How do I stop "Pop Up" Ads ?

[The Flying Scotsman]

I'm getting deluged with pop up ads ("Messenger Service"). Two in particular are coming in all the time. The 1st is from "BritneyGirl" who's looking for a "boy in UK" and the other is from a cheeky sod actually selling a programme to stop pop up ads !!!!???. I'm getting one every 5 minutes or so. Is there a filter in XP or a free / cheap download to stop them ?

Cheers, Scottie.

[Timothy]

I use an excellent package called PopUp Killer, it works a dream, amd is pretty configurable.

There are many other such products, but this one works well.

W

[The Nr Fairy]

The "Messenger Service" was originally intended to allow popup messages in a LAN, like "The print job has finished" and stuff like that.

Of course, it's now been subverted to allow people on the Internet to send messages directly to your PC, - personally I don't need breast enlargement, if I wanted bigger boobs, I'd drink more beer !

Check the following URL for more info :

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

[ORAC]

Here's what I use - Adsubtract (http://www.adsubtract.com)

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

This comes up time and time again; this will solve it.....

Courtesy of "Ask Jack"/GuardianUnlimited Online, 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."

Alternatively, look at the full thread that includes the above post (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86895)

[18-Wheeler]

A better option is to use www.opera.com, as it has a built-in pop-up stopper that works 100%.
I have not seen a pop-up in over two years now, since using Opera.
It crashes FAR less than IE, WON"T freeze or stop your compuer if it does, and if it does it'll pick up right where it left off.
It's also far easier to use, more customisable, and noticeably faster.

[WhiteDevil]

i use AdsGone Popup Killer - http://www.adsgone.com

[PPRuNe Towers]

...and for Mac OSX users pop up blocking is built into the Safari browser a la Opera.

The Wizards of Redmond could do it in a trice but would much rather give you more bells and whistles:mad: :mad: :uhoh:

Rob

[Lozza2002]

Just Follow These Instructions

To work around this issue, turn off the Messenger service.
To do so, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel).
Double-click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Services.
Double-click Messenger.
In the Startup type list, click Disabled.
Click Stop, and then click OK.

Note If the Messenger service is stopped, messages from the Alerter service (notifications from your antivirus software, for example) are not transmitted. If the Messenger service is turned off, any services that explicitly depend on the Messenger service do not start, and an error message is logged in the System event log. For this reason, Microsoft recommends that you install a firewall and configure it to block NetBIOS and RPC traffic instead of turning off the Messenger service.

Rgards
Lozza :ok:

[fobotcso]

As Blue Sky Thinker says:

It's been done before (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=93349)

But no harm done to keep reviewing the topic because it is important for folks to understand that they have to distinguish between Windows Messenger and The Messenger Service.

I personally wouldn't do away with the Messenger Service. It performs the same function as pain. Warns you about danger or failure.

I don't get many pop-ups. ZoneAlarmPro is in the way.

[Timothy]

The latest beta version of the Google toolbar (which I thorougly recommend anyway) has a pop-up blocker. http://toolbar.google.com

It's free, so worth a trial. It only works on IE5.5 or higher.

W

[PaperTiger]

Excellent suggestion WC. Remember to turn Page Ranking OFF though. It's 'spyware' and slows the browser in any case.

[McD]

Excellent tool, WCollins :ok:

I'll add my 2p recommending the Google toolbar, having installed it this morning. After testing it on several known pop-up-ad-generating websites, I'm very satisfied with its effectiveness. It's nice to to hear it's working well for others too. And the fact that it's free makes it even better!

I fully agree with PaperTiger ... the Page Rank "feature" :rolleyes: is not a good thing IMHO, so I de-selected that option right away. No complaints with anything else.