Greetings Duke,
To disable Windows Messenger, open it up (click Start, then Run, type "msmsgs" and click OK),
click Tools, Options, Preferences tab and uncheck 'Run this Program when Windows starts' or
'Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts' (depending on version) as well as 'Allow this
program to run in the background' or 'Allow Windows Messenger to run in the background'
(depending on version).
Also, do you have Norton Antivirus installed? Recent versions of Norton Antivirus added a
new "instant messaging scanning" feature, which can conflict with Messenger and cause it to
also keep starting. To stop it, open Norton Antivirus (Right-click on the Norton Antivirus
icon in the System Tray/Notification Area (by the clock), choose 'Open Norton Antivirus'),
click Options, then Instant Messenger then uncheck MSN Instant Messenger and click OK.
Finally, you can simply remove Windows Messenger (4.7) but if you do, you will be preventing
Remote Assistance, Whiteboard, and Application Sharing from working. However, assuming you
don't use this functionality that would be disabled by removing
Messenger, you can simply remove it by closing down Messenger if it's running (right click
the messenger icon in the notification area/system tray and click close). Then click the
start button, then click Run and type in (copy-paste if you like):
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
Then click OK.
Messenger will then be uninstalled. For more detailed instructions and screenshots, go to,
http://messenger.jonathankay.com/problem.aspx?ID=7
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com