Redcherry said:
A couple of months ago I downloaded MSN Messenger 7.0. However,
'Windows Messenger' still loads up automatically when I open OE. I
have unchecked the box in the tools options, but the problem still
occurs.
I wish to delete Windows Messenger from my machine, but as it is not
listed in Add/Remove programmes, I am at a loss as to how to do this!
Can someone please help, as it's driving me nuts!
On my XP box, the messenger program file is C:\program files\msmsgs.exe
You could delete it, but doing so would cause you other problems.
It would confuse and slow down other programs that expect it to be there,
such as OE.
Here's a solution I've been using for the last 18 months without any
difficulty. It replaces the messenger program with another Microsoft
program that is innocuous. The replacement program runs and finishes
in the blink of an eye, which satisfies OE (or whatever program tried
to start it), but doesn't leave messenger running. I'm sure this is
not the solution that a Microsoft Volunteer Particpant would give you,
but it works for me.
Here are the steps:
1. Copy the file hostname.exe from the folder C:\windows\system32 into
the folder C:\Program Files\Messenger so that it becomes
C:\Program Files\Messenger\hostname.exe
2. In the folder C:\Program Files\Messenger,
a) rename msmsgs.exe to msmsgs-.exe
b) rename hostname.exe to msmsgs.exe
The next time you start OE, you may see a brief flash of a small black
window on your screen, but that's all. You won't see messenger any more.
