MSN Messenger 6.2 Released

[Aaron]

You can do that with Messenger Plus

[Joe User 99]

Ok.....

Since it wouldn't be legal to post a modified MSI, I went the other way and created a Transform file to be used in conjunction with the original MSI.

Here is what I have changed.

(First, you should read my previous posts, as I am not going to go back and explain the reasons for creating the transform; I am only going to explain how to use it.)

I have not found any additional command line switches for MSN Toolbar other than the ones I posted previously, so we are still kind of stuck with a semi silent install if you want the toolbar installed.

Using the MSN Messenger 6.2 as a baseline, I have created a transform which changes the following:

The default MSN Messenger 6.2 MSI installs the MSN Toolbar via a series of custom actions called from the Finish Button of the install dialogs. The particular action is selected via a series of checkboxes during install, and public properties. Since these dialogs are not presented during a unattended install, these actions are not run.

Normally, the custom actions would be sequenced along with the other install commands, however these are not.

What I have done is add them into the normal install sequence, and added install conditions to match the ones listed in the "Finish" button. In addition to this, I added the UILevel<5 condition to the custom actions so they will only run if at a interface level less than default (Reduced, Basic, None). I also added UILevel>4 to the calls in the "Finish" button just in case. (We don't accidentally want more than one running at a time.)

In addition to this, there is a custom action to launch messenger. I have added this to the normal launch sequence, and in order to control it, created a new public property which can be set from the command line.

In addition to this, since we are really looking to make this a hands free as possible, I created a entirely new custom action for the MSN Toolbar installation, similar to the existing ones, but instead gave it the command line switch "j", which is the closest to silent I have found. In order to control this action, I created a new public property also. This new action however was not added to the normal dialog sequence. It is only available in the unattended install.

Now I did not change any of the properties for these options. I realize they are long names, etc, but that is what they are in the default MSI. So get over it.

This is, of course, not supported by Microsoft in any form or fashion. Do not cry to them if it does not work.

This was built extremely quickly, with no regard to testing. It had limited testing, and while everything seemed to function, no guarantees are made. Use it at your own risk.

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Ok, with that out of the way...here is how to use it.

<Path>MsnMsgs.msi TRANSFORMS=CustomMSNMsgr62.mst [ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR=AddExplorerToolbar] [sETSEARCHENGINE=SetSearchEngine]

[sETHOMEPAGE=SetMyHomePage] [LAUNCHMSGR=Yes] [sEMISILENT=Yes]

These switches are used in combination. Here is a breakdown.

TRANSFORMS=CustomMSNMsgr62.mst - This is required if you want to install it this way. Without it, you only have the way MS wrote it, not any changes I made. Copy the MST file to the same folder as the original MSI. As long as they are in the same path, you don't need to specify one. If in a different folder, specify the path along with the transform file name.

ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR="AddExplorerToolbar" - This is the property to install JUST the MSN Toolbar. No Set search engine, non silent, etc. This can be set separately, or together with SETSEARCHENGINE, LAUNCHMSGR, or SETHOMEPAGE.

Do not use with SEMISILENT.

SETSEARCHENGINE="SetSearchEngine" - This is the property to JUST set MSN as the default Search Engine. It is non silent, No Toolbar etc. This can be set separately, or together with ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR, LAUNCHMSGR, or SETHOMEPAGE. Do not use with SEMISILENT.

SETHOMEPAGE="SetMyHomePage" - This is the property to JUST set the home page to MSN. It is Silent, No Toolbar, etc. This can be set separately, or together with ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR, LAUNCHMSGR, SEMISILENT or SETSEARCHENGINE.

LAUNCHMSGR="Yes" - This is the property to launch the MSN Messenger at the completion of setup. This can be set separately or together with ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR, SETHOMEPAGE, SEMISILENT or SETSEARCHENGINE.

SEMISILENT="Yes" - This is the property to install the MSN Toolbar semi-silently. This cannot be set together with other SETSEARCHENGINE or ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR. If SEMISILENT is set, it will set SETSEARCHENGINE and ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR to null values. It can be used with LAUNCHMSGR or SETHOMEPAGE.

The default values are as follows:

ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR="AddExplorerToolbar"

SETSEARCHENGINE="SetSearchEngine"

SETHOMEPAGE="SetMyHomePage"

This is the way MS set them. This means all 3 of these options are ON by default. If you do not want these default options, you MUST pass the appropriate switches to change them to your liking.

LAUNCHMSGR="No"

SEMISILENT="No"

These were set by me (Since I added them.) They are OFF by default. Meaning, if you want these options, you must pass these switches, replacing "No" with "Yes".

If you find any bugs, let me know....

Its only like 11k or something.

CustomMSNMsgr62.mst

CustomMSNMsgr62.mst

[evilvoice]

I have trouble understanding this...

1. Tried just using msnmsgr.msi TRANSFORMS=CustomMSNMsgr62.mst because I wanted the defaults you set...This did not install unattendedly, so other option

2. Tried msnmsgr.msi TRANSFORMS=CustomMSNMsgr62.mst /QB and it did install msn messenger unattendedly, but still comes back and runs me through the entire msntoolbar setup

Am I doin this right? It just seems that this is not gonna happen installin msn messenger and toolbar unattendedly

[Joe User 99]

Unfortunately, the MSN Toolbar installer's switches are not documented , and I have only found a limted number of them. So there is only so unattended it will get. If you look in the application switches thread to my MSN Toolbar switches, the closest you can get to unattended is the "j" switch. This is included in my transform if you use the SEMISILENT="Yes" switch. (And actually, this is more unattended than offered by either the MSN Messenger installer, or the standalone MSN Toolbar installer.)

So it would be MsnMsgs.msi TRANSFORMS=CustomMSNMsgr62.mst SEMISILENT="Yes" /QB

That should go completely through unattended and at the end, it will launch IE to the MSN Toolbar's "Get Started" page.

Without knowing any other switches for MSN Toolbar to make it completely silent, and NOT launch IE at the end, this is the best we can do.

[evilvoice]

Thank you, works perfectly...as for the ie window opening, I just run process -k iexplore.exe 10 (this allows a 10 sec window so that it has time to open...I ran into a problem with msgplus where it takes a few seconds to open...if you use taskkill, it tries to close the window, but fails because it isnt open yet) I install both msn messenger (per your files and instructions) and msgplus in the same subkey...if you just install msgr, you can prolly just do a taskkill...I just know msgplus takes a second or so...

[KDog]

I thought that Messenger 6.2 was supposed to have support for avatars or animated gif's for your display picture. The help files attached to the new messenger have it in there but the application doesn't support it yet.

Does anyone have any information on this yet?

Thanks.

[mister-xxxxx]

msiexec /i MsnMsgs.msi IAGREE="Yes" ADDEXPLORERTOOLBAR="" SETSEARCHENGINE="" SETHOMEPAGE="" /q