Guide on how to use older version of MSN

As of today the MSN has cut off older versions of messenger from logging into their service. I just tried logging on this morning and it was forcing me to upgrade.

If you dont want to upgrade to WLM 2009 and keep your current messenger the way it is then follow the guides below. It works great as long as you follow the directions.

Download and Use Older Version of Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger


Alternate method (havent tested)

 

i liked the guide thank you , ill try it now

 

i get the problem of "Cannot rename original file. Saving cancelled." how can i get around this? please help!

 

You left messenger.exe running in the background.. close MSN and try again.

Resource hacker cannot modify active processes

 

It's not running in the background though. I'm pretty sure at least. Here's a screenshot of all my background processes:

 

Weird, Try Save As

 

What should I save it as? and then where should I put the file?

EDIT: So I decided to just try starting it up anyways (v8.5) and it worked perfectly fine haha

 

Hey. I can still access my old MSN today.
Because I am using a standalone MSN, not sure too. I hope no problem for me.
Because I have 3 machines running MSN+ 8.5.

 

Yes it work fine for now as they havent covered all the servers yet, as stated it can take weeks so expect it to stop working soon.

Today only covered v8.1

 

Its not that I don't like the new wlm, its just that it keeps crashing my computer for some reason. I've tried re-installing several times in the last few weeks and it still crashes it. I'm gonna be putting Win7 on my computer soon (since I get it from the msdnaa thing) and hopefully it works fine on there. *crosses fingers*

 

Heres another possible workaround:

 

Just to report that this work round works on Win7 64bit OS with MSN Mess 8.1.
Must say that selecting any other compatibility as I did Vista (sp2) did not work so 2000 is the way to go.
@flipfire many thanks for the tip bro..
+1 rep coming your way

 

Thanks for sharing this guide with us! I will give you a reputation.
I'm trying out WLM 2009 right now and I will use it for a few days. If I hate it I will use this technique to get back to the older version which I love <3

 

Thanks guys

Well I tried WLM 2009 for about a week or two after i installed W7 but i ended up reverting back to 8.5 with custom patches, tweaks and add-ons.

Heres a few things that put me off:
- Advertisements all over the place
- No add-ons like MSN plus or patches to clean up the GUI a little
- Memory hungry compared to older versions

It just wasnt cutting it for my likings. Im sure it is fine for regular users but i like my add-ons and customised options/settings like:

-Blinking my Caps/Scroll/Num lock LED's if i receive a chat messenge while im on a full screen app
-Memory Flusher to keep the memory usage low (1-4mb usage when not in use)
-Chat and Event logging inc. timestamps
-Polygamy aka Multiple Instances
-Scripting
-Content Stealer, aka Steal/save contacts avatars and such.
-Lock down hotkey

There is an A-patch for the latest MSN but the options are very limited due to the anti-tamper mechanism they put.

Latest Windows Live Mail rocks though, plain, simple and straightforward.

 

it has only one ad

it has a-patch to remove that one ad

it's gui is cleaned up by default / can be cleaned up without any adon

it's not memory hungry at all.


i can't give you the blinking caps buttons
memory flusher is useless placebo
chat and event logs have timestamps by default
polygamy can be done with a-patch but what for? i'm "the dave", not this and that
scripting, well, if one needs it.
content stealer == copyright infringements on friends? wow didn't know that exist
lock down hotkey, dunno, i don't have to hide anything.

but yeah, it looks like it's not for you yet. but don't make it worse than it is, as only some of the points you made are really true.

 

A mate of mine said that they were to shut down the 8.5 protocol? I hope thats not true.. To get around the version check is a peach and cake, by either using your method or editing the version info in msnmsgr.exe.

I've found out that by running in 2k compatibility, when you click links in conversations, it will open firefox with the xp-styled theme, which sorta annoys me.

Edit: I made a little exe that patches msnmsgr.exe so it seems to be the newest version (fools the version check)
http://rebdomain.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-avoid-being-forces-to-upgrade-to.html

 

well, all in all, i can just say, get used to the new way. the old one is unsupported and gets shut down more and more for good reasons. staying at the old thing, and whining about the new won't help you.

 

I hate changes. I cant be arsed to get used to something new after i have used this so long.. For instance ive also replaced both wordpad, paint and the sound recorder in 7 with the ones from XP. Ofcourse since you dont care about the same things i care about you wouldnt understand

Enough about that please.

 

well, changes are often because of improvements. maybe you should read what changes happened and why to learn what improved?

never enough about that, it's the maintopic in here. people crying how they lost their own thing. it's one of the main reasons vista had such a bad start in the end.

it's a nice guide, but it will be a temporary fix only. and it would be much less work to just get used to the new one, which is very streamlined and can even be stripped down to it's essentials without any addons.

if you have a technical reason to prefer the old one, i'm fine. if not, get used to the new one and stop crying "uh i like the old". no, you just don't like to learn new stuff. if you buy a new car, do you strip out the air conditioner, and the cd player, as you want your tape deck and your heat-in-the-summer back? no? why not? oh, there, new stuff is cool...

 

whats new in 9 (improvements).. go on

 

this really worked for me , thanks

 

faster, the ui is simpler, and much easier to configure (you can hide and show almost anything with a click), multiple connections on different systems possible (so i can stay logged in on all my machines always), security is much enhanced so my account can't be hacked easily, like it was possible before.

i personally like the design, and the multilogon very much.

 

yes the multilogon feature seems nice, not that i need it but indeed.
other than that..naaa

 

well, other than that, it's the STANDARD now. being non-standard means more hazzles, no support, no guarantee that it will work tomorrow.

that's a big one for me, as i just want to have a messenger that works.

and btw, the other than that, yes, it's true, very true. both on the back end it's more stable, more secure, and faster, but you won't notice that as long as your account doesn't get hacked. still important reason to update.

and the gui is awesome. no messenger ui jet was so flexible, and still fitting the os. hope they grab a bit for other applications.

 

When WLM 2009 came out, I tryed but had to uninstall because it didn't work behind my proxy server at work.

Anyone knows if this has been fixed?

 

well it shouldn't work behind a proxy except if it's allowed to do that. that's the purpose of a proxy. so get your proxy fixed. but that would possibly mean getting allowance to actually use it, which you might not have? else, fix the proxy.

 

It is allowed, I actually use it to work. Proxy works fine, all I have to do is setup proxy name and port, and add my user/pass.

I can use messenger 8.1 with no problems, but when I tried WLM 09, it wouldn't work.

 

talk with your support. it should work, then. maybe wlm 2009 uses another port setup?

Actual Port and Url List from Microsoft


some info from the bottom of that page:

 

When I installed it, a quick google search showed me some posts from people who had the same problem (coundn't connect through an authenticated proxy), and no solution.

I should check again though, and forward that info to my network admin.

Thanks.