what's with alert popup ads?
 

i get alert boxes poping up on my brand new pc

they come out of the blue and just pop up at any time

i haven't used this pc much so i'd like to know where they come from and how do i stop them?

Its called Instant Messaging spam. If you don't want them use ME instead of XP.

Disable Windows Messenger. In XP:

Go to Start>Programs>Windows Messenger. A Windows Messenger window will pop up. Click the Tools tab, and select Options. Click the Preferences tab, and make sure the following two boxes are unchecked:

Run this program when Windows starts
Allow this program to run in the background

Click OK, then File>Close in the Windows Messenger window. If you have a little icon in the bottom right hand side of your screen that looks like two little people's heads right-click on it and select Close.

i use 2000 and i don't have messenger, i have trillian

you need to disable windows messenger SERVICE which is actually different to windows messenger

http://www.auburn.edu/oit/security/messengerService.html

I know you didn't just recommend ME. :1orglaugh

Thanks, I did it

I did that and I'm still getting popups... anything else

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services

Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"

Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.

Click the STOP button.

Select Disabled or Manual on the Startup Type drop-down menu
Click OK