pop-ups

I have Windowa XP and anti-pop-up software installed on my computer and this software does a good job of eliminating pop-ups. But in the past couple of weeks, as soon as I connect to the internet, a small grey screen comes up stating something like Message Alert to you, and it wants me to buy its product. My anti-pop-up software does not stop this pop-up. What can I do to stop these nuisance pop-ups? Thank you very much.

 

Hi

I think this maybe the messenger service (spam) you are getting.

Go to your control panel - admistrative tools - services - scroll down the list until you see 'messenger' - stop the service and then 'disable'.

This is nothing to do with Windows messenger so if you use that it's safe to stop the 'messenger service' above. They have found a way to use this as a form of spam. Apologies if you already have done this and it's something else causing the pop up. If you have done the above I would advise you run Spybot and/or Adaware to make sure you do not have any spyware in your PC. It may be realted to a program you have installed.

You can do a quick online check HERE but for a thorough scan download and run Spybot or Adaware.

 

What miniB told you will absolutely stop the stuff. And if you are on a home stand-alone or network, no further thought is needed.

But some business networks use the messenger service for legit things on the network. In that case, check with your companie's IS/IT/DP department to see if turning off messenger service will mess up any work things.

If it turns out to be a problem there, you can suggest they set the corporate firewall(s) to block incoming connections to the Microsoft networking ports (135, 137-139, and 445). That will stop it too.

 

To miniB: Thank you for your message. I clicked "stop it ". But what do I click to set it to disable? Thank you.

 

Right-click the service, properties, startup type