Gateway Preinstalled Bloatware and Removing MS Messenger

Greetings.

My parents bought a Gateway and that thing is so full of preinstalled bloated guano. I promptly removed the megs upon megs of Norton, McAfee, etc. and promptly installed AntiVir and MS Spyware AP. When I tried to remove MS Messenger it seemed buried so far I could not find it with an electron microscope. I tried the techniques at this site: http://www.mess.be/msnmessengerfaq/...remove_Windows_Messenger_from_Windows_XP.html but when I tried the first suggestion I received a messege stating the the file could not be found. When I tried the second I could not find the file at all.

Anyone know how to get rid of the evil MS Beast? Thanks in advance.

 

I do believe that Autopatcher has what you need. Head over to www.autopatcher.com to download it.

One quick Q. Is it Messenger (comes with XP) or MSN Messenger (has to be downloaded)? I'm sure that Autopatcher will remove the default Windows Messenger but not the MSN variety.

 

Prophets21 -

Thanks for the reply. I checked out the Autopatcher site but I am still a bit unclear as to it's function. From what I gleaned it is a comprehensive all-in-one patch for a fresh install of XP. The autopatcher includes a host of critical uddates and patches that would otheriwse need to be downloaded and installed seperately (along with some other useful but not essential goodies)?

Is part of the install process for Autopatch to remove the messenger service?

Thanks!

 

Yes, unfortunatly you have to go through the whole setup process for this remove of messenger.

However, even though it may not be what you're looking for it is, imo, worth the d/l. It has many unique tweaks and small apps for getting the most out of XP and I have run it on both my PCs.

 

Since it is for my parent's computer - I don't think I will install it. If anything, I repeat anything, out of the ordinary happens while my mom and dad are on the computer their heads will explode. A stuck key will drive them batty. I will just do my best to wallow through all the crud and disable it.

Thanks for the tip though. I might give it a try on my rig.

 

copy and paste this in the run window.... "RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove" (without the quotes). The website you posted missed a slash.

 

We are talking about windows messenger right. Well if you wanna solve that crappy little problem you can just run shoot the messenger which you can find here on mg.com. That way it is disabled and doesnt do diddly squat.
-the new tech guy

 

Though, posting a link to said program would be nice!

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3703

 

Sorry bout that guys! Thanks theefool for the sending the link.
-the new tech guy

 

Completely unrelated to the subject at hand.

Windows Messenger is not the same thing as the Messenger Service.

Windows Messenger- instant messenging program, of which some programs use exclusively (netmeeting, remote assistance).

Messenger service- sends administrative alerts across the network, and frequently exploited for spam purposes. THIS is what Shoot the Messenger is for, although I see it just as simple as to disable the service from services.msc, or even better, install SP2.

Windows Messenger can be removed by running the command listed in this thread, MSN Messenger cannot.

MSN Messenger can be removed from Add/Remove programs. If it isn't there, you can reinstall it, and it will most likely add the uninstall information.

That should pretty much summarize everything.

 

Ok thanks for clarifying adrenaline. I was not sure wether we were talking about windows messenger or msn messenger. But i think we now have solutions to all those problems lol . Once again sorry bout forgetting the link to shoot the messenger.
-the new tech guy