Pop-ups when you log on to your computer?

[CruiserDew73]

Does anyone else get those annoying popups??!! I get them all the time and they drive me nuts!!! How did they come about being on my computer??? I heard that it might be programmed into Windows XP (which I have) for some of those popups, and some of them are completely rediculous!!! Grrrr...

 

[tstobb]

They're not actually programmed into XP but the Windows Messenger service that is part of Windows is being used now by spammers to cause pop-ups that a regular pop-up-stopper can't catch (they're called netbios messages). To get rid of this type of spam, you need to disable Windows Messaging.

* * * DISCLAIMER * * *
I am not responsible for any damage or loss of data that the following may cause.

To disable the ability for anyone in the world to send netbios messages to your computer, you can disable the Messenger service. Its easy to reverse if you wish to later.

Windows XP

Click Start->Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services
Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.
Click the STOP button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar
Click OK

 

[SoonerKate]

Also, make sure you don't have any Gator or GAIN-supported software on your computer. (Weatherbug is a popular one.) The popups from those are horrible.

 

[MarkRG]

To get rid of spyware and adware, find, download, install and run this program:

Ad-Aware

Available at http://www.lavasoft.de

It goes thru and kills things like gator and such, you'll be surprised at how many bad things you might have in your machine! Ran it on my wife's for the first time in a few months and it found 158 new ones including one that's been actively spamming her email out. (quote-'I was wondering why I had so much spam lately') I suspect a new version of Monopoly from Infogrames(yes, as in-the-box, over the counter software, bought from Best Buy) as being the culprit for installing that particular piece of spyware.