I'd rather call it backdoor.MS.msmsgs

I'll take a look at Windows Messenger and if it doesn't take too much time to implement I'll ask TommyP for permission. But don't keep your hopes up...

@fdv: It was a joke inspired by the fact you got a date wrong. Sorry if it didn't come across like that.

Edited March 20, 200620 yr by Tomcat76

I'd rather call it backdoor.MS.msmsgs

Haha

I'll take a look at Windows Messenger and if it doesn't take too much time to implement I'll ask TommyP for permission. But don't keep your hopes up...

OK, great . I accidentally removed the CMD file from my previous message, so I'll repost it here:

@ECHO OFF
CLS
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
TITLE Windows Messenger Removal Script
ECHO.
ECHO Removing Windows Messenger...
START /WAIT RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
ECHO.
ECHO Windows Messenger successfully removed!
GOTO EOF

:EOF

-- Super-Magician

Edited March 20, 200620 yr by Super-Magician

There are three options that I see for this.

1. Create an INF file and throw it into the HFSVPK folder.

2. Create a CMD file and throw it into the HFSVPK folder.

3. Why not craft a hfcleanup file to not let it install at all? .... cough cough cough the reducer is already created and available cough cough cough. I hate colds!

Congratulations, tommyp! You're now a "Friend of MSFN" as indicated by your avatar, and you've reached 700 posts...yay!

Anyway, what I used was a CMD file, which I put in HFSVPK. I don't know much about INF files and HFCLEANUP, but maybe option 1 or 3 is easier?

-- Super-Magician

Edited March 20, 200620 yr by Super-Magician

Oh, you wanted it removed...

You shouldn't edit posts, you know...

But at least tommyp understood...I think.

I do know though that that line you got there is not enough. There are two things to be uninstalled but I can't remember what the other one was. I used to make silent installs a couple of months back and I was removing Windows Messenger from Windows XP right before installing MSN Messenger 7.5 in one of the packages but since I couldn't find a way to shush Windows Update I decided to drop it... and now I can't find it back. It was for the second Windows Messenger entry in Add/Remove Programs.

I looked a bit closer. Here's more options to getting rid of messenger... (continued numbering from before)

4. Edit sysoc.inf (you need to repack it when you're done) and remove the line that says "msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7".

5. Create a winnt.sif and add this to your [Components] section : Msmsgs=Off

Wow. I'm a friend now. Cool. It's funny seeing some posters on the forum that post gibberish & have over 2000 counts. I get a kick out of when someone asks a question, and they would reply saying that they don't know. HAHAHA.

Tomcat76: My script works fine, but what's the thing in Add/Remove Programs you're talking about?

tommyp: Option 4 sounds OK to me, but I wish there would be an automated way of doing that. I tried Option 5 once, but that was with my *corrupted* WINNT.SIF file (it said "[Componants]" instead), and I never tried it again.

Edited March 20, 200620 yr by Super-Magician

On Windows XP, when you remove all instances of "HIDE" from sysoc.inf, you'll see two references to Windows Messenger in Add/Remove Programs. They both need to be uninstalled to get fully rid of Windows Messenger. I think the second inf is called ims.inf but don't take my word for it. I need to investigate this again just like I did a couple of months ago.

What about the thing in Add/Remove Windows Components?

I need a rest...

That's what I meant to refer to...

I used to use the winnt.sif method before nlite. It worked great, even if I had the messenger slipstreamed into the sourcess.

My script only appears to work in Windows XP. When I place the script in SVCPACK ('MSMSGS.CMD') for a 2003 installation, I get an 'Advanced INF Install' error at T-13 again, just like for 2000.

-- Super-Magician

Edited March 21, 200620 yr by Super-Magician

When you say "just like for Windows 2000", I assume you tried it with a different CMD since Windows Messenger isn't part of Windows 2000.

For Windows 2000, you need to provide the full path to advpack.dll:

%windir%\system32\advpack.dll

But it should work without path for Windows 2003... Or am I wrong?