ok when i open msn messenger and go to type in my email address it gets really laggy like it wants to go not responding and then it takes about 2 minutes for the name to actually show up after i type it, but when i type the password its normal. then when i go to sign in it never works but it doesnt give me an error code just when i run troubleshooter it says it may be a proxy or firewall issue.
im pretty sure theres no firewall problem so what is a proxy issue and how do i fix it?

i tried uninstalling and reinstalling several times but to no avail THEN i decided to download windows live messenger and give that a try, well when i try to install it it goes like normal for a while then near the end it says "rolling back action" and something like installation failed. it gives me the error code 1603 but i havent found any info on what this means. any help would be greatly appreciated

hi,
the only thing i can find on the 'error code 1603' is this Error code 1603
have a look and see if this has anything to do with it.
It refers to an earlier version of msn, but the error code is the same.

here's something else i just found..... Error code 1603 solutions
hope this helps you.

those didnt seem to help, but i was thinking maybe since this was for messenger live and not 6.0 some of those files im supposed to be looking for to change might be under a different name or something

Found this on the msn site.....

How do I fix the error "MSN Messenger setup failed with error code '1603'" during setup?When running MSN Messenger Setup, you may encounter a "1603" error or you may get the following error message instead.

An error occurred during the installation of assembly "Microsoft.Windows.Networking.RtcDll, type="win32", version="5.2.2.1", publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df", processorAchitecture="x86"". Please refer to Help and Support for more information. HRESULT: 0x80070002.
To resolve the situation:

Turn off any spyware detection programs.
If you have the Microsoft® Windows® AntiSpyware (Beta) installed, right-click the Windows AntiSpyware icon in the taskbar notification area and click "Shutdown Microsoft AntiSpyware". To turn off non-Microsoft anti-spyware programs, refer to instructions provided by the manufacturer.

Run MSN Messenger Setup again.
If this does not resolve the problem, you may not have enough free disk space. The Disk Cleanup tool calculates how to safely free up disk space on your hard disk.

To make some disk space available:



Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Performance and Maintenance.
Click Free up space on your hard disk.
The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears.

On the Disk Cleanup tab, select the following check boxes:
Downloaded Program Files
Temporary Internet Files
Temporary Files
Temporary Offline Files
Offline Files
Click OK to delete the files from these locations.
When prompted, click Yes start the disk cleanup.

here's the link for the most frequently asked questions page....
Frequently asked questions

still isnt working, thanks for your help starbuck but im starting to lose hope

i have run across this before in a few machines. what i did to fix it was uninstall msn messenger, any and all versions. reboot your computer.
go here and download msn messenger "7.0".
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=msnm
once it is downloaded, install and run it. now that it is working fine, you can use the update function from msn 7.0 to get msn 7.5 back again. and from that msn live.
let us know how you made out.

i have an older (4.0 era) messenger installed somewhere but it doesnt show up on add/remove programs list and another thing that happened to my computer the same time the messenger problems began was my start > search function doesnt work anymore so i cant use that to find it either. when i click start > search the screen comes up but its basically blank. even the title bar is blank. so i dont know what the problem is there or how to get around that either

http://www.dcsoft.com/products/regeditx/regcrawler.htm
go here and download regcrawler, install and runit. search for "msn messenger". delete all thte keys it finds.
now you have no registered msn messenger installed, it will remove all your corrupt keys.

btw, you are likely referring to windows messenger. you can rename it and it wont run on startup, thats the best way to keep it from interferring with msn messenger. you can find it in C:\Program Files\messenger.
let us know how u made out

ok ive gotten rid of all traces of msn messenger but ive been searching around with it for norton and mcaffe (because these 2 are the main problems i suspect), i tried to uninstall both of them but as i suspected they are still all over the comp when i ran the registry crawler. my question is about windows security center or whatever its called because i think they use norton as well. id really like to just get rid of that altogether as well, would it be ok for me to delete everything norton, mcafee, and symantec? i have AVG, adaware, and spybot installed and am pleased with them. is there a good program that can replace getting rid of all the norton clan? i think this would be the root of the problem because i think theres a random firewall somewhere thats blocking msm messenger from working.

thanks for the help snapper, it finally feels like im getting somewhere now!

Just reading your last thread....... so am i right in thinking you have, Norton, McAfee and Avg installed?
We only recommend that you run 1 anti virus because it can cause conflictions..... but to run 3 !!!
If you are happy with Avg then that's ok (it'll do the job that norton and mcafee does)
Your best bet would be to get rid of Norton and McAfee completely. Don't just leave them on your system... that's not good enough ( they may still try to run in the background).
Go to add and remove programs and uninstall all traces of Norton, Symantec and McAfee.
Then it may be a good idea to run the Norton removal tool ( as norton can be a bit stubborn and a pig to get rid of)
you will find the link you need here..... Removing Norton
After you have removed McAfee...... look through your folders and delete any McAfee folders still showing.
If you just stick with Avg you may find that most of your problems may disappear.
If you was using a norton or McAfee firewall, you will need another one... it may be best to look at 'Zone alarm' if you want a free firewall. available here...... Zone Alarm

i had norton and some free trial mcaffee before these problems started with my computer and then after i had gotten rid of them (or so i thought) i got AVG but as i said there are still traces of norton and mcaffee on the computer.

ive also tried running that norton remove tool but it always comes up "this file cannot run because it is not signed" or something like that. ive even downloaded it from several different sources but with the same outcome.

im still curious about the windows security center thing. do you know what that is? it came pre-packaged with the comp and has been on there for a loooooong time and seeminlgy did the job fine but id happily get rid of it altogether if i could replace it with better things (AVG, adaware, and this zone alarm you mentioned)

i just searched mcaffe on registry crawler and a few of the files seems to be tied up in the windows security center whereas the others seem to be stand-alones from when the trial version was there. so again it all goes back to this windows security center and what is to be done with it!

This link should explain all you need to know about Windows Security Center
Not too sure about that error message with the norton removal tool, but i'll look into it for you.

windows security center comes built in as a service with windows xp sp2.
to stop and disable the service from running, click on start>run type in "services.msc" this will open up your list of services available for you. you can scroll down, find windows security center, right click on it to "stop" it. then right click, select properties, set it to disable, from automatic. you should read the link the other fellow sent you. it will tell you microsoft's point of view on security center.

how did you make out on msn messenger btw? did you get msn 7.0 install and update from that? do you have a router home? they act as a hardware firewall which would make a software firewall less useful and give your system more valuable resources. i usually tweak out my systems as much as i can by limiting startup services and prgrams to relieve my proc and ram. by removing 2 of your 3 AV programs, lol, you will find a signifigant increase in performance. starbuck is correct in saying they can conflict.

after you do remove from add/remove programs, your macafee and norton products, do a search on your system for them by using the search function start>search. keep your queries to macafee and norton and symantec. delete what you find. then do the same thing with reg crawler. add/remove programs dosent take everything off your system, leaves small "footprints" in your registry , user settings and program files.

have fun, and be careful in the registry, it can be bad if you arent careful...lol.
dave

Im not sure but i may be having the same problem, on the msn troubleshoot everything is okay apart from the "key ports"
It says "failed to connect to service. This could be due to incorrect proxy or firewall settings." How do i change the settings? i cant remember doing anything and it just happened overnight.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html

ok try this then, it repairs reg keys that could have gotten damaged from adding removing programs, mostly spyware related, but it may help. the reg keys have to do with your network protocols.
lemme know

i tried out that program but it didnt change anything