At 07:33 09/03/03, Mary wrote:
>I am running Win XP (classic edition) using DSL.  I have these
>constant nuisance popups that show up right on my desktop even when I
>am away from the computer.  I don't even have to be using any
>browsers, they just come right in. I understand that using DSL leaves
>your pc vulnerable for these but there must be a way to curb or stop them.

Hi Mary

You want to disable the windows Messaging Service.

Instead of trying to explaining how to turn this service off (I
don't use WinXP), I'd suggest that you download the tiny (22 KB)
utility "Shoot the Messenger" from Steve Gibson's website at
<http://grc.com/stm/ShootTheMessenger.htm>. This utility's whole
reason for being is to disable the windows Messaging Service.

The actual file to download is
<http://grc.com/files/shootthemessenger.exe>.)

 From the GRC (Gibson Research) webpage:

"The Windows "Messenger Service" is being exploited to spray the
Internet with unsolicited commercial [pop-ups adds]. The receipt of a
single UDP packet can cause a "Messenger Service" dialog to pop-up on
the user's screen. It is possible for the sender to "spoof" (falsify)
the packet's "Source IP", making these packets impossible to trace back
to their origin. If our experience with eMail Spam is any model, we can
expect to see a lot more of this in the future.

"The first thing to understand is that the Windows Messenger Service is
completely different from, and not in any way related to, "MSN
Messenger", "Windows Messenger", or any other well-known instant
messaging system. Therefore, disabling the Windows Messenger service
will have no effect upon your use of any other instant messaging
applications. They will continue to work without trouble.

"If you ever see legitimate pop-up warnings or announcements with the
phrase "Messenger Service" in the title bar, you might have an
application running in your system that relies upon the built-in
Messenger Service for the delivery of its information. But every
application we know of displays its own pop-up alert dialogs, and we're
not aware of any programs that rely upon the Messenger Service. It's
just a theoretical possibility. If it turns out that you do need to
have the Messenger Service running, "Shoot The Messenger" will easily
re-enable and start the service."

Regards,
Bill

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