UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog

If advertisements are opening on your computer in a window titled Messenger Service, it may indicate that your system is not secure. You should enable the Internet Connection Firewall and disable the Messenger Service in Windows XP to help protect your computer from unwanted spam and other potential threats.
The Messenger Service was originally designed for use by system administrators to notify Windows users about their networks. However, some advertisers have started using this service to send information via the Internet, and these messages could be used maliciously to distribute a
First, make sure that your system is protected by an Internet firewall and that you've followed the steps to Protect Your PC. Disabling the Messenger Service without using a firewall will prevent the unwanted spam, but will not protect your computer from intruders.
To disable the Messenger Service in Windows XP (Caution: If your computer is part of a corporate network, talk to your system administrator before taking this action.)
1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance. (If you do not see the Performance and Maintenance icon, you may be using Classic View. You can skip to step 3 below, but you must double-click Administrative Tools.)
3. Click Administrative Tools.
4. Double-click Services as shown in Figure 1 above..
5. Double-click Messenger.
6. In the Startup type list, choose Disabled as shown in Figure 2 below.
7. Click Stop, and then click OK.