Hi Jonathan!
I think my situation might contradict the idea that
Messenger won't do it on its own. I have Windows Msgr.
(came installed on my laptop w/XP) and MSN Msgr. that I
downloaded and use exclusively. The Windows version
appears to run regardless of not being opened, repeatedly
trying to connect to the internet behind the scenes
(every hour--sometimes more than 2000 tries). I use
ZoneAlarm Pro along with NAV and have never had that
problem with MSN Msgr.--when it's off, it's off. WMsgr is
the program that never dies. I have changed as many
settings as I can, including trying to end the process in
Task Manager--like some monster, it comes to life all by
itself, over and over again.
There is no icon for it in the task bar (it IS in the All
Programs listing), and as so many have noted, no way to
delete it since it isn't listed in the add/remove
programs area of the Control Panel. Turning off NAV's
messenger scanning may remove the constant listings, but
seemingly not the problem (plus, it seems like that
leaves one vulnerable to bugs online...just a thought).
When MSNMsgr is off it doesn't show up in the "active"
column in the ZAP Program Control listing...WMsgr
does...no matter what I do. I have been searching for a
way to "kill" the Windows version, which is what led me
to this posting.
I just wanted to let you know that indeed, WMsgr DOES
seem to have its own "life force"--as long as my computer
is running, WMsgr is too. It's made me worry that maybe
there is a worm/Trojan/virus to blame for its persistent
nature, but so far nothing has been detected (I
understand that some things can get by AV software scans,
but I do what I can). By the way, WMsgr usually uses the
same Destination IP (mine, and a variation of it--same
port #), but at times switches to a different one, if
that means anything. I have it completely blocked from
internet access, but that hasn't deterred it...nothing
has.
Seems like by now Microsoft would have come up with some
sort of solution, since it doesn't appear to be an
isolated kind of thing...oh well. Thanks for your
postings here--I hope this was helpful...sorry for the
long-winded post.
-----Original Message-----
Greetings Tetawon,
Actually Messenger on its own won't do this. Do you have
Norton Antivirus installed? Recent
versions of Norton Antivirus added a new "instant
messaging scanning" feature, which can
conflict with Windows Messenger and cause it to display
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
