Disabling Windows Messenger

Note: Only Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 computers are affected. Windows 95/98/Me, Macintosh, Redhat, and other variants will not need to patch.

How to do it:

Follow all steps:

1. Internet Explorer:
   
   Click to run this script: Windows Messenger Disable Patch for Windows 2000/NT/XP/2003
   
   Netscape/Opera:
   
   Right-click the above link and choose "Save Link Target As..." and save it to your desktop.
   
   
2. In Internet Explorer, you will see this screen. Click the "Open" button.
   
   
   
   Netscape/Opera:
   
   Double-click on the saved file to run the application.
   
   
3. The application will run. Upon completion, you should see:
   
   
   
   

Note: If there is a special situation where you know that you cannot disable your Windows Messenger Service, Microsoft does provide patches on their web site that will resolve the security flaw without disabling the messenger service.

It is also important to point out that disabling the Windows Messenger Service will not affect the Microsoft Instant Messenger chat service.