MSN Messenger w/ XP (1 Viewer)

[Chris Svencer]

Can you uninstall MSN Messenger from XP so it doesn't go to the systray everytime you open IE?
Thanks.
-Svence

 

[DaveGTP]

Installation of XP Service Pack 1 will give you the options to uninstall any of these M$ pack-in programs, like Messenger. It will also correct some security holes and make a few anti-trust required changes.
Check this link @ M$ :
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q302089

When you install Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows adds a new feature that is named "Set Program Access and Defaults" to the Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. You can use this feature to remove Windows Messenger from the Start menu, the desktop, and other locations. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

A riskier method I guess, but I think I used this to disable it:
Do a start/run and use this command to modify the registry:
rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %WinDir%infmsmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

 

[Todd H]

Actually, you still can't uninstall it even after installing the service pack. It only allows you to "hide" certain aspects of XP. The programs remain installed on your hard drive. Unfortunately, Microsoft thought it would be a good idea to intermingle the code of XP and Messenger much the same way it did with Internet Explorer.

 

[nolesrule]

You can keep it from loading into the systray by opening the MSN Messenger program and going into options and disabling it.

 

[Steve_Ch]

Check 98lite.net from time to time, it's not ready yet, but they are working on it. BTW, for those that are not familiar with 98lite, they are the Australian folks that brought us win98 lite, where you can strip just about everything, including IE and MS HTML engine out of win98, and it works.