Solved Windows Live Messenger Issues

[mccoady]

I'm trying to figure out why Windows Live Messenger has disappeared from our computer just out of the blue... I installed Windows Live Essentials months ago which included Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Mail, etc. and everything is intact/working except Messenger.

There was a Messenger short-cut but it couldn't find it's direction and if I go to Program Files (x86)>Windows Live>Messenger there's files listed but there doesn't appear to be a .exe anywhere.

If I try to install Windows Live Essentials again it says Messenger is installed along with the rest of the programs.

Anyway just to reinstall Messenger again or do I have to uninstall Windows Live Essentials and then reinstall it? Any other ideas I have no idea why it disappeared?

 

[Gornot]

Do a clean reinstall. Remove Essentials with Revo Uninstaller Free with the advanced option checked, then delete any registry and file leftovers that Revo finds. Download a fresh copy of the Essentials installer from Microsoft's website and install the programs you need again.

 

[mccoady]

Do a clean reinstall. Remove Essentials with Revo Uninstaller Free with the advanced option checked, then delete any registry and file leftovers that Revo finds. Download a fresh copy of the Essentials installer from Microsoft's website and install the programs you need again.

Sorry but that's kind of a drastic solution wiping the hard drive just to get back Messenger I don't think that's a good option. If no one else comes up with something better I will just uninstall Essentials using Revo Uninstaller (I use all the time) and reinstall.

 

[koolkat77]

Did you try a system restore?

 

[Gornot]

No, I didn't mean to wipe the whole system. I meant: do a clean reinstall of Essentials! lol

 

[mccoady]

Koolkat77 no I didn't do a system restore I've had trouble with system restore working correctly ever since I went to 64-bit.

Gornot sorry for misunderstanding what you were saying I guess I have no choice then to reinstall Essentials was trying to avoid that since I use Windows Live Mail and it will require setting up again.

 

[koolkat77]

Hi mccoady

You can take a back up of your emails. Check if you find this location: C:\Users\logon\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail

Remember to tick mark the option that allows hidden files to be shown.

If you've installed Windows Live Mail in Vista or Windows 7, chances are your email is stored in subfolders of C:\Users\ logon \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail, where logon is, of course, the name you use to log onto Windows.

 

[mccoady]

I just exported my mail to my desktop so I assume that should be backing them up.

Ok here's the problem it doesn't matter if I Revo Uninstaller or Add/Remove Windows Live Essentials uninstaller won't run and there is no way to uninstall WLE programs individually that I know of besides using Essentials Uninstaller... I ran Microsoft Fixit but that didn't help.

 

[koolkat77]

I just exported my mail to my desktop so I assume that should be backing them up.

Ok here's the problem it doesn't matter if I Revo Uninstaller or Add/Remove Windows Live Essentials uninstaller won't run and there is no way to uninstall WLE programs individually that I know of besides using Essentials Uninstaller... I ran Microsoft Fixit but that didn't help.

The pic shows one of the programs have a problem so you should uninstall and reinstall it completely then.

 

[mccoady]

What you're not getting is Windows Live Essentials uninstaller is telling me there is a problem and to uninstall all the Windows Live programs and then reinstall Essentials but it doesn't give me the option to do that. When you run Essentials uninstaller it should give you the option to uninstall one or more Live programs or do a repair but all I get is the error screen I posted.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The problem is the missing msnmsgr.exe file can I copy and paste that file from another Windows 7 64-bit PC running Windows Live Essentials?[/FONT]

 

[Gornot]

If the build number is the same, yes, you can try just copying the .exe file and see if it works.

Some Live Essentials installations get "corrupted" i.e. you're unable to uninstall them if you used, for example, Ccleaner to remove the actual setup files needed for uninstallation. Did you try downloading a fresh copy of the Essentials installer from their website and using that to uninstall? I clearly remember a message in Ccleaner telling me that if I remove those setup files, I must have a new copy of the Essentials installer in order to remove those programs instead of just running the uninstaller already on your PC.

 

[mccoady]

Thanks Gornot I copied/pasted the exe and it worked I was afraid to try it without asking first!

 

[koolkat77]

Sorry for not reading your post attentively.
Glad you have a fix now.

 

[Gornot]

Thanks Gornot I copied/pasted the exe and it worked I was afraid to try it without asking first!

Great. Glad you sorted it out