re: i'm being hacked- firewall
i am on broadband, and was under the impression that the router, was in, itself a firewall - or maybe that ahs to be configuered?????
anyway, i did a bit of reading, and it seems that there is something called WINDOWS MESSENGER, which should be disabled - to quote from the net
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 virus.
if this interests anybody, then the following link, gives details on how to get rid of it
