windows messanger wont stop starting on startup

[Karkinnen]

i have windows xp, sp2, although it did it on sp1. i have clicked the appropriate options in windows messanger to keep it from starting on startup, but it still does. which means that my windows messanger and MSN messanger have it out on who is going to run. am i supposed to be looking somewhere else? or is it just possessed LOL it has eveyone mystified, and they go with the possessed theory. can you help?

thanks!

karki :cheesy:

ps.. im glad yall are here ;)

[DuncanIdaho]

I think both those programs are 'possesors', meaning your PC is possessed by them. I don't run either for that reason. :p

Anyway, if you hit Control-Alt-Del you'll pull up Task Manager. You should be able to find a running process on the Processes page called 'msmsgs.exe', click it, then press the End Process button.

Now, open Windows Explorer, (NOT Internet Explorer), navigate to your C: drive, to the Program Files Folder, look in there for a folder called 'Messenger'. Open that folder, find the msmsgs.exe file inside, and rename it msmsgs.bak then Reboot, that should stop Windows Messenger from being able to run at all.

If this fixes it up for you, be sure to write these instructions down, because you may need to do it again once in a while after downloading new Windows Updates.

I know nothing of MSN messenger, if it stops working after you rename that file, you'll have to name it back to msmsgs.exe. Let me know how you fare.

Good luck. :)

[slowpoke]

Go to StartMenu->Run; when the prompt comes up type: msconfig then click OK. The System configuration utility will come up. Click on the startup tab.From this point you can control what programs will begin on startup. Simply uncheck whichever command line has windows messager(WM) in it. It should be GWMDMMSG, But I am not sure. Never mess with any files that have the word "system" or "system32" in them. However, none of this is any help if you are running MSN Messenger. MSN works with WM using NET passport, therefore when MSN starts so does WM.
NOTE: If u disable MSN Messenger Msn will not let u sign in. Best of luck!!

[DuncanIdaho]

I kind of thought that MSN Messenger might use Windows Messenger, if you're right, you've just confirmed that.

[alc6379]

Go to StartMenu->Run; when the prompt comes up type: msconfig then click OK. The System configuration utility will come up. Click on the startup tab.From this point you can control what programs will begin on startup. Simply uncheck whichever command line has windows messager(WM) in it. It should be GWMDMMSG, But I am not sure. Never mess with any files that have the word "system" or "system32" in them. However, none of this is any help if you are running MSN Messenger. MSN works with WM using NET passport, therefore when MSN starts so does WM. NOTE: If u disable MSN Messenger Msn will not let u sign in. Best of luck!!

I believe that in MSCONFIG, it's named "msmsgs", like DuncanIdaho mentioned. If you rename msmsgs.exe, you might then end up with an annoying "Cannot find MSMSGS.exe" type of error at startup.

[DuncanIdaho]

Actually, I'll be surprised if he finds it in MSCONFIG, because if you tell it not to run in it's options as he said he did, it removes itself from MSCONFIG's list, so it shouldn't even be there. I guess it's possible that somehow he ended up with two entries for it in there though, (I have a few entries in mine that are duplicates, seems to happen on occasion).

[mikeandike22]

go here and look at the info on how to turn off msn messenger.
http://willpull22.remnetworks.com/PCtips.htm

[slowpoke]

Thats a good point. Before I posted I went back and checked. There was no file "msmsgs". When I unchecked "GWMDMMSG" and rebooted neither my WM or MSN Messenger started. I am sure my version of Msn messanger is completely different than most(don't ask), which could also be the diffrence in the file name.
You are probably be right. It might not be there at all. Msn messenger does prompt it to start though.
I guess if we really wanted to be helpful and gain more insite we would ask:

Why is it that you do not windows messenger to run at statup?

I hope my questions get this much attention!

[dlh6213]

Karki, The easiest way to stop MSN Messenger from starting automatically is to open it, click on Tools (at the top), and then Options (at the bottom), Click on the Preferences tab, and then clear the box that says Run this program when Windows starts. Make any other changes you want while your there, and then click OK and close the program. It won't start automatically anymore.

For the Windows Messenger service, click on Start, point to Settings, click on Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, double-click Services, and scroll down to Messenger. It will probably show in the Startup Type as Automatic, right-click on it, and then click on Properties. At the Startup type box, click on the drop-down arrow and select either Manual or Disabled; Disabled will not allow you to use the program at all (unless you change it again), and Manual will let you start it whenever you want to.

[DuncanIdaho]

Heheh, which is what he said he did at the start, which is why we got into less 'standard' ways of shutting Messenger down. He's not talking about Windows Messenger, the alerter service, rather Microsoft Messenger, and MSN Messenger. ;)

[Bear]

I use this little utility HERE from Doug Knox, it allows you to disable or completely remove Windows Messenger from your computer.:)

[Dark_Omen]

You can turn it off by doing this. When you turn on your computer go into safe mode. Then go to program files and find the messenger file. Right click and go to rename and add "Off" to the end of the word messenger. This worked for me. I would always go into the msconfig to try to stop it and it would keep starting up after that.

[mikeandike22]

Yes Dark_omen is right i put that info on a link in my first post

[DuncanIdaho]

Didn't happen on mine, I had no problem renaming it after killing the process, but either way, I don't think any of this will help him, as it's been pointed out that if he kills Microsoft Messenger, it will also kill his MSN Messenger, which he wants to use.

I have no ideas on how to solve this.

[antioed]

Didn't happen on mine, I had no problem renaming it after killing the process, but either way, I don't think any of this will help him, as it's been pointed out that if he kills Microsoft Messenger, it will also kill his MSN Messenger, which he wants to use. I have no ideas on how to solve this.

On Windows XP there are three Microsoft applications that are all known as "Messenger". There's Messenger which handles alerts likenet send commands. Then there's Windows Messenger which is the built in IM client that comes with XP and runs as msmsgs.exe. Then there's MSN Messenger which, if I remember correctly, runs as msnmsgr.exe and has more robust IM client capabilities for the MSN IM community.

Hope this helps.

[dlh6213]

On Windows XP there are three Microsoft applications that are all known as "Messenger". There's Messenger which handles alerts like net send commands. Then there's Windows Messenger which is the built in IM client that comes with XP and runs as msmsgs.exe. Then there's MSN Messenger which, if I remember correctly, runs as msnmsgr.exe and has more robust IM client capabilities for the MSN IM community. Hope this helps.

Helps me :) I have a better understanding of these services now. Hope it can help resolve Karki's problem somehow.

[Catweazle]

Disabling Windows Messenger - click this link!

I have Windows Messenger Service disabled on my systems and MSN Messenger works just fine! The two are NOT co-dependent, in my experience.

[DuncanIdaho]

This topic has gotten somewhat muddy, so I'm going to rehash it here for clarity, hope no one minds:

The guy has:

Microsoft Messenger IM client.

MSN Messenger IM client.

(Windows Messenger alerter service is not involved in this problem).

His problem:

Both Microsoft Messenger IM client AND MSN Messenger IM client are loading at startup, fighting to see who's gonna log him in, even though he has set Microsoft Messenger IM client to not load at startup, and to never run.

That's the issue he's having.

So, I see at least a few possibilities: He somehow ended up with multiple entries for MSMSGS.EXE in his registry/MSCONFIG startup list, or he has a copy of Messenger in his Startup folder.

If the former is true, he can simply open msconfig and remove the check in front of any entry for msmsgs.exe. If the latter is true, he can delete the copy from his Startup folder.

If neither of these apply, first, what the heck is making it run? lol

Second: I'd try renaming msmsgs.exe, and seeing if MSN Messenger IM client still runs. If it does, he's golden. If it doesn't, I'm mystified.

Hope that clears this one up a bit. :)

[antioed]

heh...ok i was kinda avoiding this thread for a specific reason...I already know this problem and I don't think there is a solution...maybe an updated version of Windows Messenger would be fixed, it doesn't happen to me anymore -- I'm using 4.7. DI has the right idea in taking it out of msconfig - and that will work for a while but every now and then it seems to creep back in there. This thread has gotten rather muddy and I don't feel like reading it again but maybe this would be a situation to remove Windows Messenger since it sounds like MSN Messenger is the desired IM client and I think someone already posted how to remove it. Here's what MS says about it, but it looks like a lot of work.

I also found this rather interesting since we're talking about it coming back on its own:
____________________________

Windows XP Home and Windows Messenger 4.0
If you are running Windows Messenger version 4.0 on a machine that’s running Windows XP Home Edition, you’ll have to use a different procedure. Open Windows Messenger and click Tools | Options. When the Options properties sheet opens, select the Preferences tab. Deselect the Run This Program When Windows Starts check box and click OK. This will prevent the Windows Messenger from running when you start Windows, but users can still start Windows Messenger manually and it may be started automatically when you run Outlook or Outlook Express.

______________________________

I have no idea what version it's up to now but this is the latest from MS... would try that first. Good luck.

[DuncanIdaho]

Yup, the bit about it opening with Outlook is true even with the latest version, which is why mine's been renamed for over 3 years now. It also opens if you hit Hotmail's website, (odd that).

Anyway, thanks for that, that's good info. :)