One of the
benefits of Windows XP is the integration of Windows Messenger. This little feature gives XP the power to
help you by automatically notifying you of new email, allowing remote desktop capabilities, etc.
What it really does is just annoy the hell out of you. You shut it down, it opens itself back up. You turn off notification, it pops up notifications anyway. Remove it from the registry, and if you're using Outlook XP, it gets re-written to the registry every time. Best solution? Completely wipe it out. Here's how:
1) Make sure you can "see" all the files and folders in your computer by
a) click start -> My Computer
b) click tools -> Folder Options
c) click on the view tab
d) In the advanced settings box, find and check "Show Hidden Files and Folders"
e) click ok
2) navigate to c:\windows\inf
3) right click on sysoc.inf and choose "open with"
4) In the box that pops up, find Notepad, click it, then click OK
5) Find this line in the file:
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
6) Delete the word "hide" from this line. The line should now look like:
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7
7) Save the file and exit Notepad
8) Click start -> control panel
9) double click "Add/remove programs"
10) click on Add/Remove Windows Components (button is on the left)
11) Scroll down until you see Windows Messenger
12) Uncheck it!
13) Click Next
14) You're done. No more annoying Windows Messenger.
15) go get
Trillian. It's a nice chat program that includes the ability to use AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo.
Hope this helps.
