How can I block those annoying Windows Messenger Service spam popups? — OZONE Asylum, home of the Mad Scientists

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How can I block those annoying Windows Messenger Service spam popups?

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Your Text: Insert Slimies » Insert UBB Code » Close Last Tag \| All Tags UBB Help	Now that spammers are beginning to discover this new method of sending their messages to random people who are running Windows NT/2000/XP just by scanning for open IP addresses (in fact Someone is selling a $700 piece of software specifically to exploit this so the technological barrier is lowered fro people wishing to use this spamming technique) many people are looking for way to block those messages, and fortunately it's not even that hard to do. If you're not connected to a network and don't need the "net send" command to send messages from one computer to another it's safe to disable the messenger service altogether this way: [quote] 1. Click on the Start button and open the control panel. 2. Open the Performance and Maintenance control panel and go to Administrative Tools. 3. Now double-click on Services, then scroll to Messenger. 4. Double-click Messenger and click Stop to stop the service. 5. Change the startup type to Disable[/quote] for Windows 2000 users: [quote]1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services 2. Scroll down and highlight "Messenger" 3. Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties. 4. Click the STOP button. 5. Select Disabled or Manual on the Startup Type drop-down menu 6. Click OK[/quote] Another option is to tell your firewall to block ports 131 and 139 if it isn't configured to do so already. More information on this topic can be found in the linked articles and Asylum threads. ---------------------------------- Relevant links: [url=http://www.auburn.edu/oit/security/messengerService.html]How to Stop Messenger Spam: Disable Windows Messenger Service[/url] - from the Office of Information Technology at Auburn University. [url=http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3374542,00.html]TechTV \| Spam Takes New Form[/url] [url=http://www.practical-tech.com/infrastructure/i11042002.htm]Beating Messenger Spam[/url] - up-to-date information on this problem. [url=http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q168/8/93.ASP]Q168893 - Messenger Service of Windows[/url] - Microsoft's information on this. [url=http://www.dvdsqueeze.com/windowsmessage.htm]How to (easily!) turn off Windows Messenger Service[/url] - information covering the different flavours of Windows. ---------------------------------- Relevant threads: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum1/HTML/005616.html]A whole new type of spam[/url] - OK this thread is MIA but I'm trying to track it down. [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20021106-1-005657.html]Win2K-Messenger Service-Webpopup [/url] ---------------------------------- Press: [internallink=5422]The Guardian (14th Nov 2002)[/internallink] ---------------------------------- Notes: As of the time of writing this FAQ was ranked number [b]1[/b] at Google for the terms [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+messenger+service+spam]windows, messenger, service, spam[/url], [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=messenger+service+webpopup]messenger, service, webpopup[/url] (and [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=webpopup+messenger+service]webpopup, messenger, service[/url]), [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=messenger+service+block]messenger, service, block[/url] and [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=messenger+service+popups]messenger, service, popups[/url] (up from 3). As well as 2 for the terms [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=messenger+service+spam]messenger, service, spam[/url]. Its also at 21 for the broader terms [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+messenger+service&start=20]windows, messenger, service[/url]. _________________________ [small][i](Added by: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=kuckus]kuckus [/url] on Sun 20-Oct-2002)[/i][/small] [small][i](Edited by: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=Emperor]Emperor [/url] on Tue 19-Nov-2002)[/i][/small] [small][i](Edited by: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=kuckus]kuckus [/url] on Tue 19-Nov-2002)[/i][/small] [small][i](Edited by: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=Emperor]Emperor [/url] on Thu 12-Dec-2002)[/i][/small] [small][i](Edited by: [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=Fig]Fig [/url] on Sat 16-Aug-2003)[/i][/small] Loading...
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