Windows Messenger auto starts with Outlook 2003

[Wilfred]

How do I stop the annoying Windows Messenger from starting every time I
launch Outlook? I seem to recall that Outlook 2002 had an option to keep it
from doing this but I've searched all the tabs in Options and cannot find a
way to prevent it from starting with Outlook 2003.

BTW, help in stopping it in Outlook Express 6 (my newsreader) would also be
appreciated.

 

[Peter Marchert]

How do I stop the annoying Windows Messenger from starting every time I
launch Outlook? I seem to recall that Outlook 2002 had an option to keep it
from doing this but I've searched all the tabs in Options and cannot find a
way to prevent it from starting with Outlook 2003.

BTW, help in stopping it in Outlook Express 6 (my newsreader) would also be
appreciated

You will find this settings in the MSN. I have no english version
avaiable right now. Please look in the options of MSN.

Best regards
Peter

 

[Brian Tillman]

How do I stop the annoying Windows Messenger from starting every time
I launch Outlook? I seem to recall that Outlook 2002 had an option
to keep it from doing this but I've searched all the tabs in Options
and cannot find a way to prevent it from starting with Outlook 2003.

Tools>Options>Other. Uncheck the Person Names Smart Tags settings at the
bottom.

BTW, help in stopping it in Outlook Express 6 (my newsreader) would
also be appreciated.

Try the settings on Tools>Windows Messenger. You're better off asking in
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

 

[Wilfred]

Has anyone at Microsoft ever heard of usability testing? One word to focus
on: intuitive.

Just what percentage of Outlook users do you suppose would intuitively
connect "Person Names Smart Tags" with "Windows Messenger"?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Has anyone at Microsoft ever heard of usability testing? One word to
focus on: intuitive.

Just what percentage of Outlook users do you suppose would intuitively
connect "Person Names Smart Tags" with "Windows Messenger"?

Did it work? Try entering "Instant Messaging" into Help once. It's FULL of
references to the Person Names Smart Tags.

 

[Wilfred]

Yes, and I appreciate the help.

I did try "windows messenger" in Help. It lists several articles indicating
that "Instant Messaging is a feature of Microsoft Windows Messenger,
Microsoft MSN Messenger, and the Microsoft Exchange Instant Messaging
Service. With Instant Messaging, you can communicate with your contacts in
real time ..."

And yes, it does make references to Person Names Smart Tags and how they
appear lin Reading Panes and on To and Cc lines, etc. It discusses all
sorts of "Instant Messaging" features of Windows Messenger and how to
disable Instant Messaging. It does not however tell users how to prevent
Windows Messenger from launching with Outlook or how to kill it when Outlook
is running.

My comment about the fact that the procedure to prevent Windows Messenger
from starting in Outlook 2003 is not intuitive is accurate, and the
Help information is no more intuitive than the Options menu within Outlook.

I don't understand why , when a user criticizes something in a program that
isn't user friendly or intuitive, it is so often met with disdain. I did
not post my question because I was too lazy to try to resolve it myself. I
posted it because I was unable to figure it out or to find an answer within
Outlook.

 

[Wilfred]

Upon additional testing, no, it did not work. Unchecking the Person Names
Smart Tags settings appears to be a placebo. It removes the icon it the
system notification area but it does not stop Outlook from launching the
program. It merely createds the illussion that the Messenger is not
running.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I don't understand why , when a user criticizes something in a
program that isn't user friendly or intuitive, it is so often met
with disdain.

However, I never expressed disdain. You're reading text. Please don't
assume you can tell my state of mind based on a plain text message.

I did not post my question because I was too lazy to
try to resolve it myself.

Where in my message do you see any statement accusing you of this?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Upon additional testing, no, it did not work. Unchecking the Person
Names Smart Tags settings appears to be a placebo. It removes the
icon it the system notification area but it does not stop Outlook
from launching the program. It merely createds the illussion that
the Messenger is not running.

However, it does for me or I would not have suggested it. On top of that,
however, I did change Messenger's setting to not launch when Windows starts.

 

[Wilfred]

Changing Windows Messenger options was the first thing I did. Nothing in
the Options menus for Messenger, Outlook, or Outlook Express seems to
eliminate this nuisance program from running all the time.

I edited the registry to prevent it from starting at all (manual Starts
included).