MVP....Need help w/Messenger 4.7

  • Thread starter Thread starter BillyGates
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BillyGates

Dear MVP,

I have Hp 873n (Media Center PC)... I use a Micosoft
Wireless Base station to connect my DSL internet
connection. When I right click the Broadband Connection
in the Network Connections folder. Select properties,
then select the settings options, it shows a whole bunch
of "msmsgs" listed with my IP addresses within the
services tab.

My questions is...Does that mean that other people are
accessing my computer via Messenger?

Which messenger is more secure?

Also, Why when i right click messenger(4.7), when its in
the task bar and try to exit the program it won't let me.
It states that other programs are using it. (i don't have
any of those programs running.) and still won't let me
exit messenger. I don't like being forced to use
messenger 4.7, I like to have the option to exit it when
I want.

How could i completely remove windows messenger 4.7?

Please help a Microsoft loyalist...

Steve Ballmer
 
Greetings Steve,

When you start Windows Messenger, it will automatically add two UPnP port forwardings (what's
showing up as 'msmsgs') to your router. This is completely normal -- no one is "using" your
Messenger, or anything similar. When you close it they should automatically be removed.

However, your other problem is the main cause of why you have so many. Do you happen to have
Norton Antivirus 2003 installed? Norton added a new "instant messaging scanning" feature to
Norton Antivirus 2003, which can conflict with Messenger and cause this behavior. 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. After this you should be
able to close it. After you've closed Messenger, you might want to go back into your router
settings and remove all the 'msmsgs' entries (simply because the router only supports 20, and
you'll probably want to clean out the old ones which haven't been removed). After you've
removed the current 'msmsgs' entries, you can then restart Windows Messenger (whenever you
choose).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
 
Hi Steve,

My apologies, I didn't answer your other questions --

If you mean which Messenger is more secure in terms of MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger,
they're pretty much equal as they both work similarly. There are no current "exploits" or
"known holes" in either Messenger client.

You can completely remove Windows Messenger, but firstly, follow my instructions regarding
Norton Antivirus 2003 in my other reply to you, as without unchecking that option, the
uninstallation will not work and secondly, if you do fully remove Windows Messenger, you will
be preventing Remote Assistance, Whiteboard, Application Sharing and any other applications
that utilize Messenger from working (or loading without problems). Instead, if you wish to
use another Messenger client, or simply get Windows Messenger out of the way, you can just
disable Windows Messenger 4.x, by opening it up, click Tools, Options, Preferences tab and
unchecking 'Run this program when Windows starts'.

If you really do wish to fully uninstall Windows Messenger, you can do so by doing the
following:
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
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
 
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