Date: Mar 2, 2003
Category: Operating Systems
Author(s): SaigonK

First, let us start by saying that the Microsoft Messenger service is NOT in anyway related to Microsoft MSN Messenger. They are two separate entities!

The Microsoft messenger service is made to transmit net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers remember those little messages you could send to one another when running Windows 3.1?

Microsoft MSN messenger is the software that lets you send messages to online friends and family via the internet, like AOL Instant messenger or ICQ.

Some background on why you see these messages:

In the default installation of Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the Messenger service runs by default. Messenger in Windows 2000/XP and is similar to what "Win Popup" was in Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.

Having this service running can cause those wonderful pop-up annoyances, as ANYONE can send popup messages to your computer when you have this service running.

To see if you have this issue, open a command prompt and type

1. net send IPADDRESS_OF_CLIENT_TO_SEND_TO Your Message that person will get a popup window immediately with "Your Message"



2. The popup window will say "Messenger Service" in the title bar and will contain your workstation's name and the time.

You can also send a message to yourself by typing "LOCALHOST" to test this.

Another thing worth noting, if you are using a Microsoft firewall, these messages will still be sent through the firewall without any issue!

To make it so others cannot send these messages to you, disable the Messenger service.

1. Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.



2. Double click the Messenger Service,



3. Change it from 'Automatic' to 'Disabled' and click the Stop button.

Be warned that some applications may or may not use this service! Make sure you try out your applications to see that they work correctly.

If they do not you can try setting the service to "Manual" it should launch when the application starts.

Once you have completed all of this, people trying to send messages via the net message service will get an error that your machine is unreachable.

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