After a fresh installation of Windows Live Messenger, it is set to automatically load at Windows startup. Not only this, but Windows Live Messenger will also load automatically if you visit a messenger-aware site using IE that (automatically) triggers the start of your messenger.
While there is at least one simple way to tell Windows Live Messenger not to load at Windows startup, it seems as if there were no way to stop it from launching automatically when visiting a messenger-aware site other than using Firefox!
Let me begin with…
…how to stop WLM from loading at Windows startup:
In your messenger main window:
- Press ALT (this will show the menu bar if it’s not already there)
- Go to Tools > Options
- Change to the “General” tab
- Uncheck “Automatically run Windows Live Messenger when I log on to Windows”
How to prevent WLM from automatically loading when I visit messenger-aware sites with IE:
In any Internet Explorer (newer versions) window:
- Press ALT (this will show the menu bar if it’s not already there)
- Go to Tools > Internet Options
- Change to the “Programs” tab
- Press on “Manage add-ons”
- Choose add-ons Filter “add-ons that run without requiring permission”
- Sort add-ons by name
- Disable all “Windows Live Messenger” add-ons (4 items)
Warning:
Disabling messenger add-ons in Internet Explorer removes all messenger functionality from your browser. If you don’t wish that, don’t do it! However, if you don’t know about this functionality, I think you won’t really miss it :)
Share your experiences and suggestions…
