26th February 2002
Like it or not, the integration of Internet-aware applications on your Windows desktop is inevitable. It'll be pervasive for some, and invasive for others. Take today's Microsoft menace: the Messenger. Yes, in this instance, you're in your right mind to shoot it (especially if you don't use it). .Net is becoming a reality, folks - and I'm certain that nothing will drive people away faster from the Windows platform. It may even happen to yours truly. Anyway, until that time, let's try to live with what we've got. Or, what we don't want to "got." Lockergnomie Owen Holm offers a simple workaround for keeping that sucker from loading: "Just move the EXE to another folder - or delete it entirely. It doesn't stop outlook Express from working." There ya go! Most of us will find the application (msmsgs) tucked away inside C:\ Program Files \ Messenger. Another solution is to wipe it off the face of your system. On the Run command line, enter: "RunDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf, BLC.Remove" (sans quotes with no spaces immediately following each comma). After confirming this action, it should be gone. As always, a backup is recommended before messing with any system component.