I've read loads of articles on this Messenger, but am still having problems. I know you can simply just disable the Messenger service, but I don't like the idea of having those ports open. I'm using 'Norton Personal Firewall 2003' and have set it to block incoming traffic (TCP & UDP) on ports 135,137,138,139 & 445. But I'm still getting spammed! I've tried various different firewalls, but I still get the same results. The only firewalls that worked for me are ZoneAlarm, which blocks those ports on default. But this makes my PC unstable. Also the Windows XP firewall stops it, but it only blocks incoming traffic, and I want a more secure firewall. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong??? I read at http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/853 that port 131 needs to be blocked. Is this true? I also read at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q330904, right at the bottom of the page under "MORE INFORMATION" that "The Messenger service uses UDP ports 135, 137, and 138; TCP ports 135, 139, and 445; and an ephemeral (that is, short-lived) port number greater than 1024" Does that mean that all ports over 1024 need to be blocked? Surely this can't be true! Can anyone tell me how to configure my firewall properly, because this is driving me nuts!!! Many Thanks :)

http://www.hsc.fr/ressources/breves/min_srv_res_win.en.html On our Windows XP system, UDP port 1027 is used by RPC services started by the Messenger service. As in Windows 2000, this port and UDP port 135 will no longer be opened after disabling this service and rebooting.

I don't know the Norton product, but if ZA works for u (as it does for me) maybe the latest or Pro version will cure any instability ur suffering (no probs on my system). To check ur ports/firewall via an outside source, go to www.grc.com and take their excellent ShieldsUp & Leaktest tests. Hope this is of some help at least !!

I think I've finally stopped the Messenger popups without resorting to turning off Messenger itself... If anyone is still getting spammed; even with ports 135, 137, 138, 139 & 445 blocked, try blocking ports 1024 to 1030. So far its worked for me... Hope this helps anyone out there :D