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Ocean_Islands
| Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 2:07 pm
At long last I found out how to kill this extremely annoying pop-up in Windows 2000 and XP. See below: Have you been getting constant grey pop up boxes like this one?
I keep getting pop ups from endads.com telling me how to get rid of pop ups. But I only get pop ups from them so I'm certainly not paying them to get rid of themselves!! Mr Norton is supposed to do this for me. But he's failed miserably. Recently, the most invasive spamming technique yet has flooded the internet. Unlike email spam, spyware, and popup ads, this new method is taking advantage of a service that is shipped with the Windows operating system called "Message Service". This service is not to be confused with Microsoft's peer messaging services, although it does bear a similar name. The spam in question manifests itself as instant messages that pop-up while you're connected to the internet whether you have a browser open or not. The ironic aspect to this new method of delivery is that the spammers are actually trying to sell you products to protect users from this kind of spam. The thought that someone would actually purchase an anti-spam product made by the spam deliveries is beyond me, but it's happening. The usual perpetrators of these annoying pop-up ads are www.endads.com, www.blockmessenger.com, stopmessenger.com, fightmessenger.com, killmessenger.com, msgblocker.com, and messengerstopper.com... none of which I am not giving the dignity of a link to because it's all a scam. You don't need to spend $39.99 in extortion money to end these pop-ups, all you have to do is follow these directions. First, open your START menu and go to CONTROL PANEL. In CONTROL PANEL, select ADMINISTRATION TOOLS. In ADMINISTRATION TOOLS, select SERVICES. Here, you will see a list of services provided by your computer. Scroll down until you find "MESSENGER". Click on this and set the service to "MANUAL" and/or "DISABLED." And that will do it. No more messenger spam. Here is more info: link
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Reiki
| Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 2:17 pm
Thanks Ocean. I have been getting those pop-up every since I put roadrunner on my laptop. Its been very annoying.
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Crossfire
| Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 2:32 pm
Pain in the a$$ eh? The messenger service is a throwback to old corporate needs, and has no practical use in home computing. Which is to say, it should be turned off by default, but for historic reasons MS has been reluctant to do so. My bet is that they will finally bite that bullet in the next major release. If I may butt in with some unsolicited advice though, being bothered by these ads also points to the lack of a basic defensive firewall be it hardware or a free software product like zonealarm which is something I would encourage.
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Ocean_Islands
| Friday, November 07, 2003 - 2:32 pm
FTC accuses pop-up maker of 'extortion' Friday, November 7, 2003 Posted: 9:59 AM EST (1459 GMT) A little-used feature on Microsoft's Windows allows unscrupulous marketers to fill computer screens with unwanted ads, the FTC said. RELATED Federal Trade Commission WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. regulators said this week that Microsoft Corp. Windows users should turn off a little-used feature that allows unscrupulous marketers to bombard them with unwanted "pop-up" ads. Windows users should disable a back-door communications channel called Windows Messenger Service to prevent unscrupulous marketers from filling their screens with unwanted ads, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday. The FTC said it had temporarily shut down one marketer, San Diego-based D Squared Solutions, which had, ironically, sold pop-up blocking software through pop-up ads that could appear even when the user was online but not browsing the Web. "'I'll beat you, and I'll stop beating you if you pay.' We call that extortion, and it's no different in the high-tech world," said Howard Beales, the head of the FTC's consumer-protection division. Beales added that the agency would seek to force D Squared to return the money it had collected from consumers. D Squared could not be immediately reached for comment. Beales said consumers should install firewall software or disable Windows Messenger, which allows computer network administrators to communicate with others on their networks but is unnecessary for home users. It is unrelated to popular instant-messaging software such as AOL Instant Messenger. The FTC advice was another black eye for the world's largest software maker, which has struggled to improve software security as a wave of computer viruses have spread through holes in Windows and other Microsoft products. Microsoft advised consumers to disable Messenger last month because it could potentially serve as a conduit for Internet worms. Separately, consumer complaints prompted Time Warner Inc.'s America Online to disable the feature on customer computers. Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.com. A Microsoft spokesman said future versions of Windows would ship with Messenger turned off but said the company should not be faulted for enabling Windows Messenger. "At the time we released Windows XP, it wasn't an issue that was being abused," Microsoft spokesman Sean Sundwall said. The unwanted ads -- which the FTC said could pop up every 10 minutes for months on end -- may be an annoyance, but they do not rise to the level of a security risk, Sundwall said. Beales said D Squared, not Microsoft, should be blamed for the ads. Another company called Scintillant Inc. is sending similar pop-up ads, the FTC said in court documents seeking an injunction against D Squared. Beales declined to say whether the consumer-protection agency was planning to sue Scintillant. Consumers can find out how to disable Windows Messenger at www.ftc.gov.
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Wargod
| Friday, November 07, 2003 - 4:11 pm
Hey OI I meant to thank you for this the other day! MOW has been having fits over these pop ups since they show up when he's in the middle of his games. He was quite happy to get rid of them.
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Zules
| Monday, December 01, 2003 - 2:41 pm
Shoot! I got as far as the control panel but I don't see an option for ADMINISTRATION TOOLS. DRAT! Any other suggestions on getting rid of these stupid things?
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Zules
| Monday, December 01, 2003 - 2:47 pm
Nevermind. I figured it out. Thanks anyway!
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Ryn
| Thursday, December 04, 2003 - 5:15 pm
As mentioned in the article above - the future versions of Windows will have this turned off - I too was extremely annoyed when I first ran XP and got the messages (and it was from various sources - not just one place).
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Calgaryperson
| Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 6:45 pm
I use Google Toolbar with Pop-Up Killer.
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Meemo
| Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 4:04 pm
thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!! we have a tracking system here at work that must be connected at all times to work. so, every monday morning i have to close each of those ads. the most i've had is 25!!! very annoying!again thank you for posting this info. i'm very grateful
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Rslover
| Friday, December 26, 2003 - 12:44 pm
I just downloaded the google toolbar and it has already blocked 8 ads! Thanks for the info.
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Sweetbabygirl
| Friday, December 26, 2003 - 2:06 pm
<First, open your START menu and go to CONTROL PANEL. In CONTROL PANEL, select ADMINISTRATION TOOLS. In ADMINISTRATION TOOLS, select SERVICES. Here, you will see a list of services provided by your computer. Scroll down until you find "MESSENGER". Click on this and set the service to "MANUAL" and/or "DISABLED." > Okay, I don't have "Administration Tools" in my Control Panel....what do I need to do?
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Rslover
| Friday, December 26, 2003 - 6:41 pm
sweetbabygirl, It is administrative tools and it is the fourth icon on the top row between add/remove and date/time - on my machine. Pop-ups now blocked as of this morning is 24 using google! This worked even better.
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Rslover
| Friday, December 26, 2003 - 10:26 pm
Meant to say you should switch your control panel to classic view and you will see it. You are probably set to cateogry view.
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Rslover
| Friday, December 26, 2003 - 10:28 pm
swg, oops, "category" - (so tired)
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Sweetbabygirl
| Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 8:07 am
Nope, I don't have it at all....no "Classic", nothin'! <stomps out of damned folder>
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Rslover
| Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 1:03 pm
sbg, Do you use windows? Can you get to your control panel?
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Sweetbabygirl
| Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 9:46 pm
Rs, I have Windows Millennium....I have gone to the Control Panel more times than I care to today, I JUST WANT TO POP-UPS TO STOPPPPP!! <runs crying from folder>
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Sweetbabygirl
| Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 9:47 pm
<runs back into folder>....see, I'm so upset, I meant to say "I just want THE pop-ups to stoppp!" <leaves humiliated>
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Mocha
| Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 9:52 pm
SBG, here's the link to download the google toolbar, this will stop the popups. Just follow the directions. google tool bar
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Rslover
| Sunday, December 28, 2003 - 10:20 am
SBG, I have XP, but don't fret. You can also download the popswatter, which is part of the my way search toolbar. http://www.popswatter.com Between these two I have blocked 113 pop-ups since Friday. It is amazing. You can easily turn them on and off, sound or not.
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Rslover
| Sunday, December 28, 2003 - 10:29 am
Sorry for double post! I have IE but if anyone has Netscape: Go to Edit/preferences/Privacy & security and CHECK "DO NOT LOAD REMOTE IMAGES IN MAIL & NEWSGROUPS" - supposedly elimates porn spam. Go to preferences/advanced/scripts & plugins and make sure "ENABLE JAVASCRIPT FOR MAIL & NEWSGROUP" is UNCHECKED as well as ENABLE PLUGINS FOR MAIL & NEWSGROUPS". This is supposed to get rid of spammers in java script and flash animations. Hope this is helpful.
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Luvmom
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 8:45 am
Mocha, I just downloaded the google tool bar for my dad.He loves it.He gets so fustrated with the pop ups.He just has one question.Is there a way to clear the pop ups that are blocked or does it clear after a certain time?Thanks in advance.
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Texannie
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 9:33 am
Luv, I use that too. I think it works so much better than pop up stopper.
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Mocha
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 10:54 am
Luv I have no idea, sorry. I've only started using it for about a month so I don't know. Maybe someone else does?
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Rslover
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 5:04 pm
Yes you can clear it. Here is the help link: http://toolbar.google.com/popup_help.html
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Luvmom
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 6:17 pm
rslover, My dad THANKS you so much!!!
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