You have seen the icon for Microsoft Windows Messenger in taskbar by clock. If you don’t like clutter or things running that you are not using then you avoid Messenger from starting with PC.

There are many methods of stopping Windows Messenger from starting with PC but it always looks to come back finally. You can stop it by un-checking it in startup items using msconfig. You can also open Messenger and go to Tools and then Options and click on Preferences tab. From there you would uncheck the box that shows Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts and box that shows Allow Windows Messenger to run in the background.

The consistent method to avoid it from starting with PC is to open registry editor and remove following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run\MSMSGS

Remember that if you do an update connected to Internet Explorer or Outlook Express there is a possibility it will return and appear in taskbar again.