Dear All,
Having had complaints from people that they are being bombarded by
"pop-ups" headed Messenger Service that do not "respond" to our fact
sheet on blocking pop-ups, I have written a brief fact sheet on how to
disable Messenger Service. I suspect that the instructions will vary
depending on the operating system and whether or not the interface has
been customised, so I would like members' help in fine tuning the
instructions.
The fact sheet is intended for private and home users only. If you are
bombarded with these messages at work, please contact your IT bods.
All variations and comments on the instructions welcomed.
The current text of he fact sheet is as follows:
Problem:
An irritating box headed Messenger Service keeps popping up on the
screen of my home computer with an advert saying "Stop pop-ups today!"
If only I could :-(( I thought I had pop-ups blocked using the Google
toolbar and have now tried numerous pop-up and ad blocking programs.
Nothing seems to work. What do I do? Help!!
Solution:
What is generating these "pop-ups" is Messenger Service, which comes as
part of Windows NT, 2000 and XP. This is nothing to do with Windows
Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger). Messenger Service was
intended to be a quick way for network administrators in companies to
send a message to all users on the network. Spammers soon got in on the
act and anyone with the technical knowledge can send these messages.
Most firewalls should be able to stop them - by default they use TCP
port 139 or UDP port 135 but these ports can be used by legitimate
services. The best way to tackle this problem is to disable the
Messenger Service.
To disable Messenger Service:
i) Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel.
ii) Open Administrative Tools, Services
iii) Scroll down to Messenger and double click on it.
iv) Under the General tab:
Service status - click "Stop"
Startup Type - select "Disabled"
v) Then click on Apply and OK
--
Karen Blakeman
UKOLUG Hon. Secretary
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Tel: 0118 947 2256
Fax: 0870 056 8547
Mobile: 07764 936733
Address: 88 Star Road, Caversham, Berkshire, RG4 5BE
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