Get Rid of Windows and MSN Messengers Completely

[Catherine]

I want to be rid of both Windows Messenger and MSN
Messenger. Windows Messenger opens every time I open
Internet Explorer. I don't want it to. I've disabled it
and I've uninstalled it using control panel>add/remove
windows components. I've edited the registry. The little
bastard is still there and running in the background. If
I wanted the program to run, I would ask for it. I prefer
Trillian and MyJabber.

How do I remove every trace of the messengers on my
Windows XP computers?

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Catherine,

You can completely remove Windows Messenger (4.7) but if you do, you will be preventing
Remote Assistance, Whiteboard, and Application Sharing from working.

However, if you don't use this functionality that would be disabled by removing Messenger,
you can simply remove it by closing down Messenger if it's running (right click the messenger
icon in the notification area/system tray and click close). Then click the start button,
then click Run and type in (copy-paste if you like):
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

Then click OK.
Messenger will then be uninstalled. For more detailed instructions and screenshots, go to,
http://messenger.jonathankay.com/problem.aspx?ID=7
____________________________________________
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.