You wonder why no emoticons are showing up in chats with your friends? Here’s a solution.

1. Open Messenger, and sign in with your Windows Live ID.
2. In Messenger’s main window, click your profile name, then More options. (In Messenger 2009, click your display name, then Options…)
3. Switch to the Messages tab.
4. Check that both “Show emoticons” and “Show custom emoticons” checkboxes are checked.
5. Click OK.
6. Now open a chat window with one of your friends, and send an emoticon.
7. Does it show up? I bet! =))

You got another question regarding Messenger or Windows Live?
Feel free to post it on the Facebook wall of Buddy-Scouts!

Since last week, there are quite a few users receiving Messenger error code 85ae000b when they try to sign in. Are you among them? Here is the explanation.

Reason 1: Your computer

The error code 85ae000b means that Windows Live Messenger has problems receiving (downloading) your current contact list from the Messenger servers. This might be related to some libraries not registered properly in your system. Let’s take a look at how you can fix this.

1. Delete your Windows Live contacts cache, as outlined previously.
2. Re-register your shared libraries like this: Open Start, Run (or press Windows+R).
3. Enter: regsvr32 softpub.dll.
4. Press OK.
5. Repeat these steps with:
   • regsvr32 wintrust.dll
   • regsvr32 initpki.dll
   • regsvr32 rsaenh.dll
   • regsvr32 mssip32.dll
   • regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll
   • regsvr32 dssenh.dll
   • regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
   • regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
   • regsvr32 sccbase.dll
6. Retry to sign in to Messenger.

Reason 2: The Windows Live network

Microsoft is quickly preparing for the imminent launch of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4. This is causing the error code 85ae000b as well. Sadly, there is not much you can do about it. Solution: keep trying and wait. The issue will solve itself.

You can find more information about network issues at the Windows Live Service status website.

1. Open Windows Live Messenger, and wait for error 81000395.
2. In the sign-in window, click the Forget me link.If you use multiple accounts on that machine, you should only need to click (Forget me) for the account that is causing an error.
3. Retry to sign in to Messenger by entering your Windows Live ID and password.

Does this work for you?

You’re getting the error code 800706ba when you try to sign in to Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 Beta? The fix is easy — you have to start a system service. This is how it works:

1. Close the Messenger sign-in window.
2. Press the shortcut Win+R. The Run dialog appears.
3. Enter services.msc, and press OK.
4. If prompted, grant your consent by clicking Continue.
5. In the Services list, search for the Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant service.
6. Double-click it, and set the Startup type setting to Automatic.
7. Press the Start button, then close the window by clicking OK.
8. Close the Services list, and retry to sign in to Messenger.

If you receive the error code 80071392 when you try to sign in to Windows Live Messenger, try the steps below:

1. Windows XP: Click Start, Run. A dialog box opens.

   Windows 7/Vista: Press the Windows and the R keys. A dialog box opens.

2. Enter the cmd command, then click OK.
3. In the appearing window, enter ipconfig /flushdns, then press Enter.
4. Retry to sign in.

The problem – compatibility flags

When you use Messenger 2010 for the first time, it seems that your Windows Live ID gets some special flags in your profile data. Even if you remove Windows Live Wave 4 completely, you might see that your contacts cannot send you nudges or files. Instead, they might get the following message: “You cannot send a Nudge to your contact because he or she is using an older version of Messenger” or similar.

A possible solution

Currently, I only know of a solution that might work. There is no guarantee.

Attention: The price is that you lose all local Messenger settings.

1. Close all Windows Live programs.
2. Right-click your taskbar, and choose Task manager.
3. Click any process called msnmsgr.exe, wlcomm.exe, wlmail.exe, sync.exe, writer.exe, and End process.
4. Download and run the tool ZapMessenger by MVP Jonathan Kay.
5. Retry to install Windows Live 2009 from download.live.com.

Update: The problem was server-side and has now been fixed. Thanks for your patience!

• Open the Messenger status website at http://status.messenger.msn.com/Status.aspx . If you see a green check there, that means that the Messenger service is running, and you can continue with the next step. If the service is not running properly, check back later, until it is running. Continue with the next step then.
• Delete the Windows Live Messenger proxy settings.
  • Start Messenger.
  • Open the menu next to your display name, and click Options.
  • In the left column, choose Connection.
  • At Connection settings, click the button Advanced settings.
  • Delete the SOCKS entries.
  • Click OK, then again OK.
  • After you have deleted the proxy settings, retry to sign in to Messenger. If it still doesn’t work, continue with the next step.

• If you are using Windows Vista, disable the auto-tuning feature.
  • Click Start, All Programs, Accessories.
  • Right-click the entry Command Prompt, and choose Run as administrator.
  • When Windows prompts for your consent, click Continue.
  • Now enter the following line in the command prompt, and press Enter:
    netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
  • Note: using this command, you are disabling the Windows auto-tuning feature.
  • Now retry to sign in to Messenger.
  • If it still doesn’t work, re-enable the auto-tuning feature by repeating the preceding steps, yet typing this line instead:
    netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
• If you are using Windows Vista and a router (e.g. made by Linksys, Netgear, D-Link) to connect to the Internet, visit your manufacturer’s website to check for updates to your router’s firmware.

If these steps do not resolve your problem with Windows Live Messenger error code 81000306, please refer to http://support.live.com/ to get further support.

Source: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!5276.entry

For the past several hours, the Messenger servers have been showing the majority of contacts offline.  You can however still talk to contacts using offline message.  There were other similar issues earlier on in the day and the problem just seems to have progressively gotten worse.

This isn’t a new problem either.  Messenger has continually had these problems on and off for several months now.

If you use the Messenger web-based client within Hotmail, or clients which use the older protocol versions (like Windows Messenger on XP), you may get slightly better results, however for the most part there isn’t a lot you can do about it except wait for it to be corrected.

Wolfgang Hoelzel from Microsoft Germany stated:

We are currently investigating the cause of the problem internally.

Editing your user profile first name

1. Go to http://account.live.com/.
2. Sign in with the account in question.
3. Click the Registered information link.
4. Click the Change link next to your name.
5. Change the First name to something appropriate with no special characters or the ‘&’ symbol.
6. Click Save.
7. Attempt to sign in with Messenger again.

1. Thus, check your clock in the bottom-right corner of your task bar.  How?
2. Click the time display.
3. In the opening window, click Change date and time settings to change the settings.

If you are getting the error code 800702e4, that can be related to an Instant Messaging blocker in your antivirus software. Max Messenger has done some research and found notes that with the one or other antivirus program, you have to white-list Windows Live Messenger for it to work properly.

Thus, try opening your antivirus software preferences and look through its options to find a list of programs where you can add Windows Live Messenger.

If you have any further tips for specific antivirus programs, please leave a comment. Best thanks!

1. Check whether you have the latest Webcam driver installed.  Try finding the current one on the support homepage of your webcam manufacturer.
2. After you have upgraded your webcam driver, reboot your computer.
3. Finally, sign in to Messenger and launch the Audio Video wizard from the Tools menu.  Webcam should now work!

1. Thus, open your Control Panel, and look for the place where to uninstall programs.
2. In the list, find “Nvidia Network Access Manager” and uninstall it.
3. Reboot your computer and retry to sign in to Windows Live Messenger.

Be sure that you still have a firewall.  You can simply use Windows Firewall, located in the Control Panel as well.

1. Enable Hidden Files and Folders

1a. Windows XP

1. Click Start, My Computer.
2. Choose Tools, Folder options.
3. Switch to the View tab, find Advanced settings.
4. Check the option Show Hidden files and folders.
5. Clear the option Hide protected operating system files.
6. Clear the option Hide file extensions for know file types check box.
7. Click OK and close the window.

1b. Windows 7/Vista

1. Click Start, Computer.
2. In the Explorer window, click Organize, Folder and Search Options.
3. Switch to the View tab, and check the option Show hidden files and folders.
4. Click OK and close the window.

2. Delete Windows Live Contacts folder

1. Click Start; double click on [My] computer.
2. Browse to the location
   Windows XP:
   C:\\Documents and Settings\\<Your Windows logon name>\\Local settings\\Application Data\\Microsoft
   Windows 7/Vista:
   C:\\Users\\<Your Windows logon name>\\App Data\\Local\\Microsoft
3. Delete the folder Windows Live Contacts completely.
   Note: Ensure to exit Windows Live Messenger (msnmsgr.exe; wlcomm.exe) from the Task Manager before deleting the Windows Live Contacts folder, otherwise you will get an error prompting that you can’t delete the folder.
4. Try signing in to Windows Live Messenger.

Source: http://messenger-support.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8B3F39C76A8B853F!15127.entry

If the download still fails on the next day, please contact the free support at https://support.live.com/.

Source: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!9014.entry