If you click on the link http://www.grc.com/default.htm , it will take you
to a site where you will find three useful utilities in a box titled YOUR
Theree Musketeers.. one of them is called 'shootthemessenger'.. it is a
painless and simple way to remove incursions made by the Windows Messenger
service.. you might also use the other two items.. follow the instructions
provided, and all will be well..

Go to:

Start, run, Type: "msconfig"

On the Services tab, find and UNCHECK Alerter... Click OK
and restart your computer, when your computer boots back
up click "Don't show me again..." to the message that
pops up at the begining of windows xp loading... That
should do it.

Shawn

Greetings,

What you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not* Windows Messenger
(which are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not Microsoft, nor
can Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your e-mail inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups,  you'll need to disable the "Messenger Service", click Start,
then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to "Messenger", select it,
right-click and then choose Properties.  Under startup type, choose 'Disabled' and then
choose the 'Stop' button. After the service is stopped, click OK.  Nothing in Windows or any
real third-party applications should be effected by this.

Just as a little reminder, make sure you've protected yourself against the latest security
issues by visiting WindowsUpdate and installing the security patches:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
(This isn't related to the Messenger Service in any way, just a reminder)
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com