bar5 Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Found this on Dell Forums posted by msil217. Please read, very important. Read his message and than the one that has originated from at G4Techtv.Dell ForumBarbHere is some aditional info, so you can make up your own mind:Msn Messenger Plus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tg1911 Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Thanks for the heads-up, bar5.Sure makes things easier, when you have others out there watching out for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martymas Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 thanks barb.tho i dont use messenger i can pass it on . marty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bar5 Posted January 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 thanks barb.tho i dont use messenger i can pass it on . martyI don't either Marty. I disabled mine, but I know a lot of people who do use this. I thought I would give both sides of the story and you can make up your own mind.Take careBarb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marko_tomas13 Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 personally, i use msn messenger but have never installed messenger plus...i came across it a while ago but decided not to just because it looked suspicious...now im glad i didntthanks for he heads up Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thesidekickcat Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Yes I have been seeing quite a few posts on the G4 boards that say this is a major problem. It installs all sorts of desktop icons that are impossible to remove, and takes HJT logs to weed it all out.I didn't know enough about this program to even be able to issue a warning and still don't know what it is with or without the plus. Are they both from Microsoft? If so, what on earth is Microsoft thinking of to do something so dastardly?? Or is the plus one an add on from some other company?How do you disable the original Msn thing??? Help please.Is it on all Windows systems? I have Win 2000.I don't want it, with or without the plus.Thanks for the warning. I didn't even know I might have the regular Msn Messenger. Yikes!!!God bless everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marko_tomas13 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 no worries about the regular msn messenger that is clean (i think lol) well as clean as anything else from microsoftmessenger plus is a 3rd party addon to the popular messenger which from what i've heard allows shortcuts, more emoticons, conversation logging, and some other supposedly "useful" thingsi dont think you have to worry about having just the regular messengerand i think windows messenger is by default on systems since 98 or one later but i could be wrong Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Msn Messenger itself is clean of all spyware/malware and the rest of the junk floating around. Messenger with the plus is a different story! You are almost guaranteed to end up with a LOP infection when you get this application. I can not say for sure, maybe one of the board techs can answer that question. In fact of you still have this on your machine, then the best bet would be to post a hijack log within that area and let the fine folks who are trained in this sort of thing have a boo at it for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martymas Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 yes when microsoft brought messenger on the scene it was competing with applis like yahoo, trillion. ect and it gave itm to us weather we liked it or not.and that is where the trouble started.it in cluded an appli called A lerta whic was supposed to alert us to any microsoft innovations.but the spammers found Alerta to be HOLE which they exploited .to send us all this s------tand that is the that needs to be disabled.i believe that is where the alert/to/be virus comes from i cant confirm this i read it in a compt mag. marty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Hi Barb,Thank you so much for the "Heads Up" as Son uses "plain ol' regular MSN Messenger" and I was able to warn him and his friends about this new gadget!And Hi Sidekickcat, According to Son "to my knowledge, MSN Messenger is not installed automatically on operating systems, its something like AIM, where you have to download it from an internet site"Now Windows Messenger is something different--it comes on the operating system (at least XP) and they "look almost exactly alike". I read bad things about Windows Messenger and although Son did not uninstall it, he disabled it somehow--and we don't remember how......Yo, Experts???? And Hi John, What's an LOP?Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 A LOP infection is this.Also know as: Ultimate Browser Enhancer lop lop.comUpon visiting the website, the user gets asked to install a high speed access tool which is in really a porn service dialer....Also known to highjack browser error pages.I suspect this comes bundled with the messenger plus application.Nice thing about LOP there is a removal tool that works, just have to know where to get i t.Hope that helps Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Hi John LThanks!! Never heard of LOP and was curious. Thank goodness we have broadband and my kids would be real dumb to think to install such a thing (I HOPE!!) Going to warn them anyways....thanks again, Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bar5 Posted April 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Now Windows Messenger is something different--it comes on the operating system (at least XP) and they "look almost exactly alike". I read bad things about Windows Messenger and although Son did not uninstall it, he disabled it somehow--and we don't remember how......Yo, Experts???? LizHow I diabled Windows Messenger:Control panel/user account(Admin)Left side of screen, under related tasks, click "Manage My Network Passwords"Window opens, click Passport.Net\* Passport Entry, click remove.All this does is disable Windows Messenger. It will enable automatically if you sign into Passport again. Do not remove any entry with your [email protected]. Example: [email protected]. By doing it this way, it does not automatically come on everytime you go into OE or MSN Explorer. I don't remember where I got this info. If you are not sure, you can go here to Doug Knox site:Doug KnoxI'm trying to give you a direct link and for the life of me it won't work, so on left click on Winxp utilities, scroll down until you see "Disable/Remove Windows Messenger" click it and read instructions.Barb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Your welcome Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Hi John LThanks!! Never heard of LOP and was curious. Thank goodness we have broadband and my kids would be real dumb to think to install such a thing (I HOPE!!) Going to warn them anyways....thanks again, Liz Your welcome Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 I think that you can choose not to install LOP in the installation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_veal Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 The Lop infestation is due to a sponser program being installed.I personally have Messenger Plus installed without the sponser program installed.My computer is LOP free!Messenger Plus is not bad, its the sponser program that is malware.Messenger Plus! comes with an optional sponsor program. This program will show ads from time to time on your computer, will add a search bar in Internet Explorer and will also change your start page. In NO case this sponsor is mandatory or dangerous. If you don't want it, simply refuse the sponsor agreement during the setup and you will never hear about it again. If you installed the sponsor by error, just uninstall Messenger Plus! (it will trigger the sponsor uninstall program), reboot your computer, and reinstall without the sponsor if you want to continue to use Messenger Plus!.How do I install Messenger Plus! without the sponser programHow do I remove Messenger Plus! or the adware sponser? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Yep you are correct my bad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Yep you are correct my bad Don't feel bad, John, I'm learning a TON from this thread! Thanks, Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_veal Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Yep you are correct my badDon't feel bad, John, I'm learning a TON from this thread! Thanks, LizExactly Liz, I just wanted you all to know, that the program itself is not malware, but a sponser program is!Just to be careful of what your agreeing to when installing things.Take CareAndy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John L Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Agreed you must read the EULA (end user license agreement) and scan and read everything before you hit the accept button to load to your machine.Just a little info, recently i went looking for a new screensaver and man did i get hit, I managed to clean it because i know what I'm doing. But!!! it managed to intsall 18 variations of crap. The only reason i knew i was hit was the fact i have so much protection in my machine and it went a little nutty as soon as i hit open.So be careful!!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_veal Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Some more information about Messenger Plus is found here:Webhelpers AlertSpyware Warrior's topic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thesidekickcat Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Interesting thread for sure, thanks folks. I have disabled both messenger (the popup thing), and alerter. Haven't found the other Messenger thing on my Windows 2000. And since I don't instant message, I wouldn't need it or the plus thing.God bless everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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