The Messenger Sevice

[ogtripleog]

Have you ever had a window pop up suddenly while surfing the internet containing links to maybe some explicit website or containg some other advertising.. well that is the windows messenger service.. completely unneeded, microsoft includes it to ensure backward compatibility. though it has been disabled in windows service pack 2.. you may need to disable it to secure your system..Please note that this service is completely unrelated to the MSN Messenger service and you can safely disable it.. here's how to disable it..1) Click Start and then Run2) Type "Services.msc" without the quotes and click on OK3) Select the messenger service from the list and double click it and then in 'Startup Type' Select disable and then click okthere!! the service is now disabled..

 

[Sushubh]

ooh, i have read and heard abt it... never experienced it myself. the worst i have seen is inter networking net-send messages that is also disablable (??) from msconfig

 

[ogtripleog]

yeah i think so.. don't know how to do that though.. but you really need to disable the messenger though.. can get really annoying with ads to virus infected sites and the like

 

[vebk]

Having had my comp recently reformatted, (and the silly fools forgot to load Antivirus software!), I got this thing too...... real @$$ annoying!!! Especially since to the average user these messages stating that your comp has been infected and you should download this or that utility seems quite legitimate.

 

[power]

start-->run-->services.mscstop messenger service and set it startup to disabled And yah that popup states u r infected but that aint true messnger service just do mesages here and there . But u can use it for good purpose by spoofing source hostname :lol: Funy trick to try at college . people just stare that from where popup came and that too with funny source hostname

 

[prathapml]

First, install SP2 if you're on XP.Sorry to be blunt, but complaining about errors on a non-paid OS without even applying recommended updates is.... dumb.And don't get confused - the "Windows Messenger" is the XP-version of the MSN IM client.But the spam is all about the "Messenger service" which delivers "net send ----blah----" messages to recipients. So sushubh, "net send" and "messenger service" is both the same.

 

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[ogtripleog]

hmm.. yea sp2 does disable the messenger service but it still leaves the otha junk that comes with windows.. i found this really cool software.. xp-antispy.. it's just a 500 kb download and it has options to disable all common xp annoyances. it can help you disable all the unneeded services that run as default with windows.. especially good for gamers

 

[anand]

Actually I think it would be better if we all left the windows messenger service on, at least until we got to know the other people.

 

[prathapml]

@Bhinder
Hmm... so you're a gamer using anti-spy to disable services....
May I suggest "Game XP" ?
It exists for exactly this task of optimizing windows 2k/XP for gaming (this utility asks you and disables useless services like biometric extensions, etc - which I doubt you ever need on a gamer's system).

(I don't have exact address of it right now, try google for it...)

 

[power]

hxxp://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm Service with descriptions and if u need it or not .btw biometric extension service . never heard such service bydefault in xp/2k :-/

 

[anand]

OMG Biometric service!!!! They should give free hardware for that too

 

[prathapml]

Nope, if they did, then how can they stash away the cash....

Oh, and about bio-metric authentication.... yes its present. How else do you think SUCH A LOT of our memory gets eaten out so quick!
In fact, its a good addition to have blue-tooth, Wi-Fi support, bio, smart-card auth, etc.... but at what cost? All these are useless on my home comp!

If you'd like a solution to cut out these bloat (instead of bothering to disable service all the time), check out nLite (windows slimming).
My WinXPSP2 occupies 500 MB on hard-disk, has a memory foot-print of 40 MB (disabled pagefile ), and runs like a rocket.

 

[power]

Yup nlite gr8 tool . I made a 3 in1 Windows2k/Xp/2k3 cd heavily cutted xp and 2k3 to fit along with others and had a cool custom boot loader . nLITE rockz!!

 

[ogtripleog]

thanks.. interesting links..