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JPete

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Founding Member
Joined
Nov 5, 1997
Posts
1,991
Loc
Huron SD USA
Just the last 24 hours I have been getting a pop up to log in and join the MSN Communities. Very annoying! I ran all of my adaware etc., emptied my temp files, shut everything down and here it is again. I raised my cookies one level, turned on XP firewall. Any ideas welcome.
 
oh, pleeeeze! Give us a solution, computer gurus! It's driving me crazy. (OK, so it's not a drive, but more like a short putt...)
 
Norton Internet Security has a pop-up-blocking componant that works, though it has a confirmation window that pops up each time it blocks a pop-up. I find that nearly as annoying.

A very good free solution that works and will give you some other useful features is the Google toolbar. You can read about it and download it at http://toolbar.google.com/
 
Maybe my Norton program is blocking the other pop-ups and the Google toolbar is blocking the Norton pop-ups.

Either way, I haven't seen a pop-up in months.

(I did find a very old Pop-Tart that one of my kids had stashed on a bookshelf in the family room. I'm not sure why they do that.)
 
Have any of you guys/gals tried the "Pop-Up Stopper Free Edition "..
I think it is by Panicware...It's free and I have not had a pop-up
since I installed it....I have however noticed that from time to time when you go to click on certain things/links/pictures etc that you have to hold the "Ctrl" button down to get the link to come up...Well ok, then there is also the fact that while using it you have to have one leg up behind your head while singing your high school fight song in Yiddish...Other than that it works fine.....
J.Michael
 
Are these computers protected behind a router/firewall?

If not... Most likely the ads are coming through the "windows messenger service". (a system designed for network administrators to transmit system outtage messages and other info internally within a company) The spammers have exploited this feature to extend through the internet, and found a way to hide their true identity.

The spammers can access unprotected computer through ports 135, 137, and 139, which results in a popup message on the screen. These type of messages will appear in a little gray window that has an OK button.

This has nothing to do with MSN Messenger, or any instant message program.

Most pop up blockers only check for web based ads, which is why these are still getting through.

If you have XP, you can test to see if you're vulnerable by going to START -> RUN -> Type CMD and hit OK. In the MS-DOS window that pops up, type NET SEND 127.0.0.1 GRUMBLE! and hit enter. If you get a message that says "the message alias could not be found", you're safe. If the ad came up, you can disable this in XP by going to START -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> Messenger -> Start up type -> Disable -> stop. :eek:

There are some freeware programs out there that will do this for you, too. Shoot the messenger, etc Ad-aware has a plug-in to fix this as well at http://www.lavahelp.com/articles/v6/03/05/0302.html

Here's a how-to article from Microsoft, too. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330904 This problem will happen for Windows XP, 2000, and 2003 users.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this is helpful, and covers your specific problem.

Mike, resident computer tech. geek?


[ 01-29-2004, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: Mike-L@GTP ]
 
So maybe it's my Norton firewall that's blocking this particular pop-up?

Does anyone else think it's ironic that a vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows messaging system would be exploited by Microsoft to spam users with promotions for MSN Communities?
 
Thanks Mike. I had forgotten how to get to the disable instant messenger. That had already been done. I'll try some of the others.

I have the google toolbar which blocks popups and does seem to work but not for this. So far only once in this session. Maybe it will go away like spam if you don't answer.

[ 01-29-2004, 11:11 AM: Message edited by: JPete ]
 
It's actually CharlesL's avatar. The avatar link is to an MSN site that's requiring everyone to login to MSN to view it. I'll e-mail him 'bout it.
 
No kidding? I saw that his avatar has been malfunctioning for a couple days, but didn't get the pop up myself.

That makes sense.

Mike
 
I thought you were joking about the avatar but I went to his post, no avatar there but the pop up came and then he had the little red x box. Did it twice. Charles what have you done to us?
 
Go to your profiles.

Under 'preferences' where it says, "Hide Avatars of Other Users?" check yes.

Your troubles will be over.

I haven't seen an avatar in about a year - or a pop-up.
 
P.S.

This is why only moderators can install "custom" avatars.

Moderators shouldn't be able to, either.
 
Originally posted by JPete:
I thought you were joking about the avatar but I went to his post, no avatar there but the pop up came and then he had the little red x box. Did it twice. Charles what have you done to us?
I had no idea I'd done ANYTHING!! I extend my sincere apologies to all who were troubled. Should anyone encounter such problems, associated with my avatar, which, incidentally has been eliminated now, please email me.
It showed up fine on my computer, so I had no way of knowing...
 
My apologies too, for misdiagnosing the problem and practically having people re-program windows with all those steps! :eek:

Turning off that feature is actually a good idea anyways, because it is prone to attack and slows the computer down a bit when running in the background.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Mike
 
What happened to Charles could easily happen to others, including me.

I use MSN Communities to host the photos I've posted to The Grumble, and a few others are doing the same.

As long as the hosting preferences are set to "public" everyone should be able to view the photos without problems. If MSN happened to make a modest change in the way the hosting is handled, every one of those photos could become a little red 'x' or, worse still, we could all be plagued with continuous pop-ups "inviting" us to join MSN Communities in order to view the photos.

The only way to stop it would be for the moderators to go through and eliminate every photo posted from an MSN Community. In my case, I'd guess that would be about 300 photos.

I doubt that this doomsday scenario is unique to MSN Communities, BTW.

A big thank-you to Webgirl for recognizing the real problem. You're pretty sharp.
 
Originally posted by Ron Eggers:

A big thank-you to Webgirl for recognizing the real problem. You're pretty sharp.
Maybe that's why she goes by the Handle "Webgirl"

I know I use to have a "Miller Lite" Drink responsibly logo from their site on the bottom of my signature and it was adding cookies to everybodies puters.
 
(Charles what have you done to us?) Just my after thought as a small joke. I just couldn't believe that this actually was happening or that it was your fault. Have a good day.
 
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