msmsgs.exe ? XP Home hogging cpu and wont stay gone

I have XP Home, and in task manager it shows msmsgs.exe ( owner ) to peg 99%
at least, my cpu only when I am connected to my dial-in ISP.

I could delete it in task manager processes and after 3 times, it would stop
coming back in 1-2 minuits, but now, I have been deleating it 20-30 times
and the damn thing keeps coming back in a second or 2, and pegging my cpu
every 7 seconds or so, after it settles down after a few deletes and quits
99% hogging it continuousely.

My computer ran fine when it stayed deleated. No/very small ( only 3-5% )
cpu spikes when just connected to ISP, and me not doing anything.

I would prefer not to re-install yet, because my Norton antivirus
subscription which is due in april will be lost ( I lost about 4 months of
it the last time I reinstalled about 9 months ago ).

All functions that I use worked normal with no cpu hogging when it would
stay gone, but it looks like it is getting worse the last few days.

How to get rid of msmsgs.exe perminately ?

 

I should have googled it first. Anyway, according to posts of other people
who had problems with msmsgs.exe, it is Windows Messenger. It shows up when
outlook express is open.

So I clicked on it for the 1st time since I bought this comp 2 years ago,
and ticked all the boxes to disable it, and got a damn smartass message that
it is still running, " so I could still get messages when logged in ". I
have never even fired it up, except to try to get rid/disable it today, much
less logged in to the damned thing.

I re-booted, and still have it hogging the cpu, and it wont stay away still.

No apparent way to uninstall it ( not listed ), no way to shut it down in
administrative services ( again not listed ), and all the info to get rid
of/disable it manually that I have found is for a different op system than
XP Home from what it seems.

TIA, tim

 

|I should have googled it first. Anyway, according to posts of other people
| who had problems with msmsgs.exe, it is Windows Messenger. It shows up
when
| outlook express is open.
|
| So I clicked on it for the 1st time since I bought this comp 2 years ago,
| and ticked all the boxes to disable it, and got a damn smartass message
that
| it is still running, " so I could still get messages when logged in ". I
| have never even fired it up, except to try to get rid/disable it today,
much
| less logged in to the damned thing.
|
| I re-booted, and still have it hogging the cpu, and it wont stay away
still.
|
| No apparent way to uninstall it ( not listed ), no way to shut it down in
| administrative services ( again not listed ), and all the info to get rid
| of/disable it manually that I have found is for a different op system than
| XP Home from what it seems.
|
| TIA, tim
|
|
Ahh...but I believe it *CAN* be stopped! Open Notepad (winkey-r, type
notepad, press enter) and copy the text between the double lines to notepad.
(Cut/paste works best).

==========
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client]
"PreventRun"=dword:00000001
"PreventAutoRun"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\InstantMessaging]
"ForceDisableIM"=dword:00000001
==========

(If any of the above lines are broken between the [brackets] then make sure
they are fixed in your notepad window so they are one complete line.)

Then save the file to your desktop with the name "MessengerKill.reg".
Double-click the file to make those changes to your registry. You may need
to reboot for it to take effect.

 

No problem. Find the folder on your c:\drive named "messenger".
Rename it to "no-messeger" or "stop-messenger".
Since OE can't find the file, it ignores it and moves on.

 

Thank you Tim and Richard, but before I checked back here, I tried the
instructions here

http://myitforum.techtarget.com/articles/15/view.asp?id=7033

And problem is completely solved !!!

Windows messenger is GONE, and I have my cpu power back !!! It looks like it
was downloading crap before I removed it.

Thanks again

 

| Thank you Tim and Richard, but before I checked back here, I tried the
| instructions here
|
| http://myitforum.techtarget.com/articles/15/view.asp?id=7033
|
| And problem is completely solved !!!
|
| Windows messenger is GONE, and I have my cpu power back !!! It looks like
it
| was downloading crap before I removed it.
|
| Thanks again
|
Cool! Neat tip...

 

Cool! Neat tip...

Yes, my best friend emailed it to me

I printed it out, and filed it in my XP paper file, for when I reinstall in
april.

I wont have windows messenger on my machine ever again

It is great to know, there are other ways to get rid of it as well

 

I first disabled it in Outlook Express, then went to Control Panel>
Add/Remove Programs>on the left-hand side of Add/Remove Programs
"Add/Remove Windows Components" and uncheck it, along with MSN Explorer
and that piece of schitt, Windows Media Player.

"Tim Kett" <> chiseled in stone, the
following words