annoying messenger pop-ups sussed!!!
Discussion
Fantastic .. I'm going to try this tonight on the home PC.
I had looked into it before, but obviously didn't find the right boxes to tick. Removing Messenger from the Startup sequence using msconfig doesn't work as it seems to be initiated every time you open IE, Outlook etc.
Thanks again.
pg( :fingerscrossed: )
>> Edited by heckler on Tuesday 15th July 10:59
I had looked into it before, but obviously didn't find the right boxes to tick. Removing Messenger from the Startup sequence using msconfig doesn't work as it seems to be initiated every time you open IE, Outlook etc.
Thanks again.
pg( :fingerscrossed: )
>> Edited by heckler on Tuesday 15th July 10:59
Thats MSN Messenger rather than the Messenger Service.
All the Messenger service does is monitor for packets on a specific port and dialog them to the screen.
Its rarely used inside the enterprise and hardly ever legitimately used over the web. The AV providers will use a proprietary transport rather than relying on Microsofts internal net monitoring.
All the Messenger service does is monitor for packets on a specific port and dialog them to the screen.
Its rarely used inside the enterprise and hardly ever legitimately used over the web. The AV providers will use a proprietary transport rather than relying on Microsofts internal net monitoring.
tvrtim said:
Plotloss, THANKS for your reply. I do not have admin services in my control panel.I have tried a search for it and nothing comes up.
Any further ideas please.
Right click My Computer select Manage
Last entry in the tree on the left should be 'Service and Applications'
Open up that branch of the tree and you should see Services as the first entry.
Then follow the instructions for disabling the Messenger service mentioned further up.
squirrelz said:
...and if you get these kind of messages, then you aren't sufficiently firewalled from the internet.
You should install something like zonealarm, if you're connected to the internet for any length of time.
I have to agree with Squirrelz here, if you're going to the effort of stopping people from hikacking the Messenger service, imagine what other services they can hack into. ZoneAlarm is free but annoying. XP users should be covered by the built-in firewall?
Go to www.grc.com and run ShieldsUp and ProbeMyPorts (behave) to see how exposed (ahem) you really are.
Ian A.
squirrelz said:
...and if you get these kind of messages, then you aren't sufficiently firewalled from the internet.
You should install something like zonealarm, if you're connected to the internet for any length of time.
Running zonealarm and have blocked all content from messenger - works a treat as I don't use or intend to use messenger.
IPAddis said:
ZoneAlarm is free but annoying. XP users should be covered by the built-in firewall?
ZA is pretty quiet once you've gone through the initial bedding-in period of deciding which things to allow forever and which to block forever.
Not sure I'd trust the XP firewall, (a) because what's the betting somebody already has the source code for it and (b) MS & security in the same sentence has always raised a laugh in the past!
ZoneAlarm is a free download and is essential if your on broadband . In the home , we use to be given a dynamic I.P address and would not be connected online for long. Now with broadband we are on for longer periods and due to the speed, someone can grab data pretty fast.
Most hackers/whatever go for easy targets. So start using a firewall / software like Zonealarm you'll be in the current minority and safe.
The new beta of the Google toolbar comes with a pop-up blocker. Its been working fine so far (I've been using it for about a week).
The trouble with most pop-ups is the content,
esp. at work or in the home.
Most hackers/whatever go for easy targets. So start using a firewall / software like Zonealarm you'll be in the current minority and safe.
The new beta of the Google toolbar comes with a pop-up blocker. Its been working fine so far (I've been using it for about a week).
The trouble with most pop-ups is the content,
esp. at work or in the home.
IIRC Windows 9x (including ME) does not have anything equivalent to the messenger service.
You should still run a personal firewall, though, and some kind of anti-virus software.
Edit - just realised that if you have file and printer sharing enabled, then you'd probably be able to receive these messages too.
>> Edited by squirrelz on Wednesday 16th July 16:45
You should still run a personal firewall, though, and some kind of anti-virus software.
Edit - just realised that if you have file and printer sharing enabled, then you'd probably be able to receive these messages too.
>> Edited by squirrelz on Wednesday 16th July 16:45
IPAddis said:The GRC scanner really stinks, norton isn't much better. Out of the vendors scanners the one at scan.sygate.com is probably the best of a bad bunch.
Go to www.grc.com and run ShieldsUp and ProbeMyPorts (behave) to see how exposed (ahem) you really are.
IPAddis said:
....XP users should be covered by the built-in firewall?....
This is true to a certain extent but ZoneAlarm provides much better protection.
Why? Well the XP firewall only protects you against incoming threats which is good but not good enough. ZoneAlarm also protects you against outgoing threats.
What do I mean by this? Well say you receive an email that contains a Remote Access Trojan or RAT and your anti-virus software doesn't spot it. The RAT installs a back door on your machine that will then allow a malicious hacker to get into your computer without you knowing. To do this the RAT has to access the internet from inside your machine. Zone Alarm would prevent this from happening whereas the XP firewall would not.
Whilst I am aware that ZoneAlarm is not perfect and there are ways around it for the determined hacker, it is far better than nothing for most users.
Dave Clarke
www.arctsys.co.uk
rsvnigel said:
IPAddis said:
Go to www.grc.com and run ShieldsUp and ProbeMyPorts (behave) to see how exposed (ahem) you really are.
The GRC scanner really stinks, norton isn't much better. Out of the vendors scanners the one at scan.sygate.com is probably the best of a bad bunch.
Well it isn't the best out there but it is free and it does give a good explaination of why ports should be closed and how to do so. The Sygate scan is probably better for techie users which is why I didn't mention it.
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