If you're using MSN Messenger, or AIM, or Yahoo! or Trillian IM clients as your chat, IM or video conferencing tool, you may never use Windows Messenger and have tried to remove it from the startup group to keep it from appearing in your Systray. However, despite removing it from the Registry key that launches it you may have seen it return on occasion, and had to fight with it's icon and access denied messages while trying to shut it down.
The reason that Windows Messenger makes these unwanted re-appearances is that Outlook, Outlook Express and even some Microsoft Web pages can still make it load automatically. Fortunately, you can completely stop Windows Messenger from reappearing by making an alteration to the local group policy with the Group Policy Editor. You must be running with Administrator privileges to perform this action.
Here's what you should do:
For Windows XP Professional users:
1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the keys - Windows + R, or click on Start > Run;
2. In the Open text box type Gpedit.msc and click OK to launch the Group Policy Editor.
3. Go to Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Messenger.
4. Double-click the Do Not Allow Windows Messenger To Be Run setting.
5. In the resulting dialog box, select the Enabled option, and click OK
6. Close the Group Policy Editor.
How to disable Messenger in XP Home Edition
1: Solution #1 - Uninstall Messenger
2: Locate the file named SYSOC.INF in C:\Windows\Inf folder. NOTE: This folder and file are hidden by default.
3: Open SYSOC.INF with Notepad and locate this line: msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
4: Remove the word "hide" from the line, then close the file, saving the changes.
5: You can now use the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel to remove this Windows Component.
Stopping Windows Messenger from reappearing with Outlook Express
Even after you go through the trouble of "uninstalling" the darn thing, Windows Messenger still may pop up whenever you run Outlook Express -- which some people do every time they start Windows. To stop Outlook Express from bringing Windows Messenger back onto your System tray, follow these steps:
1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Choose Options from the Tools menu.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Click to remove the checkmark from the box marked, "Automatically log on to Windows Messenger."
5. Click the OK button.
6. Choose Layout from the View menu.
7. Click to remove the checkmark from Contacts.
8. Click the OK button to close the Window.
See more solutions in the extended comments ...
Stopping Windows Messenger 4.0 on a Windows XP Home Edition
1) Start Windows Messenger.
2) Click Options on the Tools menu.
3) Click the Preferences tab, click to clear the "Run this program when Windows starts" check box, and then click OK.
Windows Messenger 4.5 or Later on Either Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional
1) Click on Start, Run
2) Type REGEDIT and Press Enter
3) Click on the Pluses (+) next to the following items
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* Software
* Policies
* Microsoft
4) If the folder Messenger is not listed, click on the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type Messenger for the name of the new registry key
5) If the folder Client is not listed under Messenger, click on the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type Client for the name of the new registry key
6) On the Edit Menu, point to New, click DWORD Value, and then type PreventRun for the name of the new DWORD value. Remember all of this is case sensitive.
7) Right-click the PreventRun value that you created, click Modify, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
8) Quit Registry Editor.
How to Stop Outlook or Outlook Express from Running Windows Messenger When They Are Opened
Outlook
1) Open Outlook
2) Click on Tools, Options
3) Click "Other" tab
4) Uncheck the box for Enable Instant Messaging in Microsoft Outlook
5) Click OK
Outlook Express
1) Open Outlook Express
2) Click Tools, Options
3) Click General tab
4) Uncheck the box for Automatically log on to Windows Messenger
5) Click OK
Lastly, Windows Messenger can be disabled by editing the IM options found in "Set Program Access And Defaults" which is found under Start > Programs > Set Program Access And Defaults. Note that you must be a member of the Administrators Group to use this utility.
Disabling Messenger via GPE Slowed Outlook 2002 To A Crawl
One commenters experience with one of these remedies
"Since I don't use Messenger, I opted to disable it with GPE using the "Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run" option under Computer Configuration. Just by chance, I happened to open Outlook immediately after completing the tweak and the splash screen took forever to disappear. Normally, Outlook is very fast on this box. I knew nothing else had been changed so I suspected disabling Messenger was related to the slowdown.
Sure enough, the setting in Outlook for "Enable Instant Messaging in Microsoft Outlook" was checked. Outlook was trying to start Messenger and having it disallowed in GPE was causing a huge slowdown. Removing the checkmark from the "Enable Instant Messaging in Microsoft Outlook" option returned Outlook to its normally snappy response. I suspect this same scenario may play out in other applications that have the ability to access Messenger automatically. Just something to keep in mind if you experience an unexpected slowdown."
Learn more about disabling Windows Messenger on this Microsoft article.
back to top ^