Greetings Nick,
Windows Messenger will only start with Internet Explorer if you go to a page which tries to
access it (aka Hotmail). There is no way currently to really turn this off, besides removing
Windows Messenger entirely (and if you do, Hotmail may appear to "freeze" as it tries to
start Messenger). If you want to try anyway, close 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