Windows XP nusiance

[Jack Dickey]

I just recently ( in the last few days ) installed XP ... Actually it's in a second machine .. Now I have pop up blockers in the other machine , but since installing XP in this machine , when online I am bombarded by messages ( popups ) telling me the registry is screwed and other sordid things and to go to so and so's site to download this that and the other ..
Which I aint gonna do ..
I ran my Virus program ( System Suite 5 ) through this machine before using it , so I know it's clean from that standpoint ..
I'm gonna install a popup blocker and see what happens .. Just irritating .. Anyone have this issue ??

[Jim Becker]

IE6 and IE 7 already have built in popup blockers...you don't need to spend money. So does Firefox. Just turn them on.

[Bob Childress]

Jack,

Just click on the top of the browser window Tools, Pop Up Blocker and turn it on or off. There are also some additional settings for Safe Sites, etc.

[Frank Fusco]

Micrsoft recently did some major updates to XP. You will probably get tons of reminders to activate your copy. These notices were sent with a symbol I didn't recognize. It wasn't the MS four color flag, it was a stylized star and I figured it for a scam and tried to get rid of it for months. Finally, they sent a message I was able to check out and verify was genuine MS. The verification took several minutes but all is OK now. You may or may not be able to verify since it is on two machines.

[Jack Dickey]

Well Xp is only on one machine .. I have IE6 , and will check to see if the blocker is active ..

[Derek Rose]

Check your machine for spyware too. Spyware can quickly embed itself deep inside your files and be the cause of random popups.

[Frank Hagan]

Are some of the pop-ups "Windows Messenger" windows? They get past most of the pop-up blockers.

Unless you use Windows Messenger for instant messaging, I would disable the service from starting using Start * Run * msconfig. Go to the "Startup" tab and uncheck "msmsgs". Click "OK" to exit the window and restart at the prompt. When you boot back up, a dialog box will tell you that msconfig was used; check off the "Do not advise me or run msconfig on start up" box and click OK.

In WinXP, msconfig is a wonderful tool to see what programs are starting when you boot up the computer. It is sometimes surprising!

[Ian Abraham]

Have you run Windows update?

If you have just installed from an older XP CD it wont have all the up to date security fixes.

Cheers

Ian

[Jack Dickey]

Yeah I need to run the update , was gonna do it last night when I went to bed , but forgot .. Nope it isnt messenger service pop ups , well yeah one just popped up said messenger service , but not the service you're speaking of ..
After some pondering , I think it may be the Symantec program installed , which isnt co operating on getting out .. I have System Suite 5 and I'm gonna see if it'll take 'er out ..
The Control Panel , doesnt give me the option to take the Symantec program out .. We'll see ..

[Frank Hagan]

Yeah I need to run the update , was gonna do it last night when I went to bed , but forgot .. Nope it isnt messenger service pop ups , well yeah one just popped up said messenger service , but not the service you're speaking of ..
After some pondering , I think it may be the Symantec program installed , which isnt co operating on getting out .. I have System Suite 5 and I'm gonna see if it'll take 'er out ..
The Control Panel , doesnt give me the option to take the Symantec program out .. We'll see ..

I've grown to hate Symantec / Norton for all the "bloatware" they impose. When you do a Start * Run * services.msc, you'll see about a dozen services they are running (depending on the package you have). It is very hard to completely remove their programs without hacking into the Registry. Do a Google search; there are folks out there who have successfully removed the programs, and they list all the components, and where you have to go to get rid of them. My personal opinion is that Symantec IS spyware/adware now, with the exception that you have to pay for it.

I'm now running Avast anti-virus, which is free for personal use (at http://www.avast.com), and it is doing a great job. I use Firefox 2.0 browser and it does a very good job with pop ups and pop unders and isn't "part of the OS" like Microsoft's Internet Explorer (thereby making it much safer), and Ad-Aware for spyware. All free, and all "small footprint" programs that don't annoy me.

[Jack Dickey]

Well this morning after posting here , with the help of System Suite ( which I have come to love myself ) we eradicated the Symantec trash .. Still had the pop ups ..
Went ahead and loaded all the Xp updates ( over 20 MB worth ) as this is an old copy , one of the first put on the street .. This is the first I have been online since then , and so far after maybe ten minutes , no pop ups , usually by now , I would have had three or four come along .. So hopefully the updates fixed the issues ..
The pop ups had a Windows Messenger header with a list of critical issues they had found and to go to different websites to download a fix for the problems ..
Once I had done a thorough system checkup with System Suite , that verified to me that they were either bogus or Symantec popups , then after eradicating Symantec , I figured all I had left was to run the updates and hope for the best ..
Appears it worked ..
Thanks

[David G Baker]

Well this morning after posting here , with the help of System Suite ( which I have come to love myself ) we eradicated the Symantec trash .. Still had the pop ups ..
Went ahead and loaded all the Xp updates ( over 20 MB worth ) as this is an old copy , one of the first put on the street .. This is the first I have been online since then , and so far after maybe ten minutes , no pop ups , usually by now , I would have had three or four come along .. So hopefully the updates fixed the issues ..
The pop ups had a Windows Messenger header with a list of critical issues they had found and to go to different websites to download a fix for the problems ..
Once I had done a thorough system checkup with System Suite , that verified to me that they were either bogus or Symantec popups , then after eradicating Symantec , I figured all I had left was to run the updates and hope for the best ..
Appears it worked ..
Thanks

I used Norton and Symantec security software for years and had many problems with each one of them. I finally switched to the Zone Alarm Security Suite and have not had any problems. I also use Ad Ware's free download a couple of times a week and have found that it also is a great program. I have not had a pop up since installing Zone Alarm Security Suite.
Getting rid of the hidden items that Norton and Symantec placed on my computer was probably my main problem. My lack of computer expertise may have been another.
I have found XP to be one of the best operating systems that I have used so far.
David

[Jack Dickey]

I had ad aware on another machine and really like it too .. Probably gonna go ahead and put it on here as well ..
Only thing I wonder , OK this is my thread so I'll hijack it OK ..
I have a ton of stuff on the other hard drive that I need to put on here , maybe 500 pages of research documents and a few zillion pictures .. All the documents are in Microsoft Works and the pics are in a Kodak program ( the CD I conviently misplaced a couple weeks ago ) and PhotoImpressions .. I dont have the Works CD as it was an original install product .. I can get a copy of MicroSoft Office from a friend to install on this one I think it has werks in it , dont recall as I used mainly PowerPoint in it ..
But , when I do the file transfer will it transfer the programs as well as files ?? The book isnt clear on programs , says only files and settings I think ..