Messenger service.

[maggioneato]

Please, does anyone know how to block the messenger service pop-ups that keep appearing, huge big things, that block out the whole screen. It looks as if it's done by a company wanting to sell me a way of stopping them annoying me. Have pop-up defender installed,but it does'nt stop these annoying messages. www.golarger com is one of them,being female I don't have any need of their help. Can they be stopped? :(

[amanoffewwords]

Assuming you have XP - look here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp)

[maggioneato]

Yes, have XP, thank you so much, have printed off all the bumf, so will now set to to stop these pests. :D I hope.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

I was more than happy with my Norton Internet Security (NIS) Firewall running on XP Pro until this recent Messenger pop-up plague, against which it seems ineffective. .....Why??? .....I note suggestions to block inbound NetBIOS and UDPbroadcast traffic, yet a Symantec Security Check on my computer shows everything in 'safe' and 'stealth' mode including the 'NetBIOS Availability Scan'. .....Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

As a footnote, I realise that one can disable Messenger, but am reluctant to do so as I understand it is also utilised beneficially (virus alerts, for example). .....I only mention this as some advocate such a course of action.

[AerBabe]

Zone Alarm keeps the pop-ups at bay, but sometimes I get conversation windows opening from random women. They're usually trying to get me to look at their websites with a live webcam... :bored:

[richie-rich]

i wouldnt mind lookin at 'em..... :E

rr

[maggioneato]

I am still having problems getting this firewall enabled ,as after clicking on network and Internet connnections, right click AOL then properties, then advanced ,reveals no icf option. anyone know if this is another one of AOL's little incompatabilities, or is it more likely me,have spent ages on it and got nowhere. :(

[amanoffewwords]

As far as I know the option is always 'absent' with AOL - from the little I have read about it a workaround is available but it is neither 'clean' nor very effective.

The simple solution would be to obtain a standard firewall package such as Norton Personal Firewall or Internet Security or the McAfee or Zone Alarm equivalent, whichever takes your fancy.

I do know that you still have to go through the procedure as described in the Microsoft link I provided somewhere above, if you wish to get rid of the 'messenger' messages.

Which leads me to the following question:

I was more than happy with my Norton Internet Security (NIS) Firewall running on XP Pro until this recent Messenger pop-up plague, against which it seems ineffective. .....Why??? .....

I don't claim to be a network whiz at all - but from my ltd knowledge I understand that NIS lets these messages through as they were intended to be administrative messages sent by a network manager to the users to announce outages/changes to system etc..

The messages you are getting have nothing to do with Microsoft Windows Messenger or the equivalent thereof - the wording is there to confuse on purpose - for instance, the very same thing happened to me when someone downloaded Yahoo messenger on my machine :mad:

hth

[maggioneato]

Ok,thanks again .I have noticed I am only troubled with these messages when browsing on pprune, strange. Will have to look for what you suggest, or a change of ISP.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Ahh.......... this is getting very interesting.

Not only am I experiencing the problems highlighted above, in the fourth entry to this thread, but like maggioneato have been fumbling around for the first time looking for my XP firewall, to no avail.

News from amanoffewwords regarding a possible compatability problem with AOL is a first with me, but a quick run around the web would seem to suggest that there is something in this.

Yes, I am aware that the Windows Messenger Service is not associated with Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, or such instant messaging services. Any debate on the subject really needs to emphasise this point. Confusion is rife, if understandable; extending to the AOL HelpLine tonight (a real pickle of conflicting information. .....and very cagey about the AOL/XP firewall issue). Disabling Windows Messenger Service WILL stop the Messenger pop-up spam (and, AOL HelpLine, you will still be able to instant message) BUT there are side effects as mentioned in my original entry to this thread.

My confidence in the Norton firewall is the reason why, until now, that I haven't gone looking for it's (I suspect inferior) XP equivalent. But if AOL is having problems with the XP firewall is it possible that it is compromising the ability of my Norton (updated and "security checked") to combat this particular pop-up menace. .....??? Several friends using an identical AOL/Norton combination are having similar problems, whilst those on a different ISP/Norton are not.

[Hilico]

I use BTopenworld, and for a while a couple of months ago, I'd get on to their home page and after a minute, blue lip-prints would suddenly start appearing on the screen. Turned out it was not a virus as such but an advertising campaign for some stupid Japanese car. I actually clicked on the window that eventually popped up and sent them several f*** off messages, before it occurred to me that it never happened anywhere other than on the BTOpenworld home pages. Conclusion was that - it was a feature of the BTOpenworld home pages - as though BT had 'sold' the advertising space to Toyakimazuki. So if I'd wanted to get rid of it, I'd have had to stop using BTOpenworld.

If you're watching, BT, I'm still thinking of doing that.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Hilico: these sound like "standard", albeit irritating, pop-ups.

For anyone confused, the Messenger version is generated differently and all come in a standard grey format. An example is shown on the link further up the thread; and repeated here. (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp)

[maggioneato]

I have now installed a separate firewall,which looks like it might be more trouble than the pop-ups,at least untill I sort out the settings.Have just received, someone wants to send a ICMP packet to my machine, and another one a UDP whatever that is. Does anyone know what they are please. I thought everything would be blocked automatically. :confused:

BLUESKYTHINKER. Just athought, I uninstalled Norton anti-virus as it was causing so much trouble,as have quite a few friends, it seems ok with other ISP's but not AOL. No trouble with that since installing AVG.

Now have what I should have done first, printed off the twelve pages of how to use the firewall, which explains all the above terms,and no I still don't get it. I must be thick. :(

[RadAlt]

These popups can be quite annoying. :yuk:
To get rid of them (in XP), go to
-->Administrative tools (should be somewhere in your startmenu/programs)
then select
-->services
Then you'll get a list with all the local services that may be running. In this list you will find
-->Messenger
highlight this service, on the left you'll see an option to
-->stop
This will only stop this service untill you reboot. To stop it completely, rightclick on Messenger will give you more options and control over this. eg, you can opt for a manual start or automatic.
:ok::8

[phnuff]

I used to use Zone Alarm free in association with a freeware popupstopper (http://www.panicware.com/popupstopper.html) and never used to get bothered. I recently shelled out for the upgrade to Zonealarm pro and found that it really worked well and that the popupstopper is no longer needed. I also seem to get no bother with dodgy women with webcams ( :( ) so I am chucking Zone Alarm away :cool:

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

I return to this subject having just discovered some additional information - new to me - that allays fears highlighted above.

We are inundated with information about how to disable Messenger, but what about the side effects (?); namely, those programs that rely on it to issue alerts (e.g. some antivirus programs). We hear little about this aspect.

It now transpires - certainly on XP - that it is possible to ascertain such dependencies, allowing one to disable Messenger with confidence .....or otherwise.

Courtesy of "Ask Jack"/GuardianUnlimited Online (http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,946494,00.html), I quote.....

".....Many people are suffering from pop-up advertising messages that arrive via a low-level messaging service that is part of all NT-based versions of Windows (NT/2000/XP). It has nothing to do with Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger or any other messaging application.....

.....You can turn off this messenger service yourself, in one minute. Log on to Windows XP in administrator mode, go to the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon, and scroll down the Name column until you get to Messenger. Double-click Messenger to get the Properties sheet (or right-click it and select Properties), and then click the Dependencies tab. The lower box should be empty, which is to say, nothing depends on you running Messenger.

Go back to the General tab and look for the Service Status section. If Messenger is running, click Stop to stop it. Next, go to Startup type and click the down arrow on the right. Clicking the arrow lets you select Manual or Disabled, and you can select either. If Messenger has no dependencies, select Disabled and click OK to finish. You will not get any more Messenger pop-ups."

[olderairhead]

Messenger can be a pain in the b!t, but which messenger are you referring to? This (http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?threadid=131978&highlight=messenger) link may shed some more light onto your problem.