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Disable "Messenger Service"
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PROBLEM SYNOPSIS |
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Problem At-a-Glance: | | Messenger Service application sends out unwanted pop-up ads. How do I get rid of them? |
Platform: | | Windows 2000 |
Application: | | Messenger Service |
Conditions: | | We do not use any instant messaging programs. |
Search Strings: | | turn off messenger service, how to disable messenger service in Windows 2000, messenger service ad pop-up |
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THE OVERLOOKED SCENARIO
Our head of development was mildly annoyed with the new crop of pop-up advertisements that were, er, not really pop-up advertisements. They did not appear in the usual browser window, but rather, in a Windows window, looking all sorts of official, bearing the masthead of "Messenger Service."
There are plenty of sites out there that refer to removing this type of unwanted messenger service spam, but none of them were applicable to us. We do not have MSN Messenger (the Miscrosoft instant messaging application) that is oft bundled with this program: a solution for MSN Messenger users can be found here. Nor do we perform on the XP operating system: a solution for XP users can be found here. And there was absolutely no information regarding disabling the Messanger Service on the Microsoft site.
We are not suited with any instant messaging service.
We are running on Windows 2000.
Solutions for users like us were overlooked....until now.
THE SOLUTION
- Hit your Start button and through the Settings, reach your Control Panel.
- In your Control Panel folder, select Administrative Tools.
- In your Administrative Tools folder, select Services.
- In your Services, select the Messenger option.
- In the Messenger option, click the Stop button to stop the service.
- Then flip through the drop-down box in the Startup Type area to Disabled.
If you're having trouble with disabling this, please contact your network administrator, that computer-savvy neighbor, or a middle school student.
WHAT IS THIS, ANYWAY?
Messenger Service is, technically, a variation of the Alerter service, or better known as "official spam." It's supposed to be used by network administrators to make network wide annoucements, such as "The mail server will be down from 5pm to 5:30pm today."
Unfortunately, spammers are becoming smarter, and by figuring out your individual IP address, they're able to send this special, deceiving spam. So, congratulations! After all, it did take a bit more effort to reach you this way!
By the way: yes, yes, what you did above was disable this Messenger Service feature altogether, in that even legitimate messages cannot reach you. This is a compromise of sorts, indeed, until you realize that your network administrator never uses the application to make such annoucements anyway, but, rather, uses traditional email or voicemail avenues.
POST-RELEASE NOTES
Since this article was written, we've found three excellent resources:
- How to turn off Windows Messenger Service, University of Virginia Information Technology and Communication
- How to disable messenger service ( admin alerts system ), LANTalk.net
- Spam Takes New Form, Tech TV, the Screen Savers
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