Others See Me When I'm Not Signed In???

[jim evans]

This only began happening today. I have been using MSN Messenger for
a couple of years. I'm using version 6.2 of MSN Messenger.

After startup others see me in their list of Online people. They can
also send me messages. Messenger says I'm not signed in, so I see no
one, and cannot send anyone messages. The Systray icon has an X on it
indicating I'm not signed in.

If I then sign in I get a message saying something like, "You have
been signed out of Messenger because you signed in another location."

This only began happening today. I have been using MSN Messenger for
a couple of years.

jim

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Jim,

What you're seeing is Windows Messenger (not MSN Messenger) that comes with Windows XP
automatically logging you in. To disable Windows Messenger, open it up (click Start, then
Run, type "msmsgs" and click OK), click Tools, Options, Preferences tab and uncheck 'Run this
Program when Windows starts' or 'Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts' (depending on
version) as well as 'Allow this program to run in the background' or 'Allow Windows Messenger
to run in the background' (depending on version). This won't remove Windows Messenger, so
features like Remote Assistance, Whiteboard and Application Sharing will continue to work,
but it will let it stay out of your way.

Also, do you have Norton Antivirus installed? Recent versions of Norton Antivirus added a
new "instant messaging scanning" feature, which can conflict with Messenger and cause it to
also keep starting. 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
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.