How to EXIT messenger before installing ver. 6...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Benjo
  • Start date Start date
B

Benjo

Hi all,

I'm trying to update Messenger from v4.7 to v6.
The install wizard tells me that if I have a previous version of messenger
running, I should "exit" it before continuing the installation process and
it helpfully tells me how to do this (right click on icon, left click on
"exit").
Of course, as I already knew, this is impossible (as microsoft must also
know...).
Up pops a message telling me that I can't close Messenger because there are
other programs using it which must be closed first.
What is really irritating is that even if you close all the other programs
it mentions could be using Messenger (Explorer, IE, Outlook Express etc), it
STILL won't allow you to shut it down...
3 Questions:
1) How can I close Messenger (preferably without resetting my pc, dropping
my internet connection, losing half finished downloads etc etc etc) so as to
be able to install v6?
2) Which programs exactly use Messenger?
3) When are microsoft going to do something about this? (since I know it
drives a lot of users up the wall...) Many programs use shared components
but they don't force you to open all of them at once, they just use the
necessary shared dll or whatever...)

Thanks in advance, Benjo
 
Greetings Benjo,

If you're seeing this message, and you've closed Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, 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.

1. The above will most likely fix the problem. If it doesn't you can forcibly shut Windows
Messenger down by open up the Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del, or right-click in the taskbar
and choose Task Manager), click the Processes tab, click 'msmsgs.exe' and then click 'End
Process'.
2. Any program which uses Messenger -- for instance, Outlook Express uses it to display the
current status of your contacts in its Contacts Pane, Internet Explorer will use it on when
browsing Hotmail, and so on.
3. There's really nothing that can be done, however by clicking "Next->" in the installer
and just ignoring the instructions, should still work.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
 
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