windows messeneger - ONCE & FOR ALL

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ay Had
  • Start date Start date
A

Ay Had

OK .. I'm guessing everybody's passed through this stage before, so
lemme get straight to the point.
Basically, I want to get rid of the windows messenger that comes with
WinXP completely, and I want to use MSN messenger instead.
Let me just say what I've tried so far :

1. If I attempt to close win.messenger manually (by right clicking on
the icon in the system tray and clicking exit), I get a message that
says :

"There are other applications currently using features provided by
Windows Messenger. You must close these other applications before you
can exit Windows Messenger. These applications may incluse Outlook,
Outlook Express, MSN Explorer, and Internet Explorer."

The thing is, I'm not running anything that uses win.messenger.
Outlook isn't even installed - neither are outlook express or MSN
explorer.

2. When I uninstall win.messenger, it doesn't start with windows and
it doesn't show on the start menu. However, when one of my contacts
log into messenger or when I receive an email, the small messenger
window pops up just above the system-tray indicating that event, which
(I guess) means that win.messenger is (secretly/invisibly) running.

3. In task manager, there's a process "MSMSGS.EXE", which I assumed
was the windows messenger program. When I end that process, windows
messenger closes, and no pop-ups come up - so I guess it COMPLETELY
shuts down.

4. I've tried another method by running a certain program/script in
the windows system directory that I've read about in a post. I can't
really remember the name of the program/script, however it basically
lets you control what applications to start with windows, and which to
never allow to run. And this is the option I used with windows
messenger - to never allow it to run. Again, it doesn't run, but I
don't think it's uninstalled.

5. If I install and run MSN messenger and log in with it, I'm
automatically signed out of windows messenger, but it still wouldn't
shut down.

What I ultimately want to achieve is to install MSN messenger (because
let's face it, it's cooler), be able to run it whenever I want, shut
it whenever I want, and to never ever hear from windows messenger
again.

Thanx all.
 
Try typing this in the run comand
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
that should sort you out
 
If you're going to use MSN Messenger it's not a good idea to uninstall
Windows Messenger.
Uninstalling Windows Messenger can disable some of the messenger features
such as Whiteboard Sharing, and others on MSN Messenger.

I would just disable Windows Messenger.
 
Greetings Ay,

To solve most of your problems, do you have Norton Antivirus 2003 installed? Norton added a
new "instant messaging scanning" feature to Norton Antivirus 2003, which can conflict with
Messenger and cause some of 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 you've done this, run Windows Messenger (click Start, then Run, type "msmsgs" and click
OK), click the Tools menu, then Options, then Preferences, uncheck 'Run this program when
Windows starts' and click OK. You should then be able to shut it down and not see it again.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
 
Thanks alot, Jonathan .. your advice on Norton AntiVirus 2003 worked,
and I can now shut windows messenger down whenever I want.
However, what I want is to completely uninstall it from my system, and
run MSN messenger. Even if I uninstall it, the program files stay
there, and like I mentioned before, it runs in a "hidden" mode, and
only shows itself on incoming events. Such as popping up to tell me
I've got mail, or that a contact has signed in.
The other method I described earlier was through the "Group Policy"
tool. I ran it by running "gpedit.msc" from the start menu's run
option. I did the following :

chose : "Local Computer Poicy" > "Computer Configuration" >
"Administrative Templates" > "Windows Components" > "Windows
Messenger"

then on the right-hand part of the screen, I enabled the "Do not allow
Windows Messenger to be run" option.

That way, win.messenger never ran at all. But the program files stayed
there. So I guess this is more of a manual work-around than a real
solution.

I'd also like to understand, exactly, what "uninstalling" windows
messenger does; because from what I see, the program files stay there,
and the program runs - the only visible change is that I don't see any
of the shortcuts to the program itself, and that I can't really
interface with it.

Anyways, I hope someone can help uninstalling win.messenger.
 
Hi,

Uninstalling Windows Messenger from the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, simply
removes the shortcut and hides the executable, it is not the full uninstallation. To fully
remove it (this will cause Remote Assistance, Whiteboard and Application Sharing to stop
functioning in MSN Messenger), firstly open up the Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del, or
right-click in the taskbar and choose Task Manager), click the Processes tab, click
'msmsgs.exe' and then click 'End Process'. If 'msmsgs.exe' is not there, then it isn't
running.

Then, 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

As well, if you're an Outlook Express user, to avoid any problems, make sure Outlook Express
is closed, then download and run this .reg file:
http://messenger.jonathankay.com/downloads/stopmessenger_oe.reg
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
 
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