How to Uninstall Windows Live Messenger

What is Windows Live Messenger?

Windows Live Messenger, previously known as MSN messenger, is an instant messenger client designed by Microsoft. This messenger is a part of the Windows Vista operating system as well as leading mobile OS’s like iOS, Symbian, Blackberry and Java ME. It is also a major component of the Microsoft online services Windows Live.

.NET Messenger, MSN messenger, Album viewer, social networks as well as various games and applications are all integrated into one service in Windows Live Messenger. This messenger also has integration with Yahoo! Messenger and Xbox, which has added to its popularity over the years. The newest version of Messenger is Windows Live Messenger Wave 4, which is in its beta version and will be released in 2011.

How to uninstall Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live messenger being a part of the Windows instant messaging services cannot be uninstalled completely from the Windows OS. You can only remove the Live messenger interface and disable the Instant messenger service to stop it. Performing the following steps will disable Windows Live Messenger–

Step 1: Boot your system into Safe Mode – Safe mode is an option where no software or driver is loaded, and the only component loaded is the core operating system.  To get into safe mode follow these steps –

  1. Restart your system.
  2. When the system starts booting, keep pressing the F8 key.
  3. This will bring a set of 6 options on the screen choose SAFE MODE using the arrow keys and once selected press Enter

This system takes around 2-3 minutes to get into safe mode.

Step 2: Uninstall program using Windows Uninstaller –You can uninstall Windows Live messenger client using the Windows uninstaller. Here are the steps:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Click Program and Features for Windows Vista / 7 or Add and Remove Programs in Windows XP option to display the window from where you can uninstall programs.
  3. Select Windows Live Messenger from the list and click Uninstall or Change/Remove.
  4. Next, select the Windows Live Essentials and Uninstall it.

Alternatively, you can perform the following steps to uninstall any traces of Windows Messenger –

  1. Click on Start and then go to Run.
  2. In the Open box type “RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove”.
  3. Click OK.

If this does not work, you may opt to use a reliable program removal tool, such as Perfect Uninstaller to force uninstall Windows Live Messenger. Also, it is recommended that you follow up the uninstallation process with a registry cleanup to remove any orphaned keys.  To simplify this task, you can use a reliable registry tool, such as RegGenie to do the task.