I am not a Hotmail subscriber but my daughter is. She downloaded it on my computer when she was home this summer. Now every time I go online it opens that account and her friends want to start chatting thinking I am her. Is there any way I can get Hotmail off of my computer and not mess up her account?
This actually illustrates a very surprising confusion I see regularly on Ask Leo!.
Many people don't realize that Hotmail, MSN Instant Messenger, and even MSN itself are all very different things. They use the terms for one when talking about the other, or use a generic term like "MSN" which could be many different things.
The question above is a good example: the behavior sounds like MSN Instant Messenger, yet the question references Hotmail.
So which is it, really?
Let's start by defining each of those.
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Hotmail, originally "HoTMaiL" emphasizing that it was HTML mail, is an online email service. By visiting http://hotmail.com and logging in with your own account, you can send and recieve email. As long as you have a web browser (and if you're reading this, you do), there is nothing to download. Visit Hotmail, login, read and send email. That's pretty much all there is to it.
MSN Instant Messenger is an instant messaging client. It allows you to chat in real time with other people using MSN Instant Messenger, or compatible chat clients. This is a program that you typically download and install in order to use. (Though there are web-based versions of the client, the phrase "MSN Instant Messenger" refers, specifically, to the downloadable program.)
There's further confusion, of course, because there's a compatible, but different, instant messaging program called "Windows Messenger".
MSN, short for MicroSoft Network, is a family of services and products created by Microsoft. It begins with its home page, http://msn.com, which is a general internet "portal" - a web site that contains news, features and links to other sites and services. Both Hotmail and MSN Instant Messenger are a part of MSN.
So you can see that when someone asks me "How do I uninstall Hotmail?" - well, the question doesn't really make sense. It's not something that was installed in the first place.
What this question is really referring to is, of course, MSN Instant Messenger. It does support both automatic login, and the ability of friends to see that you are logged in, so that they can start chatting with you.
The answer to that question is either to uninstall it, or perhaps to disable it's auto-login feature. Instructions for uninstalling both Windows and MSN Instant Messenger are in this article: How do I uninstall Windows Messenger?, while disabling auto-start and auto-login are in this article: How do I stop MSN Messenger from starting automatically and logging me in?.
Computers are picky beasts, as you probably realize. Unfortunately that also means that terminology matters in order to get the most accurate assistance possible.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - How do I uninstall Windows Messenger?
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Ask Leo! - How do I stop MSN Messenger from starting automatically and logging me in?
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Ask Leo! - What's the difference between MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, and Windows Messenger?
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Microsoft - Hotmail
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Microsoft - MSN
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Microsoft - MSN Instant Messenger
Article C2545 - February 5, 2006
I do not like the hotmail I want it remove from
Posted by: Mr Carroll L Guidry at January 19, 2007 5:44 PMmy computer. If you don't want something you don't
want to keep it. So tell me how to get it off.
Thanks Mr Guidry
I do not like the hotmail I want it remove from
Posted by: Mr Carroll L Guidry at January 19, 2007 5:45 PMmy computer. If you don't want something you don't
want to keep it. So tell me how to get it off.
Thanks Mr Guidry
I wish to change my name and loose some undesirables who Ive met over past few years, i want my name to be off of their msn lists, how do i do this please anyone?
Posted by: Maggie at January 29, 2007 8:52 AMI would like to get hotmail uninstall off my
Posted by: Mr Carroll L Guidry at February 6, 2007 6:57 AMcomputer. It not in add or remove but it still
in. Don't like it.
Thank you Mr Guidry
Dear Leo,
Posted by: Old Goat at April 12, 2007 2:49 PMAll you told me was how to get rid of msn 'messenger' or windows 'messenger'! That's not what I asked you. I asked you 'how do I uninstall or get 'hotmail' off my computer !
Old Goat... you CAN'T "uninstall" Hotmail because Hotmail never installs itself in the first place. Hotmail is a website, not a program. The problem that is causing this IS MSN messenger that presents itself like it's Hotmail. Uninstall MSN messenger and your problems with "Hotmail" should be solved.
Posted by: Mike at April 12, 2007 5:58 PMI want to use outlook express and hotmail interferes. Get it off of my computor
Posted by: royce at May 31, 2007 7:12 PMIf You say I have to remove Messenger ,in order to rid my computer ,how do I go about this . Also I do want to keep my msn mail . It was a lot less complicated . Your response will be greatly appreciated . Thank You Leo .
Posted by: Julie at June 28, 2007 11:32 PMmy email in hotmail writing is very faint it is only in hotmail the rest of my computer is fine.
Posted by: janice harland at December 13, 2007 1:19 PMmy email in hotmail writing is very faint but not in any other part of my computer.
Posted by: janice harland at December 13, 2007 1:21 PM