Summary: The location of the uninstaller has changed for Windows Live Messenger. I'll walk you through the steps to find it and uninstall messenger.
I installed Windows Live Messenger 2009 (aka Messenger 9) and it's not working for me so I want to uninstall it. Problem is it's not listed in Control Panel. Like others uninstalling Messenger 9 I've deleted the files from the systems disk but whenever I try reinstalling Messenger 8.5 it says that I'm still using 9.0. Should I give up and just reformat my whole system?
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I've been getting variations on this question a lot lately because people can't seem to resist installing Beta software. (Hint: don't - no matter what anyone says - unless you really know what you're doing.)
As with all Beta software, there may be problems and you may find yourself wanting to revert to the previous version.
Except in this case Microsoft has done a nice job of hiding the uninstaller. Yes, it's there, it's just not obvious. And no, a reformat isn't required.
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I have to repeat myself about installing Beta software. To put it bluntly, unless you really know what you're doing, installing Beta software is asking for trouble. So don't be surprised at all when trouble finds you.
The right way to install Beta software is to:
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Take a full image backup of your machine.
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Install the Beta software.
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Play with the Beta software to try it out and see if you like it or not.
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Restore your machine completely from that image backup to remove the Beta software.
Beta software shares at least one characteristic with viruses: once it's on your machine you don't really know what it's going to do. It will have bugs, and there's no guarantee that uninstalling just the application, or updating the application to a later version, will actually work. If you read the licensing agreement for Beta software, you'll typically find that they warn you about exactly this.
I know we don't always follow those rules, and that's one way we end up with systems that have problems and software that doesn't work.
Enough said.
Let's uninstall.
I don't normally run Windows Live Messenger, so this was a good opportunity for me to download it and try it out. I was surprised at the size of the installation, and it quickly became clear that Microsoft was attempting to "bundle" a number of applications into a single installation. Yes, you could choose only one, like Messenger, but the download was still significantly larger than in versions past. That was my first clue.
With Windows Live Messenger installed, I went to Control Panel's Add/Remove list, and sure enough, it wasn't there. But something else was:
"Windows Live Essentials" appears to be the umbrella uninstaller for Windows Live Messenger and all the other Windows Live products you may have installed. Click on its Change/Remove. You'll be asked if you want to Uninstall, or Repair a Windows Live program. Select Uninstall and click Continue. Then you'll get the list:
Make sure that Messenger is checked and click Continue.
That's it. Windows Live Messenger has been uninstalled from my machine, and hopefully now from yours as well.
Related:
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What's the difference between Windows Live Messenger, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger Service? Windows Live Messenger, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger Service are four names for three applications that do two different things, only one of which you really want. Confusing? Yes. But easy to clear up.
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How do I stop MSN Messenger from starting automatically and logging me in?
Article C3641 - February 7, 2009
oh crap, I uninstalled windows live essentials, but I don't think I did the other step. Is there a way to fix that?
Posted by: Derek at November 9, 2009 1:58 PMI removed windows live essentials and everything else i could find related to it, but when i tried to reinstall it, it kept saying i already have it. When i removed it from the Add/Remove list, but I never got the uninstall window. how can i REALLY uninstall it properly O_O i tried searching my computer, but I can't find the files ANYWHERE
Posted by: Emily at November 12, 2009 4:50 PMi cant uninstall windows essentials
Posted by: papa at November 12, 2009 5:19 PMControl panel, add remove programs. Click "Add remove windows programs" and wait for it to load. After it does, scroll to bottom and uncheck the box that says windows messenger. Hit ok Go to "run" and paste this in
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%INFmsmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
Posted by: Nicholas Downey at November 12, 2009 8:50 PMwhen I get this one uninstalled, which one version do I want to reinstall?
Posted by: Cathy Traxler at November 15, 2009 10:09 PMI haven't got "Windows Live Essentials". Where I can find the umbrella uninstaller for Windows Live Messenger ?????
Posted by: Monica at November 16, 2009 2:54 AMI removed windows live essentials and everything else i could find related to it, but when i tried to reinstall it, it kept saying i already have it. When i removed it from the Add/Remove list, but I never got the uninstall window. how can i REALLY uninstall it properly O_O i tried searching my computer, but I can't find the files ANYWHERE
Posted by: LeeAnna at November 17, 2009 9:33 AMI installed Windows Live Messenger 2009 (aka Messenger 9) and it's not working for me so I want to uninstall it. Problem is it's not listed in Control Panel. Like others uninstalling Messenger 9 I've deleted the files from the systems disk but whenever I try reinstalling Messenger 8.5 it says that I'm still using 9.0. Should I give up and just reformat my whole system?
as u said I went to Control Panel's Add/Remove list. there was nothing. even windows live essential type nothing else. what will i do?
Posted by: maruf at November 18, 2009 3:09 AMI've been trying to update/uninstall WLM for a while. It kept telling me I need to have admin rights to do this which I had. I finally used Windows Installer Clean Up utility and removed all Windows Live entries and was able to reinstall WLM!!
Posted by: gail at November 18, 2009 9:46 PMI removed windows live essentials and everything else i could find related to it, but when i tried to reinstall it, it kept saying i already have it. When i removed it from the Add/Remove list, but I never got the uninstall window. how can i REALLY uninstall it properly O_O i tried searching my computer, but I can't find the files ANYWHERE
Posted by: Thanh at November 21, 2009 4:10 AM