Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Blocking unwanted solicitation filtering through MSIE

This is topic Blocking unwanted solicitation filtering through MSIE in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-27-2003, 10:44 AM:

OK, I use MSIE alot when on FT and searching other sites. I might me sitting here jazzing around on Film-Tech, and some stupid message pops up through MSIE that says, in effect, "You are broadcasting your IP BS all over the world, and we can stop that from happening if you buy our stupid program for $XX.XX"

How do I disable this crap and block these sort of pop-ups? I looked for topics in "Help" and found nothing. Maybe I don't know what I am looking for. I have the security level setting at "Medium", and I don't really want to screw it down any tighter than I have to.

I never have this stuff coming through AOL or Opera. AOL's pop-up fix does work, so I know it is not filtering through them.

Any suggestions on how to adjust MSIE to block this stuff? I never have it happen if I use MSIE through the AOL window...I minimumize it and use MSIE by itself. That way I can run Opera on one screen, MSIE on the other, and once in a while bring up the AOL screen to check email.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-27-2003, 10:49 AM:

Paul, Go a google search on "internet explorer popup blocker" (without the quotes) and you'll get links to a bunch of them. Some are free, but most cost $$. Unfortunately I can't recommend a specific one for you though. (I gave up on Opera because there are too many web sites that just don't work right with it.)

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-27-2003, 10:54 AM:

David, do you know if these programs will beat up on each other and crash MSIE, Opera, and AOL's pop-up fix?

Posted by Douglas Curry (Member # 1485) on 03-27-2003, 11:10 AM:

Generally, installing 3rd party software to fix a problem (in this case an annoyance), has the chance to make other parts of your system worse..

That said, i used to use AdAware, which stops most ADs on webpages, as well as those annoying pop-up ones.

As David mentioned, there's a few of them out there, and in essance, they all do the same thing. The ones you pay $$$ for generally fit better into your system and offer more choices and extra bits'n'pieces.

I've never had any 'side-effects' from using them, however as i'm a pretty picky with how i want things on my PC to run, i don't agree with some of their rules.. i.e. Some of the PopUp blocking actually blocks ALL windows from opening up (apart from your initial window).

Bottom line, Use at your own Risk. It's not gonna nuke your system or anything, but as always with computers, just ensure you have backups and know how to uninstall! [thumbsup]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-27-2003, 11:44 AM:

Well, it is "Mule Haul" time, I guess. I found a reference to it in Microsoft, and Microsoft implied to simply add those web addresses to the restricted site.

Microsoft also mentioned there are many third party software companies out there that offer this type of protection. However, it goes further to say this:

quote:
"There are many non-Microsoft programs designed to prevent pop-up and pop-under advertisements from opening on your computer. These programs may cause side effects, such as preventing a Web site from opening a new window or other script-related problems. Microsoft does not provide product support for these programs. You can find more information about such programs by searching the Internet."

David and Douglas, thank you for the information. I am also picky on what I jam into this computer.

These are the type of messages I am complaining about:

Thanks again, gang. I appreciate your input.

Posted by Douglas Curry (Member # 1485) on 03-27-2003, 12:39 PM:

Ahh, this type of message is thru a backdoor (not really a back door, it's the not-so-well-known Windows Messenger Service) in windows which allows 'net send' commands to reach your computer. (most anything coming thru like this is simple a MESSAGE -this case advertising -. Give me you IP and i could make one come up on your screen. [Wink]

)

A firaly simple fix here, but similar to the popup AD windows.
This time round you'll need a firewall.
Some of the ad-programs may even have a built in Firewall.
I have PC-Cillian 2002 antivirus which has a built in firewall and it handles it fine. Another one i used to use was ZoneAlarm, which also has some ad blocking benefits also.

Good Luck [Smile]

Posted by Sean M. Grimes (Member # 445) on 03-27-2003, 02:00 PM:

actually paul, you can just disable windows messaging, allthough fire walls are good to have also....

Click Start;Settings;Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services Scroll
down and highlight Messenger
Right click the line and choose Properties.
Click the stop button.
Select Disable in the Startup Type scroll bar
Click OK

and that's it for xp home xp pro is the same except skip the performance and maintence tab.

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-27-2003, 02:31 PM:

The fixes suggested works fine if you can do that (i.e. turn of Messenger service, different from MSN messenger), or block it in your firewall/router whatever. It´s not really necessary, but I work as a system administrator (managing some 17 servers of all different kinds of OS) and we use it for warnings and "in office" dialogue, but since this started to be annoying we´re thinking of redoing that system and shutting down messenger. Typically just another one of those things microsoft puts in, because it might come in handy some day, which someone finds and exploits (not bitter [Smile]

).
Hope you get rid of the problem, and I´ll hopefully get rid of it here too soon. Cursed be good solutions that have to be ablished because someone ruins something.
//Gunnar

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 03-27-2003, 03:15 PM:

I had this [bs]

going on in my computer (win XP), except the popups I was getting were fairly explicit in nature... not something I'd want showing up in front of the staff.

I just turned off the messenger service & have had no problems since.

.... one good reason to stay with Win98!

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-27-2003, 04:10 PM:

Been using w2k for a while. Nothing wrong with that for my home computer. Don´t want to switch to XP just yet, waiting for at least service pack 2... Maybe then. On the other hand, I´ll use whatever client I´m serving, and I don´t quite sure will switch the whole enviroment and servers for a while...
Sad to say, though this problem is quite easily fixed if you don´t use the service, but I fear there will be more...

//Gunnar

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 03-27-2003, 10:32 PM:

Unless your system is in a network where there are legitimate uses for the "messenger service", shut it down as described. For a home computer, there is usually no reason to keep it running.
Note that this service is unrelated to MSN messenger and disabling it won't affect MSN messenger in any way.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 03-29-2003, 10:30 PM:

I first tried a pop-up blocker that worked for a day or two then was useless. But Douglas' recommended Ad-Aware program my daughter downloaded free. It roots out the cookies that embed themselves on your hard drives and generate the pop-ups. It scans your drive and lists the offending cookies, and you can delete them selectively, or all at once. I found that used every few months, it does a good job without any complications, and I downloaded it to my office machine as well.

Sean's recommendation sounds good too, and I might try it.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-30-2003, 12:11 AM:

quote:
YadaYadaYada Click Administrative Tools, Double click Services, Scroll down and highlight MessengerYadaYadaYada

Sean, for some reason the messenger option was not present even though I am running W2K. Why, I don't know, but it wasn't.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-30-2003, 08:58 AM:

I went in and set mine as suggested and when I got up this morning there were no pop ups to clear away!! GREAT!
Mark

Posted by Sean M. Grimes (Member # 445) on 03-31-2003, 07:27 PM:

Paul,

That's weird.... hmmmm, I found this on a very reputable web site, open up notepad and paste this in....

@echo off
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
@echo REGEDIT4>%TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg
@echo.>>%TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg
@echo [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express]>>%TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg
@echo "Hide Messenger"=dword:00000002>>%TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg
@echo.>>%TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg
regedit /s %TMP%\RemoveMsgr.reg

save it as a *.bat file, close down internet explorer and outlook before running the bat. then reboot. Tons of other great tips here also... sanx.org

Hopefully that will fix the problem, remember, back up your registry first!

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-31-2003, 09:07 PM:

Thanks for the tip, Sean. I'll have to try that on one of my other machines that I don't care if I blow up or not. If it works, I'll try it on this one. [Wink]

BTW, if I am supposed to save it as a bat file, where should I save it to, and what should I call it?

[ 04-01-2003, 02:21 AM: Message edited by: Paul G. Thompson ]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 04-03-2003, 01:16 AM:

Bumping back to the top looking for more answers. [Smile]

Update...Just got the answer. The tab I was looking for was not where it was supposed to be.

Thanks, Daryl. Much appreciated. [beer]

(It was in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Component Services/Services (local) half way down as "Messenger" double click and Start-Up type "Disable", Apply, and OK.)

Posted by Douglas Curry (Member # 1485) on 04-03-2003, 09:17 AM:

Cheers for the tips from me also boys [Big Grin]

I never did quite figure out how/where to turn the anoying thing off, but now it'll NEVER bother me again! mwuhahahah! [evil]

Posted by Sean M. Grimes (Member # 445) on 04-03-2003, 09:21 AM:

Hey Paul, glad you got that sorted out, sorry for my slightly skimpy directions..... the *.bat file could of been named anything... it is just a pretty simple executable. It could be saved on your desktop (just about anywhere...) and ran. It is great that you got it taken care of! [beer]