Disable Microsoft Messanger services
Disable Microsoft Messenger Service in Windows XP Popups are more than annoying, they are downright distracting. You can put an end to this one. Microsoft Messenger Service is one of those benefits and/or curse. While many are finding that the Messenger is a useful tool others are constantly annoyed by the continuing popups that comes with the Messenger Service Relay. We have been fielding a ton of questions about MMS and it is time to let our hair down, at least what is left of it, and share some ways to keep the good, do away with the bad. Messenger pops up an add which tells the user that, "I get pop-up messages inviting me to view pornographic pictures on some Web site.” Our reader attempted to get rid of the problem by uninstalling MSN Messenger, but this had no effect. In reality the intended purpose of the service was to allow admins to send instant messages to their users instead of using e-mail. It’s a useful tool for alerting users about network outages due to maintenance or other issues. One way to eliminate the pop-up messages, this is an example of a good thing being subverted by a bad thing. One way to halt this is to block port 135. In disabling Messenger Service; the caveat is that this prevents alerts from being sent to networked computers, but for home users, there’s no reason not to turn it off. Because anyone can use the service to display messages or ads on your computer while you’re online, the argument for blocking the port suggests that disabling the service altogether is compelling. The service is enabled by default, so you need to take steps on your own to get rid of it if you don’t want spammers to be able to display messages directly on your computer. An additional annoyance of such messages is that they remain on top of other windows and will remain there until you close them yourself. Disabling the Messenger Service If you don’t want your computer to receive pop-up messages via the Messenger Service, you can follow these instructions to disable it on WinXP: Go to Start | Control Panel | Performance and Maintenance | Administrative Tools. Double-click Services. In the Services panel, select Messenger. Right-click and select Stop to turn off Messenger. Right-click and select Properties. (You can also simply double-click Messenger). From the Startup Type drop-down list, select Disabled as shown in figure below. Click OK.
On Windows NT and Windows 2000, the process for disabling Messenger is similar. Access Services in Administrative Tools and select Disable or Manual as the startup setting in the Properties.
If you’re receiving unwanted ads on your computer in pop-up messages, you can take these steps to turn off the service that allows your computer to receive them. However, in a corporate network environment this may not be an issue or an available option
