msmsgs.exe process in memory

[Dmitry Korolyov]

Windows XP Pro., Windows Messenger 4.7

Windows Messenger does not start at logon and not used by any applications (ie outlook, outlook express etc). However, msmsgs.exe process constantly reappears in task manager processes list (no icon in the tray, and no, it is not hidden by XP feature), consuming from 7 to 9 megabytes of memory. When you kill the process, it reappears after several minutes.

If Windows has been told *NOT* to launch messenger, why it does not obey?

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Dmitry,

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 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.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

Windows XP Pro., Windows Messenger 4.7

Windows Messenger does not start at logon and not used by any applications (ie outlook,
outlook express etc). However, msmsgs.exe process constantly reappears in task manager
processes list (no icon in the tray, and no, it is not hidden by XP feature), consuming from
7 to 9 megabytes of memory. When you kill the process, it reappears after several minutes.

If Windows has been told *NOT* to launch messenger, why it does not obey?

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Hi Dmitry,

You're very welcome =).

Which banner are you referring to? If you mean the one in the main Messenger window, if you
do use Windows Messenger 4.7, you can just disable the MSN Add-In to remove this (open up the
main Messenger window, click the Tools menu, then Add-ins, then choose MSN). If you're using
MSN Messenger 5 or 6, there are ways of removing the banner, however, I do not encourage
people to use them simply because the ad is really not annoying (compared to what's on the
web today) and is a primary way for Messenger to actually pay for itself.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com