What is the difference between Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger?

[rnmcd]

I can't see much of a feature difference from the messenger.microsoft.com site.

My new Dell PC came with MSN Explorer and Windows Messenger...I ASSumed it would come with MSN Messenger.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: rnmcd
I can't see much of a feature difference from the messenger.microsoft.com site.

My new Dell PC came with MSN Explorer and Windows Messenger...I ASSumed it would come with MSN Messenger.

MSN messenger(5..?) is what co-opted(raped it really..) the built-into WinXP Windows messenger on my machine..

 

[LuDaCriS66]

I just had the buit in windows messenger on XP pro.. then a message popped up on messenger saying there was an update.. so I updated it and I got MSN messenger 5.0 installed on my system instead..
tried uninstalling messenger from Add/Remove programs but it's still there... oh well

 

[Noriaki]

Windows Messanger in Windows XP *IS* MSN Messanger. It's just been integrated into the desktop now.
It's really hard to get rid of. You can upgrade to a newer version of MSN Messanger if you want, but you can't get rid of it completely.

In Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Windows Messanging is just a simple little service that runs that allows you send messages to other people on your network using the netsend command line command.
It's pretty useless really, though lately some spammers have been doing batch netsend to blocks of IPs to irritate the hell out of people.

 

[wyvrn]

Try this go get rid of messenger in XP and tell me if it works:



Start by locating the file SYSOC.INF in the \Windows\INF folder. This folder and the file are hidden. Open SYSOC.INF in Notepad. Locate the line in the file that reads "msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7", delete the word hide and save the file. Now, you can go to the Control Panel and click on Add/Remove programs and remove Messenger from your system.

 

Better yet, do Start-->Run-->Put this in

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

You are done...just make sure you exit MS Messenger before you do that.

 

[GroundZero]

goto
xp tweak
it shows you how to get rid of the dreaded msn messenger from xp
and a whole lot of other things

 

[Radiohead]

So far the only major difference between the two, aside from cosmetics, that I have found is that MSN Messenger doesn't allow you to remove those tabs on the side, the Money, FYE and such... whereas Windows Messenger lets you.

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
I just had the buit in windows messenger on XP pro.. then a message popped up on messenger saying there was an update.. so I updated it and I got MSN messenger 5.0 installed on my system instead..
tried uninstalling messenger from Add/Remove programs but it's still there... oh well

I have the exact same problem. and everytime i open outlook, it starts the other one.

 

[CraigRT]

same crap different name...

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Hammer

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
I just had the buit in windows messenger on XP pro.. then a message popped up on messenger saying there was an update.. so I updated it and I got MSN messenger 5.0 installed on my system instead..
tried uninstalling messenger from Add/Remove programs but it's still there... oh well

I have the exact same problem. and everytime i open outlook, it starts the other one.

oh my god... I FREAKING HATE THAT!!! :|

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Under Outlook - Tools, Options : look for "Automatically start Windows Messenger" ... uncheck it and then delete it.

- M4H

 

[rnmcd]

So is the consensus Windows Messenger is the lesser of the two evils (compared to MSN Messenger)?

My problem is that I have MSN as my internet provider (I just want to get the free 6 months then I'll get a local ISP) and I have created a manual dial-up to MSN so I can more readily use some other browser besides MSN Explorer. When I log onto MSN (via the manual dial-up) I can't get Windows Messenger to fully sign in--it just perpetually displays says "signing in..." I have to manually cancel the sign-in attempt then click "Sign In" and it connects. It's just a step I would like to bypass.


Thanks.

 

[Lvis]

Thanks for the link, Groundzero. The script worked great. I'll check out some of the other tweaks soon.

 

[Slugbait]

Windows Messanger in Windows XP *IS* MSN Messanger. It's just been integrated into the desktop now. It's really hard to get rid of. You can upgrade to a newer version of MSN Messanger if you want, but you can't get rid of it completely

More precisely, MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger are two entirely different clients. Also, Windows Messenger isn't integrated into the desktop, it's simply a core component, like NetMeeting...so it cannot be uninstalled via Add/Remove. However, MSN Messenger v5.0 can easily be uninstalled via Add/Remove on XP.

Further, Windows Messenger is (currently) exclusive to XP, and cannot be installed on downlevel operating systems. Up until last month, MSN Messenger could only be installed on downlevel, and could not be installed on XP.

Today, with v5.0 of MSN Messenger, you can install it side-by-side with Windows Messenger on XP, and run both clients simultaneously, logged into two seperate hotmail/msn/passport accounts.

When installing v5.0 on XP, it tries to "be smart". However, for best results, you should have SP1 and the latest build of Windows Messenger installed before installing MSN Messenger v5.0. If you installed v5.0, and you'd rather go back to using v4.7, it's simply a matter of launching both clients, go Tools->Options->General and change your sign in options for each, or uninstalling MSN Messenger via Add/Remove.

Outlook and OE are both hardcoded into using v4.x versions of both MSN and Windows Messenger. As a result, Windows Messenger will still autolaunch. To disable for Outlook, go Tools->Options->Other and uncheck "Enable Instant Messaging".

Hacking Windows Messenger off your hard drive can sometimes cause Hotmail to take forever to load in OE. If v4.7 still auto-launches and auto-logs on along with OE...thus kicking off your v5.0 logon...you can prevent auto-logon via Tools->Options->General and unchecking "Automatically logon to Windows Messenger". This won't prevent OE from auto-launching the client, tho.

If you like Messenger integration with your Hotmail account via IE, then you will need to use v5.0. Hotmail no longer supports v4.x versions of either MSN Messenger or Windows Messeneger for integration.

When I log onto MSN (via the manual dial-up) I can't get Windows Messenger to fully sign in--it just perpetually displays says "signing in..." I have to manually cancel the sign-in attempt then click "Sign In" and it connects.

This is odd. However, I'm assuming you got an MSN8 account, so there may be an explanation: MSN8 ties directly into MSN Messenger. For example, if you launch MSN8 browser and logon, then launch Windows Messenger, you will never be able to logon Windows Messenger at all, regardless of which account you use (on the flip side, if you logon Windows Messenger before launching MSN8, you can simultaneously use both Messenger clients). This may be why WinMsgr fails on the first logon attempt via DUN: there could be something specific to the MSN8 shell that still loads, even tho' you're configured for DUN. An option is to switch to MSN Messenger.

 

[Hammer]

if anyone figures out the msn thing, post the fix

 

[Xionide]

n