few days ago i restarted and all of a siddenly my Windows Live Messenger is labelled Qwest Messenger. also theres a "Go To Qwest Live" button in the top panel as well. i wanna get rid of all the branding stuff whenever i restart so it doesnt come back. anyone know how? i have figured out a temporary solution involinvg removing the dll file and some registry entries but it keeps coming back.

i have contacted Qwest and they said that it sounds like something i should talk to MSN support about so i have done that and they couldnt help either.

i searched google and found theres some deal MS and Qwest made so i figured thats why it is happening but i want control over stuff on my computer and i dont want stupid advertising on my computer.

really annoying.

it changes the window title, color, adds an icon in the top panel and changes background for convo windows GRRRR

mess path for windows messenger should let you change all that.

that was one option i checked. Mess Patch has no option for debranding or removing a Qwest specific button. only has options for the default install of Live Messenger.

EDIT:

well i fixed it by resource hacking the dll file and removing all the Qwest stuff so theres nothing for it to brand with

Edited May 27, 200719 yr by John0877

I have the same problem with Live Messenger. Can you be more specific on

the method you used to remove the Qwest branding?

I have the same problem with Live Messenger. Can you be more specific on

the method you used to remove the Qwest branding?

i opened wlmbrand.dll with resource hacker and removed all the Qwest graphics and saved it then reloaded messenger and it didnt have the branding graphics there and didnt change background colors and everything.

Thank you. That took care of Qwest.

I have the same problem with Live Messenger. Can you be more specific on

the method you used to remove the Qwest branding?

i opened wlmbrand.dll with resource hacker and removed all the Qwest graphics and saved it then reloaded messenger and it didnt have the branding graphics there and didnt change background colors and everything.

I have this same problem as well, but I can't find that file. I am running Live Beta 8.5.1238.0601 on Vista. Any suggestions

Edited July 17, 200719 yr by Kaempro

I have the same problem with Live Messenger. Can you be more specific on

the method you used to remove the Qwest branding?

i opened wlmbrand.dll with resource hacker and removed all the Qwest graphics and saved it then reloaded messenger and it didnt have the branding graphics there and didnt change background colors and everything.

I have this same problem as well, but I can't find that file. I am running Live Beta 8.5.1238.0601 on Vista. Any suggestions

just search on C for wlmbrand.dll and it should come up. i dont use vista so i couldnt tell you what exact folder itd be in so just search.

Alright, I've found a fix that works, because even with modifying the dll file, it just repatches it everytime.

Block g.msn.com. It downloads the patches from there.

Deleting or modifiying the dll does not work as Windows Live Messenger just replaces it with the correct one upon the next shutdown of WLM. Also blocking g.msn.com is not an option as most of Microsoft's downloads come from that address.

funny that the dll never got redownloaded on mine.

The dll thing was helpful, and removed the "Qwest Messenger" part from the main window, but I still have the picture (logo) or whatever below it, and a link to some Qwest thing. Oh, and my hotmail is now "Qwest Mail". I find this all very annoying.

How does one go about blocking g.msn.com?

Edited July 29, 200719 yr by PickledPython