Turning off Windows Messenger in XP SP1

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:42 am

How do I do it? I get auto-logged into windows messenger whenver I boot up my notebook, and I'd rather not. Completely uninstalling is my #1 preference.

Thanks!
~Neal

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:05 am

I believe there's an uninstaller, but I don't have time to look up the process right now. I would open up trusty regedit, then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run, and delete the entry that starts win messenger.

Then I'd download GAIM.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:08 am

GAIM better than Trillian?

Thanks for the suggestion. I won't actually be implementing anything until tomorrow evening as I'm going to a concert in Denver after work tonight and don't expect any PC time.

~Neal

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:20 am

The Meal wrote:GAIM better than Trillian?

Thanks for the suggestion. I won't actually be implementing anything until tomorrow evening as I'm going to a concert in Denver after work tonight and don't expect any PC time.

~Neal

GAIM much better than trillian lately, IMO. The free Trillian isn't that impressive, while GAIM has all sorts of neat features (like buddy pounces!).

Of course I haven't used Trillian in quite awhile, so it's possible that it's improved. Last I checked, the free Trillian hadn't been actively developed in awhile.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:32 am

Perhaps I am showing my ignorance, since I don't use messenger (and I know there is windows message service for networking messages and windows messenger, the chat program) but I thought it was as simple as unchecking the load at start up option in the preferences tab for windows messenger.

I do believe there is a way to uninstall it completely, I remember reading about it--- you had to jump through a hoop or two, (and simply unchecking the load at start-up box worked for me) so I didn't bother.

Nevertheless, perhaps this would answer your question....http://www.pchell.com/support/removemessenger.shtml

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:43 am

Thanks for the link, gorhy! Unchecking that startup box probably would work fine, but I've got an irrational desire to blast that sucker clear off the hard drive.

And Zax did a great job answering the question I left unasked -- what's better than Windows Messenger? I'd still prefer to be able to use multiple chat systems within one client if that were possible. MSN, and AIM are absolute requirements, at the least.

~Neal

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:48 am

I think all they've done for awhile with trilliam is fix issues that crop up.

Gedd · Post by **Gedd** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:50 am

I always disable it on startup via msconfig and then rename the folder to "MessengerOFF".

As for Trillian v. GAIM, I've never tried GAIM, but I actually purchased Trillian Pro a while back and I'm pretty happy with it (except the default skin is awful). It added several things that were missing in the free version (like MSN file transfers) and it's updated more often.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:51 am

Also, for Zaxxon:

Q: What does "Gaim" stand for?

A: For freedom! No, seriously, it doesn't stand for anything. It's our name and we're sticking to it. The two acceptable forms of capitalization are "Gaim" and "gaim" (and not "GAIM").

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:01 am

Peacedog wrote:Also, for Zaxxon:

Q: What does "Gaim" stand for?

A: For freedom! No, seriously, it doesn't stand for anything. It's our name and we're sticking to it. The two acceptable forms of capitalization are "Gaim" and "gaim" (and not "GAIM").

Well hot damn. I'm fired.

Meal: I use AIM and MSN, and both work pretty well through Gaim/gaim/NOTGAIM. MSN had some issues in the past, but the Gaim team seems to have worked them out.

Koz · Post by **Koz** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:46 pm

Unchecking it in msconfig never worked for me. The thing always pops up even if I kill it in Task Manager. I'll try regediting and see if that works. I hate that stupid messenger thing.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:29 am

gorham09 wrote:Nevertheless, perhaps this would answer your question....http://www.pchell.com/support/removemessenger.shtml

This worked like a champ! Thanks again.

I've done nothing to investigate Gaim, although it's on my to-do list.

~Neal