Windows Messenger Doesn't Start Properly

[Guest]

I am using Windows Messenger 4.7 in Windows XP SP2. For some reason the
Messenger icon doesn't appear in the system tray when Windows loads. The box
in Messenger|Tools|Options|Preferences IS checked, so is the "msmsgs" box in
the System Configuration Utility. Strangely, Task Manager shows that
msmsgs.exe in the process list, size 4800k. If I start Messenger manually,
it loads up, signs in automatically and works fine. Its size in Task Manager
then changes to 6288k. Any ideas please?

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Ted,

Do you happen to have Norton Antivirus installed by any chance? If so, recent versions of
Norton Antivirus added a new "instant messaging scanning" feature, which can conflict with
Messenger and cause it to also keep starting. 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 (or Windows Messenger depending on version) and click OK.
____________________________________________
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.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jonathan.

Yes I do have NAV 2003, but unchecking MSN Instant Messanger didn't make any
difference. The whole thing is bizarre, because I have virtually identical
setups (including NAV, Google Desktop Search etc) on a PC, where Messenger
doesn't start automatically, and a laptop where it works as intended. I
recently reinstalled everything on the laptop from scratch, including XP, so
it's slightly "cleaner". I'm reluctant to do that on the PC for the sake of
such a minor glitch, as it's a real pain. I'm hoping there's some obscure
registry key that needs resetting...