The top 5

[exasperated]

ok - its a whinge..look away now if you want.

How many actual issues are being discussed on this board?
It seems to me that they can be catogorised into 5 problems

1) MSN messenger and Windows messenger
- whats the difference, why do they run together, etc
2) cant connect to the .net service
- especially after the latest upgrades which mean that you
have to use version 7.1.2009
3)how do you uninstall messenger (both types probably)
4)Service pop ups
- how to stop them etc
5) firewalls with messenger
- which ports do you need to open etc

Other issues are reported but are minimal

How many of these problems are solved.........my opinion
very few.

If the newsgroups was better organised and ms actually
valued their customers as they say, surely they would
monitor these boards fix these big issues and then they
could concentrate on the next level.

aaaahhh whats the point who is going to listen anyway!

exasperated of england

 

[Alex]

Un-official microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger FAQ - version 0.2
Created: 24-06-03
Last update: 25-06-03

This FAQ is provided 'as is' and has been compiled from postings within the
newsgroup 'microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger'. Report errors and
omissions to '(e-mail address removed)'. Many thanks to Jonathan Kay for his
sterling work within this community.

Issues currently covered by this FAQ:
1. POP UP ADVERTS (part 1)
2. DELETING MESSENGER
3. REMOVING UNWANTED SIGN-IN ACCOUNTS
4. POP UP ADVERTS (part 2)

____________________________________________

1. POP UP ADVERTS

Do these "pop-ups" that are appearing have "Messenger Service" in their
titlebar? If so, what you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to
Windows, *not* Windows Messenger (which are two different things) which
spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor can Microsoft control
them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups, you'll need to disable the "Messenger
Service", click Start, then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll
down to "Messenger", select it, right-click and then choose Properties.
Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then choose the 'Stop' button.
After the service is stopped, click OK. Nothing in Windows or any real
third-party applications should be effected by this.

Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
____________________________________________

2. DELETING MESSENGER

To remove MSN Messenger 5 or 6, click Start, then Control Panel, then Add or
Remove Programs, click MSN Messenger and then click the 'Remove' button.

For Windows Messenger, close down Messenger if it's running (right click the
messenger icon in the notification area/system tray and click close). Then
click the start button, then click Run and type in (copy-paste if you like):

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

Then click OK.
Messenger will then be uninstalled. For more detailed instructions and
screenshots, go to, http://messenger.jonathankay.com/problem.aspx?ID=7

Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
____________________________________________

3. REMOVING UNWANTED SIGN-IN ACCOUNTS

To fix this, 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'.

Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
____________________________________________

4. POP UP ADVERTS (part 2)
For Messenger Service ads:
You need to install or enable a firewall:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q330904

Disabling Messenger Service can be a good idea, but it does not solve the
real problem.

The ads are not the real problem, the ads are only a symptom of a larger
issue. The real problem is open ports that allow unwanted traffic into the
computer.

Disabling Messenger does nothing for the open ports. You would need a
firewall that controls the traffic.

The above solution will not work if you have AOL as is not compatible with
Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall (ICF). If you have AOL, you should
contact AOL and/or get a 3rd party firewall.

Disable Messenger Service:
Start/Control Panel, click Administrative Tools, click Services.
Go down to "Messenger".
Right click "Messenger" and select Properties.
Hit the Stop Button under Service Status section
Then under Start-up select DISABLE
Click OK and follow prompts

Check this link:
http://www.aumha.org/a/noads.php
Run Ad-Aware (free version) or Spybot to check for spyware:
http://www.lavasoft.de/
Or
http://spybot.eon.net.au/

For internet pop-ups, try one of these:
http://www.panicware.com/
http://www.bysoft.se/sureshot/stopthepop/index.html
http://www.popupbuster.com/PopUpBuster/
http://www.kolumbus.fi/eero.muhonen/FS/
http://www.endpopups.com/
http://www.adshield.org/

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings,

I've been here for years, and I can assure you there are more then 5 issues, and very
complicated ones at that.

Take for example, a third-party firewall application which is blocking access to Messenger --
how do you expect Microsoft to "fix" that in Messenger? How do you expect Microsoft to "fix"
a poorly implemented Application Layer Gateway in an old non-Microsoft router?

There is (and probably will not be for a long, long time) "quick fix"es to networking issues.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[exasperated]

Jonathon,
See number 5

5) firewalls with messenger
- which ports do you need to open etc

to answer you question..off the top of my head - from
these boards and other feedback areas...ms could identify
the problems with messenger and firewalls and then provide
an article..which can be linked to from this board, this
could contain perhaps a link to the appropriate suppliers
(ones that have the problem) website for further
help..better still they could discuss the issue directly
with the third party and provide a joint fix which could
be published on both sites or even better still, work with
the 3rd party to eliminate the problem from the software
or publish a note before the software is bought. everyone
wins!

There are already some articles about msgr/firewalls by
Barb in the expert zone for ms but they are almost hidden
from view.

how about creating a list of suppliers of firewalls and
listing the isues relating to ms software (that have been
posted here with them.

or having an ms approved list for firewall suppliers. an
ms approved suppliers list..now there an idea! lol

wow lots of ideas and i thought about it for about 10
seconds..surely the brains at ms can do better.

re the router thing...fine if you know the problem ..then
tell someone that they will have to bite the bullet and
get a new router or an update cause the old one cant do
the job...or live with it..People would prefer to know.
90% of the time though the problem isnt actually identifed
and the constant "try this" then "this" then ...oh it must
be a networking issue sorry cant help..talk to you
supplier..really gets peoples goat! certainly mine as you
can probably tell. LOL

Im not bashing ms or you, i can just see that there are a
few big/common problems posted here that could be
proactively solved with a bit of thought.

anyone else agree or should i just shut up?..i can take
that.
ranting again huh - sorry.

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

I've been here for years, and I can assure you there are more then 5 issues, and very
complicated ones at that.

Take for example, a third-party firewall application

which is blocking access to Messenger --

how do you expect Microsoft to "fix" that in Messenger?

How do you expect Microsoft to "fix"

a poorly implemented Application Layer Gateway in an old non-Microsoft router?

There is (and probably will not be for a long, long

time) "quick fix"es to networking issues.

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Hi,

The problem (and you mentioned Barb's articles as well) is that by the time information like
that is published its almost out of date (even on the web). If you go through Linksys' web
site (and I believe one of Barb's rather old articles refers to this as well), they'll tell
you that the port Messenger uses for audio is 6901 TCP. Messenger hasn't used this port for
audio since version 3, yet if you call Linksys today, 50% (they've been getting better) of
the time they will tell you that to fix your Messenger audio issue, you have to forward port
6901, which of course will do nothing to solve the problem.

There's also an article on the expert zone for Windows Messenger which explains how to turn
on Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) in several of Linksys' more popular routers. Although the
information is entirely accurate (I checked it over personally before it was published), most
users buying Linksys routers are now buying the 802.11g-series of products where the option
is [supposedly] different and in a different spot that what's displayed on the article.

Even the articles on my own site are extremely dated and inaccurate, although I've attempted
to update them, I simply have no time to do it (especially since it amounts in $0, and I
would like to eat, once and awhile *grin*).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com