "pop-ups" that are appearing have "Messenger Service" in their titlebar? If so, what
you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not* Windows Messenger (which
are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor can
Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups, you'll need to disable the "Messenger Service", click Start,
then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to "Messenger", select it,
right-click and then choose Properties. Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then
choose the 'Stop' button. After the service is stopped, click OK. Nothing in Windows or any
real third-party applications should be effected by this.

Just as a little reminder, make sure you've protected yourself against the latest security
issues by visiting WindowsUpdate and installing the security patches:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
(This isn't related to the Messenger Service in any way, just a reminder)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com


"Dan Lewis" > wrote in message
...
> I am being bombarded by pop-up advertisements, most are
> solicitations to stop the pop-ups. I believe it is linked
> to Messenger. Do you know if this is true? How do I stop
> it? How do I disconnect Messenger from my computer?