We are committed to providing a safe, secure and positive experience for our more than 300 million customers across the globe using Windows Live Messenger every month. To deliver on that commitment, beginning on August 25, we started asking our customers using versions 8.1, 8.5 and 14.0 to upgrade to the newest version of Messenger.
This is what the Windows Live Messenger team is announcing in regards to phasing out old Messenger versions in the coming weeks. Here is the roadmap:
- August 25, 2009: Users of Messenger 8.1 and 8.5 are asked to upgrade their client.
- Mid September 2009: Users of Messenger 8.1 and 8.5 are required to upgrade their version.
- Early October 2009: Users of Messenger 2009 (excluding build 8089) are asked to upgrade.
- Late October 2009: Users of Messenger 2009 (excluding build 8089) are forced to upgrade.
In late October 2009, the following versions of Messenger will not be able to sign in anymore:
- Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0178
- Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1302 (2008)
- Windows Live Messenger 9.0.1107
Windows Live Messenger 14.0.5027 (2009 Beta)
Windows Live Messenger 14.0.8050 (2009)
Windows Live Messenger 14.0.8064 (2009 QFE1)
Please Note: It will take several weeks for the upgrade process to be completed, as the upgrade will be rolled out to customers over the course of several weeks.
Upgrading is even possible right now. Just visit http://download.live.com/ and get the latest Messenger.
All Windows Live Messenger clients with versions 8.1, 8.5 or 14.0 will receive the upgrade notification. Beginning August 25, customers of Messenger 8.1 or 8.5 were prompted to upgrade their client. Customers who installed the latest Windows Live Messenger client (14.0) before August 19, 2009 will start receiving an upgrade notification in September 2009. Customers of older versions of MSN Messenger on Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Windows Me or Windows 98 will not receive an upgrade notification.
We will remind you of the mandatory upgrade when it comes nearer. More information about this is available in the Messenger says blog.
Source: http://messengersays.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5B410F7FD930829E!82557.entry
I can’t use the web cam in this new version of Windows Live Messenger and I’m getting a message that an error occurred and messenger needs to close shortly, I have been using the cam normally in the previous version 8.1. Can you help me please?
WHAT THE **** WINDOWS LIVE TEAM, you guys are so dumb, the old messengers were so good but you phaze them out and now i got forced to get the new one and all my contacts are gone or when i try and upload them from another service it says i have exceeded the limit of people to upload in a day then i try the next day and it says the same shit! what the ****ing ****! you guys are fried, get your shit right before you lose millions of windows live users. you ****heads!
Btwss you guys are losing so much windows live users cause you mucked up the system!! i had to download the new messenger cause i wouldnt let me sign in without it, now i dowloaded the new one and it said that my contact list isnt available! i tried making a new account and transferring the contacts but the same problem occured. how do i fix it?
I hate the new 2009 version of live it is stupid its showing that I have invatations what are not even there. I did not like being forced to change to this version its pants. its no where near as easy to work your way round as the 8.1 version I hate it Im switching to yahoo untill they get the bugs sorted or bring out a newer version.
2009 Version sucks.
At first it looks cool, with the new features and I like the ability to send pictures via the chat window and the different themes,
BUT I keep getting disconnected,
AND suddenly the voice quality is terrible for me,
AND now after 2 weeks WLM does not recognize my webcam.
Don’t bother to upgrade until they fix these issues, MAJOR HEADACHE
all my friends are gone, i leave msn and go to yahoo. the new msn is useless without existing friends and the impossible to add friends. goodbye msn for ever
This is so stupid… Now I have to update all my clients msn in order to use it. I understand they want to get ad revenue, but give me a break. Don’t make is so obvious that that is the motivating factor here. I’ll stick with Pidgin, because the Crappy MSN frontend is too bloated and has too much advertising. Thanks again Microsoft. You have failed your users.
For anyone who wants to use an older version of Windows Live Messenger (8.1, 8.5), if your running Windows XP (not sure about Vista), all you have to do is go to the directory of messenger and right click on the “msnmsgr.exe” file and click Properties. Then click on the Compatibility tab. Tick the “Run this program in compatibility mode for” check box and select Windows 2000 from the list. Click OK. Then launch messenger. A repair box will come up, and when that goes, you will not be forced to upgrade and you can log in again.
Thanks Ryan that really worked out, i was using some exe modifications but got stuck and searched for another solutions and got to this blog and found what i was looking for and now i can use my old 8.1 again.
Hello Ryan 🙂 Thanks for this… I just have one more problem… error code 8100030d… help! 🙂
Hello Ryan:) Thanks for this … Sadece tek bir sorun daha var … hata kodu 8100030d … yardım! 🙂
i want use windows messanger 5.1 can i possible????????????????
Hello Ryhan,
No, you cannot use Windows Messenger 5.1 anymore. You will have to stick to Messenger 2009.
Ben ???????????????? mümkün kullanmayın Windows Messenger 5.1 istiyorum
Hello Ryhan, Hayır, artık Windows Messenger 5.1 kullanamazsınız. Sen haberci 2.009 ayrılmamak gerekir.
this is so stupid. what about people who dont have access to high speed- can only get dial up. i cant even sign in