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MSN Messenger and Windows XP
Have you ever noticed that you just
can't seem to get rid of MSN Messenger in Windows XP? You've set its
properies to not load at startup but it sill pops up mysteriously, using
up your precious system resources. You've tried running msconfig and
removing it from the startup list but it still starts somehow. You've
unchecked the messenger settings in Outlook Express but it still raises
its ugly head whenever OE is opened. Well, I have found a solution - two
of them, actually, but one method works much better than the other, at
least on my system.
First Method
If you have Win XP Pro, you can use
Group Policies to disable it using a program called
"gpedit.msc". Simply go to Start >Run and type in gpedit.msc. You will
see an explorer type box with left and right panes. In the left pane click
on the '+' sign to open Computer Configuration. Then open up the
Administrative Templates folder, and then the Windows Components folder.
Now select the Windows Messenger folder. Two settings will appear in the
right pane. The first one, "Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run" is
the one we will enable. Right click on it and select 'Properties'. Now
simply click in the little circle next to 'enable'. Click the Apply button
and close the box, then close the Group Policy editor. MSN messenger will
no longer run on your system! There is one drawback to this method,
however. Depending on its configuration, Outlook Express may take an
unusually long time to open up - 10-15 seconds or so, even with messenger
support turned off. To me that seemed like an eternity, so I hunted around
for a better solution.....
Second Method
Download this small VBS script written by
Doug Knox that will edit your registry:
MSN Killer
Save the script file to your hard
drive. Now double-click the file and you should receive a confirmation
message stating that MSN Messenger is now disabled. Log off and back on
and Outlook Express will now open even faster than before, and you will no
longer have the messenger icon popping up in your system tray. Should you
decide you want to re-enable it you can use this script to do
so:
Resurrect MSN
You can open the scripts with notepad
to see what registry keys are modified . | 
