Using Old Versions on Windows Live Messenger (Tutorial)

Hey, I usually hate it when new versions of Windows Live Messenger are available and they force you to download the latest messenger, and they throw the following message when using an old messenger such as 8.1 "a new version of windows live messenger is now available,would you like to install it now?".

Well frankly I have been using WLM 8.1 since two years ago and it is more than enough for my needs. So here is how you can use it again and never download the newer versions.

First of all make sure you close you quit your messenger completely and make sure it is not running in the tray.

Next, download Resource Hacker from here: http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/ (it enables you do edit resources for .exe and .dll files and it is 100% free!)

Next go to program files, and find your Msn messenger folder. Inside, there is a file called msnmsgr.exe.

Open resource hacker, drag msnmsgr.exe into resource hacker. A tree of directories should now appear like this:



then open the directory version info and inside it the directory 1 once you are there double click on the file 1033 the resources for the version info should open on the right like this:




Now that you have opened the resource, scroll down in the text until you reach a place in the bottom which says: VALUE "ProductVersion", "8.1.0178"



Note: The version may vary from one messenger to another

Now replace those numbers inside the parenthesis with: 14.0.8089.726 which is the latest product version.

Now click on the button at the top which says: compile script, then head to file ==> save. and exit resource hacker.

Now you have modified the msnmsgr.exe but resource hacker creates a backup of the original which is usually names original_msnmsgr.exe.

Note: This was done on Windows Xp SP3, I am not sure if it works on Vista or 7 but I guess it should.

That's it. open you messenger, and login with you account and voila you have been logged in to your good old favorite messenger good luck and happy chatting :)

I just prefer older versions, they are more than enough for most of the stuff and they demand less resources, I don't want to download newer versions every time and spend my precious DSL quota on something I already have and just needs some tweaking. Everyone one has a personal preference in the end :)

Btw, resource hacker can be used for creating your own mods and designs for your messenger. you just have to edit other DLLs containing the data for images, icons, colors etc...

I see... , actually I do use pidgin on my Linux box and I like the way it supports most protocols but I just prefer WLM when I am on windows it just appears to me as a standard so I use it :P . Pidgin is a great alternative though, also there is a messenger called Amsn for linux not sure if there is a windows version too :)