How to remove Windows Messenger from Windows XP

One of the most annoying "features" of Windows XP is Windows Messenger.  Rather than simply ask you if you would like to use Windows Messenger the first time that you log on to Windows, Microsoft has it automatically installed and start up whenever you log in to Windows.  You can't just ignore it, because every 5 minutes or so it pops up with a bubble asking you to sign up for a Microsoft Passport account.  If you simply exit Messenger, it will start up the next time you log on to Windows.  Removing the registry entry to have Messenger automatically start up, or using the program msconfig to stop it from starting up won't work if you use Outlook XP.  Any time Outlook XP is run, Windows Messenger is put back in the registry to automatically start if it has been deleted.  There is an option inside of Windows Messenger to not start up automatically, but to get to this point, you have to sign up for a Passport account.

The only solution is to uninstall Windows Messenger.  However this is not an easy task.  It is not listed under Add/Remove Programs.  The steps to uninstall messenger used to involve editing an inf file.  However, this method does not work with newer installs of XP.

To uninstall Windows Messenger, download the file xp_messenger_remove.vbs to a location on your computer.  When it is done downloading, navigate to the location that you saved it to, and double click on the file.  You may be prompted that Messenger must be closed to continue.  When this is done, Messenger should be removed.  This information was obtained from Doug Knox's web page at http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_messenger_remove.htm.  If this does not remove Messenger, try the old instructions below.

OLD INSTRUCTIONS:
Follow these steps to uninstall Windows Messenger:

  1. Click Start.. Programs.. Accessories.. Notepad.
  2. Click File.. Open.
  3. Under the Files of Type: drop down list, select All Files
  4. Navigate to the C:\Windows\inf directory.  If you don't see an inf folder under Windows, follow these steps:
    1. Click Cancel.
    2. Close Notepad.
    3. Double click on My Computer from your desktop
    4. Click on Tools.. Folder Options
    5. Click on the View tab
    6. In the Advanced Settings box, you'll see an entry named Hidden Files and Folders.  Click Show Hidden Files and Folders underneath of this.
    7. Click OK
    8. Close My Computer.
    9. Now Follow steps 1-4 again, you should see an inf folder under Windows.
  5. Double click on the file named sysoc.inf
  6. Find the line that starts off with msmsgs=msgrocm.dll...... (the one highlighted in the picture below)

     
  7. Remove the word "hide" from this line (only remove the 4 letters, do NOT remove the commas or anything else!).  The line should then look like this:

     
  8. Once this is done (again make sure that you only deleted the 4 letters "hide" on this line and didn't delete ANYTHING else!), click File.. Save.
  9. Close Notepad.
  10. Click Start.. Control Panel.. Add/Remove Programs.. Add/Remove Windows Components (button on the left).
  11. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see Windows Messenger.  Uncheck It.

     
  12. Click Next.
  13. You're now done!  No more Windows Messenger!