I noticed tonight that even though I don’t have Windows Messenger active that msmsgr.exe was showing up in my Task Manager when I ran Outlook Express. I checked the OE settings: “log into messenger automatically” was not selected. I uninstalled Windows Messenger from Add/Remove Windows Components but it still ran when OE launched. I remembered that I got an update to version 4.7 from Windows Update but I didn’t see that listed in the uninstall list. I got rid of it though… how?
Went to Google of course, but in an effort to save time (should I need this again) I’ll list it here. There’s a registry setting for OE that will force it to not load Windows Messenger regardless of any other setting. To turn off Windows Messenger’s integration of OE, close OE, open RegEdit.exe and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Outlook Express
Look for a DWORD value called Hide Messenger – if it’s there change its value to 2. If the value didn’t exist, add it now and set its value to 2.
That’s about it. Restart OE and you won’t find msmsgr.exe running any more. Cheers to this helpful page that Google spit out at me, too.
This has driven me nuts, too.
I’ve deleted the file, uninstalled IM, done this, done that – but I *still* have IM loading when I fire up OE.
I haven’t figured out yet how to destroy the damn thing.
Argh.
Oops – You, quite conveniently, detail how to get rid of it – I wrote my comment in what must have been an abbreviated version of your post.
A thousand apologies :)
And thanks for the info. It is *much* appreciated.
No worries – I’m glad it’s working for ya :)
Thanks heaps.
Everytime I went to load OE, it would take forever because messenger had some sort of fault in it, but now it loads all but instantaneously as messenger is no longer needed.
Many thanks,
Peter
Randy:
Just wanted to thank you for the post. I finally got rid of the Messenger stuff.
Thanks,
John
No worries from all – glad the reminders I leave for myself can be useful for other people… I can’t tell you how many times I keep going back to the Caps Lock bit… every new machine I touch gets that tweak!
WOW! Thanks so much for this page. Saved me SOOOO much time.
Thanks very much for this fix!!!
Did not work for me. I have OE 6 and it still comes up, even if I disable it in services. I have placed the “Hide Messanger” line in the registry as a DWORD and set it’s value to 2. No Luck, any other suggestions?
Not a clue – this ended up working for me and I haven’t seen it since… sorry!
Thanks for the solution, this thing really works! Thanks!!!!
Thanks you so much!
It’s really annoying to have to exit Messenger everytime…even more annoying that it hogs 13k of memory!
I got through this part . . .
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Outlook Express . . .
but then am not sure what DWORD means or is or where it is . . . ?
DWORD is a type of value that is on the right side of the screen: right mouse click on the right pane (not the left I mean) and you’ll see New. Select DWORD value and you can enter in the 2. If it’s there already, no worries – just change it to 2.
Thanks Man… Great Idea
Hi.. I know I’m a bit late coming to this but I recently got a new laptop with xp on it. I have this same problem, only I can’t find any registry values like what’s listed in the original post.
I’d love to stop that msmsgs.exe from loading in the background, and would love to see it go away from my OE.
The instructions above should get the job done for you… have ya tried the added note, a couple of comments above:
DWORD is a type of value that is on the right side of the screen: right mouse click on the right pane (not the left) and you’ll see New. Select DWORD value and you can enter in the 2. If it’s there already, no worries – just change it to 2.
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How to stop messenger loading with OE 6
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No need to tweak the registry (it won’t work for OE 6 anyway), the following TWO options must be set :
1. In the menu select Tools->Options…, then in the ‘General’ options tab clear the checkbox for ‘Automatically log in to Windows Messenger’, then click ‘OK’.
2. In the menu select View->Layout…, then clear the checkbox for ‘Contacts’, then click ‘OK’.
Now close OE (and IE if it is running), then close messenger. Now whenever you open OE, messenger will no longer start automatically.
Note that if you re-enable ‘Contacts’ in View->Layout… options, messenger will start automatically as before. Don’t ask me why, perhaps those clever? helpful? people at Microsoft could give you the answer!!!
I also noticed there is a way to leave windows messenger installed and still prevent it from running when outlook express starts without having to modify the registry. If you download AIM or YIM and set it as the “default instant messenger” AIM or YIM will automatically start when you run Outlook Express instead of windows messenger. Next, uncheck the “default instant messanger” and volia!! There is no longer a “default instant messanger” assigned and Outlook starts like a charm.
Thank you so much! When I tried to disable it through the options tab, it didn’t work.
Here is your answer. The easiest and less intrusive way (not having to tamper with the registry) is to go into the Control Panel, Add Remove Programs, click on the sidebar icon for Add/Remove Windows Components (no longer is messenger just a program, but its status has been now escalated to “component of Windows”) and uncheck the box next to Windows Messenger. Voila. Quick. Complete. No mess.
In response to Darcia:
Its not always available in the Remove Windows Components section and using that registry key is the only way I’ve found to stop it from loading when that is the case.
This has been annoying the hell out of me. Thanks for the tip!
Emmanuel
Thanks!
if you dont want to get rid of windows messenger but still dont want it in the toolbar when you open OE, simply open up windows messenger, click tools, options, choose the preferences tab and tick the ‘allow windows messenger to run in the background’ box and its done.
opps just re read my post and i meant to put uncheck the ‘allow windows messenger to run in the background’ box.
See the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302089/EN-US/
Apparently there is corresponding setting in both the USER and COMPUTER parts of the registry.
Hey Cheers Mike Whitehead, Works a treat!!
hey guys.. no need for all that crap. Just go to program files and rename messenger folder to anything you like.. and the problem is solved..
Thanks so much! That DWORD value trick worked wonderfully; now no more messenger opening all the time! And it was so easy :) Wow, the time and hassle I could have saved myself it I knew about this earlier.
Thanks a lot, worked great.
Thank you so much for this. It drives me mad when Microsoft forces this sort of crap. Weirdly, I have OE running at work and have never had Messenger appear. It’s not even consistantly crap!
Thank you again!
Doesn’t the DWORD value ‘Hide Messenger’ suggest Messenger is merely being hidden as opposed to disabled; quite like many trojans and other nasties? Deselecting ‘Contacts’ in the view options may do the trick, but what if you want your contacts visible?
Well, before I read all this stuff, this is what I did. I saw that ‘C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe’ was being replaced every time I deleted it and firing up when I opened OE. So, I created a new, empty ‘.txt’ file in the same directory, renamed ‘msmsgs.exe’ to ‘msmsgs.exe.ms’, then renamed the ‘.txt’ file ‘msmsgs.exe’. I haven’t seen messenger in running peocesses since.
Not really. I mean the registry key can be named shamalamadingdong – doesn’t always reflect what the application does. Having said that, when the key *is* set, a quick look at Task Manager confirms that it’s not running. I’m not sure what kind of trojan you’d be concerned about for an application that isn’t running – it’s the same as any dormant EXE on your HDD… but that’s just me.
Open Outlook, Tools > Options > Other, then disable the “enable instant messaging in microsoft outlook”
That’s Outlook – this is about Outlook Express and Windows over all. Thanks tho.
Worked for me. The version it worked on is Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3311
Thanks Randy I love quick and accurate registry hacks like that. There is what Bill Gates wants,
then there is what Bill Gates gets, and today he don’t get messenger without my permission.
Hi, I have disabled messenger from starting when OE is started, but it still starts whenever I reconnect with OE running (I have to reconnect often as I keep losing connections, especially to the work VPN). I don’t want to remove messenger entirely, I just want it not to start from OE. What happens at present if I have live messenger running, and then reconnect my connection, is thta it will log off live messenger (saying I have logged on “on another machine” and log into windows messenger from OE. I could close down OE before reconnecting every time, but that would be a pain. Any ideas from you creative techies? Cheers.
El m�todo que explic� Randy funciona perfectamente. Gracias Randy. Aqu� va:
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C�mo detener la carga de messenger al iniciar OE 6
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No necesitas ajustar el registro, simplemente sigue las siguientes instrucciones:
1. En el men� del Outlook Express, selecciona Herramientas/Opciones. En la pesta�a ‘General’, desmarca la casilla ‘Conectar autom�ticamente con Windows Messenger’, y pulsa ‘Aceptar’.
2. Luego ve al men� Ver/Dise�o…, y desmarca la casilla de ‘Contactos’. Pulsa ‘Cerrar’.
Ahora cierra Outlook Express (y el Explorador de Internet). Cierra tambi�n el messenger. Listo.
Damn Microsoft! Thanks Randy.
Thanks, worked great!
But why does it load when you open OE, is it usefull?
No idea… I haven’t used Outlook Express in about 5 years. My guess is that there was some cross-app integration back in the day…
Randy thanks for the tip. I’ll make a note of this and use it the next time I have to reinstall XP. God bless my friend.
Thanks a ton!!