Annoying Message Service popup (MS Problem)
I feel weird post a PC question at a Mac message board, but I am hoping some PC buffs here can help me out.
My PC is throwing up annoying, pornographic related popup windows on the screen and I can find a way to stop them. It seems to use a program called message service which is built into Windows so I can't delete it. I ran a virus scan to see if it is a virus with no luck. I ran Ad-aware to see if it is spyware with no luck. I also ran a port scan from my G5 to my PC. It found a few open ports, but the one that got my attention was port "1025-Blackjack". I don't like the sound of that so I blocked it with my firewall. Damn spyware! However, I also ran the port scan on my other PC's and they all have port 1025 open but don't have pop-ups.
There are 2 things that can be happening. 1) The program is activating from somewhere in my computer. 2) the message is triggered from the network. Still, I can't find a suspicious program on my computer and I can't stop a trigger from entering my computer.
I am out of options.
Anyone have any ideas how to kill this thing? I'm going to have to start digging around in the registry soon and for those of you who know me, that will send shivers down your spines.
EDIT: Just wondering, is there a way/application to record the contents of internet packets using my G5?
My PC is throwing up annoying, pornographic related popup windows on the screen and I can find a way to stop them. It seems to use a program called message service which is built into Windows so I can't delete it. I ran a virus scan to see if it is a virus with no luck. I ran Ad-aware to see if it is spyware with no luck. I also ran a port scan from my G5 to my PC. It found a few open ports, but the one that got my attention was port "1025-Blackjack". I don't like the sound of that so I blocked it with my firewall. Damn spyware! However, I also ran the port scan on my other PC's and they all have port 1025 open but don't have pop-ups.
There are 2 things that can be happening. 1) The program is activating from somewhere in my computer. 2) the message is triggered from the network. Still, I can't find a suspicious program on my computer and I can't stop a trigger from entering my computer.
I am out of options.
Anyone have any ideas how to kill this thing? I'm going to have to start digging around in the registry soon and for those of you who know me, that will send shivers down your spines.
EDIT: Just wondering, is there a way/application to record the contents of internet packets using my G5?
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How to Disable Windows Messenger Service
Originally posted by Ebby
I feel weird post a PC question at a Mac message board, but I am hoping some PC buffs here can help me out.
My PC is throwing up annoying, [...] popup windows on the screen [...] ran a port scan from my G5 to my PC. It found a few open ports, but the one that got my attention was port "1025-Blackjack". I don't like the sound of that so I blocked it with my firewall. [...]
Well, Blackjack is just the name of the service/server that's usually running on port 1025 (i.e. the service for which this port is reserved). But any other service could use this port as well, one of them being named/BIND (a DNS server application) that uses the first free port that it can find to get a response from other DNS servers (found this information here: http://cert.uni-stuttgart.de/archive.../msg00120.html ). What OS are you running on the PC?
Originally posted by Ebby
There are 2 things that can be happening. 1) The program is activating from somewhere in my computer. 2) the message is triggered from the network. Still, I can't find a suspicious program on my computer and I can't stop a trigger from entering my computer.
Brad was right here. The messages/popups are triggered by the Windows Messaging Service which a user might switch off following the steps described on the page that Brad provided a link to.
Originally posted by Ebby
EDIT: Just wondering, is there a way/application to record the contents of internet packets using my G5?
Well, there is a MacOS X version of the famous network analyzing tool Ethereal. You can obtain it via Fink
http://fink.sourceforge.net/download...php?phpLang=en. But since I'm not familiar with neither Ethereal nor Fink you'll have to ask other folks for help with these, sorry.
greetz,
durandal
Originally posted by durandal
What OS are you running on the PC?
I am running Windows 2000. I thought about installing XP, but never got past their EULA.
Originally posted by Ebby
I am running Windows 2000. I thought about installing XP, but never got past their EULA.
Okay... I was just asking this question to find out whether the possibility of a DNS server using your port 1025 is real. If you're using the server variant of Win2k it is (Win2k server does include some DNS server app AFAIK) and if not... well, nevermind
(Yes, I know I'm on XP and you're on 2000, but it should still work the same way)