Greetings GL,
Firstly, remove your saved Passport login in Windows XP, so it can't automatically sign you
in to the service (you can readd this back in the future if you like), click the Start
Button, then click the Control Panel. Then, click User Accounts in the Control Panel. Select
your account name, and then on the left side of the screen, under Related Tasks, click
'Manage my Network Passwords'. In the window that opens, click the Passport.Net\* (Passport)
entry and click 'Remove'.
Then, 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.
If the window is still open with the upgrade question, say No, it should now stop trying.
Then download the latest Windows Messenger here (in case you decide to use it in the future,
and to stop further 'annoynaces':
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
After you've installed the latest Windows Messenger, open it up (click Start, then All
Programs, then Windows Messenger), choose the Tools menu, then Options, then Preferences tab,
uncheck 'Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts' and click OK. Then right-click on its
icon in the notification area/system tray (by the clock) and click Exit. It shouldn't bother
you again.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com