Messenger pop-up annoyance

[Wendy S.]

I do not use this service nor do I want it. It keeps
popping up asking me to upgrade. I close it, it opens
again (and again and again!)

Please help!

Thanks.

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Wendy,

Firstly, remove your saved Passport login in Windows XP, so it can't automatically sign you
in to the service (you can readd this back in the future if you like), click the Start
Button, then click the Control Panel. Then, click User Accounts in the Control Panel. Select
your account name, and then on the left side of the screen, under Related Tasks, click
'Manage my Network Passwords'. In the window that opens, click the Passport.Net\* (Passport)
entry and click 'Remove'.

Then, do you have Norton Antivirus 2003 installed? Norton added a new "instant messaging
scanning" feature to Norton Antivirus 2003, which can conflict with Messenger and cause some
of this behavior. To stop it, open Norton Antivirus (Right-click on the Norton Antivirus icon
in the System Tray/Notification Area (by the clock), choose 'Open Norton Antivirus'), click
Options, then Instant Messenger then uncheck MSN Instant Messenger and click OK.

If the window is still open with the upgrade question, say No, it should now stop trying.
Open up the main Windows Messenger window (double-click its icon in the system
tray/notification area, by the clock or click Start, All Programs, Windows Messenger to bring
it up), click the Tools menu, then Options, then Preferences, uncheck 'Run this program when
Windows starts' and click OK. Then right-click the on the Windows Messenger icon in the
notification area/system tray and choose Exit. You shouldn't see it again (unless some other
application starts it).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Mike]

Microsoft is making upgrades to their msn instant messenger chat
system, and likely a number of other related things as well.
One of the things they are doing is hanging the security. They are
frantically forcing upgrades because once they flip the switch (14
days from now?), anyone that didn't upgrade will all of a sudden not
be able to chat with their friends.
Of course there is the political advantage to outcast anyone that is
using an alternative operating system, such as Linux - not from
Microsoft. Other motivations are reducing the astronomical amount of
spam that is fueled by hotmail, msn, msn chat, and other msn
initiatives. I normally get 'some' spam in my various different
'free' web based email accounts, but on msn, I get about 30 messages
each and every day. People found ways to deliver spam messages in
people's chat window without ever allowing these spammers to be put on
their 'buddy' list. So, the whole security model is being overhauled.

I wish people would avoid Microsoft for things like chat, because
companies like Microsoft want to create monopolies and leverage it to
make money.
It would be better if people would use an open system to chat with
each other. 'Jabber' would be one of those open systems. They can be
friends with people that might be on a Mac, on Linux, or on Windows,
with the comfort of knowing that some big corporation is one day going
to charge money for talking to their friends, something that today is
free. Monopolies are illegal, but large corporations are more
powerful than governments are, and it's up to the people to make
choices that motivate those big corporations one way or the other.
The biggest blame lies in the ignorance of people, but how can one
blame people for that - the ignorance has been created by those same
large corporations - k n o w i n g l y !

In the meantime, if you don't use msn chat, it might possibly be
running on your system without your knowledge. On Windows, often
people have all sorts of hidden programs running in the background
that people didn't ask for.
I see so many windows boxes with spy ware such as 'Gator', and other
'invasion-ware' that is designed to record every website you visit.
Chances are that every website you visited has been recorded and
uploaded somewhere. If you have ever been asked permission to run
something on your computer by some website, and you answered yes,
chances are that your computer has been greatly compromised.

I would never ever put anything personal or anything of value in your
computer, if you're using that computer to browse the internet, unless
you have some good security measures in place.
A standard windows computers is pretty much 'public domain' if you
browse the internet with it. If you knew how many holes windows has,
and all the things that went wrong with it in the past, you'd tie your
windows box to the space shuttle and watch it burn on re-entry.
Everytime there is a new patch or a new version of windows, there is
that 'promise' that this time things are better.

What is a novice user to do? One thing you could do is re-install
windows fresh, or have it done for you by someone.
Then immediately go the the Microsoft upgrade website and fix things
up as best as possible by applying all the security patches. Install
Norton antivirus. Buy a router/firewall at your computer store.
Change the security level in Internet Explorer to never ever allow it
to download any ActiveX controls. Ofcourse, things quickly become more
difficult than the average user can comprehend.

In the meantime, never ever ever put any serious information in your
computer, such as bank account numbers, pin numbers, sensitive
passwords. If you're an average user and simply are using your
standard windows computer to access the internet, consider it possible
that at any time, a hacker might be perusing through your harddrive
while you browse, it's really that simple.

 

[Wendy S.]

Jonathan,

I followed the steps that you suggested (with the
exception of the Norton Antivirus "instant messaging

scanning" feature - I have McAFee). I've disabled the

automatic Passport login, and I've unchecked the
Messenger box in Tools for automatic login. None of
these suggestions have stopped the pop-up messages.
Please help!

Thanks,

Wendy

-----Original Message-----
Greetings Wendy,

Firstly, remove your saved Passport login in Windows XP,

so it can't automatically sign you

in to the service (you can readd this back in the future if you like), click the Start
Button, then click the Control Panel. Then, click User

Accounts in the Control Panel. Select

your account name, and then on the left side of the

screen, under Related Tasks, click

'Manage my Network Passwords'. In the window that

opens, click the Passport.Net\* (Passport)

entry and click 'Remove'.

Then, do you have Norton Antivirus 2003 installed?

Norton added a new "instant messaging

scanning" feature to Norton Antivirus 2003, which can

conflict with Messenger and cause some

of this behavior. To stop it, open Norton Antivirus

(Right-click on the Norton Antivirus icon

in the System Tray/Notification Area (by the clock),

choose 'Open Norton Antivirus'), click

Options, then Instant Messenger then uncheck MSN Instant Messenger and click OK.

If the window is still open with the upgrade question,

say No, it should now stop trying.

Open up the main Windows Messenger window (double-click its icon in the system
tray/notification area, by the clock or click Start, All

Programs, Windows Messenger to bring

it up), click the Tools menu, then Options, then

Preferences, uncheck 'Run this program when

Windows starts' and click OK. Then right-click the on

the Windows Messenger icon in the

notification area/system tray and choose Exit. You

shouldn't see it again (unless some other