Windows Live Messenger sometimes doesn’t show the music you play on Windows Media Player even though you set it to show.

The work around is the following…

Open up Windows Media Player, and go to Tools => Options (You might need to hit the ALT key to see the hidden menu)

Click the Plug-ins tab, then on the Category Column, Click on Background and make sure Windows Live Messenger Music Plug-in is ticked. If not, tick it and Apply then OK.

See the following screenshot for more info…

Now you should be able to Show what you play on Windows Media Player.

Windows Live Call is a resource hog, unless you use this feature there is no need to have it. And it takes about 40 MB of the RAM. Removing Live Call will make the Live Messenger sign in much faster.

Before starting, Shutdown Live Messenger and make sure it is not running. (make sure the icon is not on the taskbar)

You should first remove all the Windows Live Messenger Shortcuts. Here are the common places where you would have a Messenger Shortcut.

Desktop: If you have other user account, its worth deleting it.

Program List: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Start Menu\Programs

Then go to the Windows Live Messenger Install Directory, C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger

And remove the following Files and move them into a Directory of your choice. (just make one into the WLM install Directory)


htc.8.1.0178.00.dll
livecall.exe
pcsexeps.dll
softphone.dll
softphoneps.dll
softphoneres.dll

Now, you can create your shortcut again manually, It should stop Live Messenger from repairing the files. Follow this link on creating shortcuts http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140443

NB: I have also removed and recreated the following registry, I don’t think there is a need to do it, but If livecall.exe starts again, you can try this method again…

Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

You can either use Startup Control Panel or follow the instructions on this URL http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270035

There is this pretty nifty software I’ve came across of, which encrypts the messages you sent via your IM clients. Meaning, this will prevents eavesdroppers from reading your MSN Messenger conversations.

SimpLite-MSN is free for personal use at home or at the office. However, only one product from the SimpLite family can be launched at the same time on your computer.Which means, You can only use SimpLite-MSN… If you use YahooIM, you will need to kill SimpLite-MSN and launch SimpLite-Yahoo, which can be pain on the neck… Unless you have Simp-Pro. Here is a screenshot of my Simp.

You can get the SimpLite Version for FREE at http://www.secway.fr/us/products/all.php