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May 29

• Clean Installation of Windows Live Messenger – Windows Vista

Entries

1. Remove Windows Live Messenger from the computer.

Summary 1.a. Beside the time and date of your computer, right-click the Windows Live
Messenger icon, and then click Exit.

Listed by:

March 2010

1.b. Click Start, type programs and features in the Start Search box, and
• then click Programs and Features in the Programs list.

February
2010

January 1.c. In the list of currently installed programs, select Windows Live
2010 Messenger or Windows Live Essentials, and then click Uninstall.
•

December
2009

• 1.d. If you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove the program,
click Yes. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a
November confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2009

2. Remove the temporary files and folders from the computer.

•

October
2009 2.a. Click Start, type cleanmgr in the text box, and then press ENTER.

September
2009

2.b. In the Disk Cleanup Options window, click My Files only.

August
2009

• 2.c. On the Disk Cleanup tab, make sure that only the following options are
selected:
July 2009
- Downloaded Program Files

- Temporary Internet Files

•
- Temporary files
June 2009
- Hibernation File Cleaner
 - Setup Log Files

• - Recycle Bin

May 2009 - Thumbnails

April 2009

March 2009

•
2.d. Confirm deletion of files, and then run the Disk Cleanup utility.
February
2.e. If you encounter problems removing the temporary files and folders,
2009
proceed to the next steps.

•
3. Delete Windows Live Messenger related cache files.
January
2009
3.a. Change the Windows Explorer settings.

•
3.a.i. Right click Start (Window icon), and then click Explore to open
Windows Explorer.
December
2008 3.a.ii. On the Organize menu, click Folder and Search Options.

3.a.iii. Click the View tab.

• 3.a.iv. In the Advanced settings list, select Show hidden files and folders
under Hidden Files and Folders.
November
2008 3.a.v. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box.
 3.a.vi. Click OK to close the Folder Options window.

October
2008

September
2008

August 3.b. The following commands delete files that are used when you sign in and
2008 files that are related to the Contacts Cache folders.

3.b.i. Click Start, copy and paste this message in the Start Search box
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ and then press Enter.
•
Delete the Windows Live Contacts folder.
July 2008
3.b.ii. Click Start, copy and paste this message in the Start Search box
%userprofile%\ and the press Enter. Delete the Contacts folder.

June 2008

May 2008

4. Delete the Windows Live Messenger-associated registry keys.

•

April 2008
IMPORTANT: The following steps contain information about modifying
the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up, and
 make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem
occurs. For information about how to back up the Windows Registry please
• refer to this article.

March 2008 For information how to restore, and edit the registry, visit the following
website:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986
•
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
February problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
2008 cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

4.a. Click Start, type CMD in the Start Search box and then press ENTER
• to open the command window.

January
2008

December 4.b. Copy and paste the following commands exactly as they appear below.
2007 Press ENTER after typing each command to execute the command.

Note: In some case you may encounter the error that the key does not exist,
move to the next command and execute it.
•
REG DELETE "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows
November Live\Messenger' /f
2007
REG DELETE HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger /f

REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger /f

•
REG DELETE "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows
October Live\Communications Clients\Shared" /f
2007
REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\IdentityCRL /f

September
 2007

5. Restart the computer.

August 6. Install a fresh copy of the program. You may download it from:
2007
http://download.live.com/messenger

12:39 PM | Blog it
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