Windows Live Messenger help !

Which version of Messenger is this? Which OS are you using? Do you see this problem when you go to live.mail.com?

You might try to uninstall and re-install Windows Live Sign-in Assistant.

TheMetrologist at 2007-10-3 >

Windows Live Messenger 8.1 (latest)
Windows Vista Business (upgrade from XP SP)

Installs fine, doesn't start. There is a msnmsgr.exe process running, but Live Messenger doesn't show up. I can't kill the process. Starting new instances (as administrator or normal user) of Live Messenger doesn't help - only new processes are creates, but the program does not show up.

It's been 5 months since release of Windows Vista and Microsoft hasn't fixed this issue. They are loosing their users...

Paktas at 2007-10-3 >

Ok .... I was running vista ultimate and ran windows live messenger 8.1 with no problems at all, except that when it was running under my public identity, it would screw up my passport sign ins in my private identity in the Microsoft web sites... IE the messenger service would somehow control the passport cookie in my IE... despite that I would sign into a web site using my secure ID

This was all wonderful until 2 weeks ago when my notebook suffered a serious hardware failure and was repaired under warranty... I gather they put in a new motherboard... so suddenly my drivers started failing... I took the radical decision to redeploy the box... so I wiped the c drive and started again...

Now I have the same problem as the rest of you.... Interesting when you uninstall the messenger it happily shuts down the one messenger service that you cant otherwise shut down...

Clearly messenger is running, but for some reason the helper is not loading in the sys tray for you to access the forms platform...

Clicking on the start icon just creates more messenger services... all happily runnng as their own instance... with no icon...

I had hoped that the uninstall and reinstall would reinstate me to a working messenger status... that is not the case unfortunately...

This is the cleanest box you could imagine setting up... its also got lots of grunt... so its not a hardware or environmental issue...

I am thinking the helper is trying to load but is not hitting the sys tray, Im wondering if it is going somewhere where we cant see it...

wile1one at 2007-10-3 >

I had Windows Defender and (in my humble opinion) thought it wasn't up to much on it's own but is great with a few AS apps. It sounds like a piece of adware/spyware has got into your machine! Pop-ups open in a new window (set by default in IE7 tabbed browsing options) and do that anyway in IE6. Run an extra antispyware app. such as Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 edition (it's free), also try the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner (free from the Windows OneCare website). With Win Defender you are allowed two free incident reports so let them know and they should help. Pop-ups are usually spyware and Win Defender does miss a good few but works well a few others.

If the spyware is deep in your registry try HijackThis as a last resort, you can post the results of the scan (run and save a log but don't change anything until an expert has looked it over) on the tech boards at TrendMicro (who MS picked to scan your Hotmail attachments), any tech forums and here of course.

Oh I forgot, you can also run the Microsoft malicious software removal tool as an extra precaution, no harm done.

Good luck

Hellbunny at 2007-10-3 >

i installed windows vista today and it took 40mins max ,

so next logical step was an antivirus which went on great , followed by messenger live

and may i tell you in french what a *** that was i could not get it to install for almost 4 hours . i had RC2 on an old amd pc and it went on instantly but this p4 pc would not let it install i had to browse and download about 4 different version of messenger till i finally got it to install yet that still tok 40 mins before the progress bar even moved , then i got a message from the most spectacular firewall ever created ( the one that lets nothing through, you know the one its that stupid pathetic thing that microsoft add to the security centre, you guessed it WINDOWS FIREWALL, pathetic piece of *** that is ) why do they not supply symantec/norton firewall as they are partners come free with windows.

all i can say is for the price i paid for this operating system its *** for allowing anything to install and it also slows my 20 meg conn down to the bare minimum it took me 20-25 mins to download the install progs for messenger , where as on xp pro it would take 20-25 seconds its making me feel like im back using the dial up internet connection.

sorry for the rant but to take almost 7 hours to install windows and antivirus and messenger is taking the pi ss and im very very angry at microsoft and mr gates for allowing that firewall to act like an arse even tho i allowed messenger install access in the firewall.

louisparke at 2007-10-3 >