Greetings Brett,
What's probably occurring is Windows Messenger (which comes with Windows XP) is automatically
starting and logging you in. As such, you can disable Windows Messenger by opening it up,
click Tools, Options, Preferences tab and unchecking 'Run this Program when Windows starts'
or 'Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts' (depending on version). As well, you can
disable it further by going to Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, Add/Remove
Windows Components on the left, uncheck Windows Messenger in the components list and click
Next >. Note: this is only available if you've installed Windows XP Service Pack 1 -- if you
haven't, visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. This won't remove Windows Messenger
completely, but it will let it stay out of your way.
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.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com