I have windows vista with an acer orbicam (i know acer computers combined with vista can be hellish)

My webcam works fine but when i go to tools>webcam settings then click on "advanced" msn suddenly closes with the message

"windows live messenger has stopped working, windows is looking for a solution to the problem"

Any ideas?

In that case have you tried reinstalling the messenger program, and maybe your webcam drivers/software as well. I haven't experience this kind of issue though.