Re: Can't eliminate Windows Messenger icon from Notification Area.

Hi Ari,

Glad you found my site useful.

I agree that the lack of user name and password can cause a serious security
breach. But no matter how many time you bang on about security, the average
user of XP has the opinion that security is for businesses only.

My inbox is regularly full with questions asking how to get rid of the
inconvenient login screen. While i am aware of the security implications i
cannot and, hopefully, do not try to force my opinions on other users. If
they wish to remove the login screen then, if i don't tell them how to
remove it, someone else will.

Personally i would use the login screen for all accounts regardless of there
privledge status. Okay the login screen adds valuable second to the boot up
process but, and again this is a personal observation, i feel people are
becoming a little paranoid over how quickly the pc should boot up. Mine
takes, on average, 90 seconds. Is that slow or fast? It doesn't really
bother me, but it does others. XP was originally supposed to load in 30
seconds. When i have used bootvis it tells me it loads in 38 seconds. This
is what people are thinking about. Why should XP boot is 38 seconds and yet
my machine take three times longer to do the same job. Answer is simple.
Bootvis starts timing from when XP starts its processes, not when the pc is
switched on. The pre-amble of the BIOS etc takes 30 seconds anyway, so now
we are running at 68 seconds for bootup. Add any applications that need to
start with windows and you can probably add a further 30 seconds. Total 98
seconds. So my 90 seconds to desktop is quite good.

The thought of windows loading quicker without the splash screen is maybe a
misnomer. All the splash screen is doing is covering the dozens of lines
that fly by as the drivers etc load. It is possibly because you can actually
see information flying past on the screen that you have the illusion of an
increase in windows boot up.

Regards

John


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

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"Ari" <nomail@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7gghv1535mogn6ppreicp3e5stt842i6hn@xxxxxxxxxx
WOW, awesome website John, thanks very much.

Rather than messing with the setup of Windows Messenger, I decided to
uninstall it using the method described on your website. If it's not
on the hard drive, then it is much less of a security risk!

While I was in the windows components install section, I took out
Outlook, MSN Explorer, the XP splash screen and did some other minor
pruning.

When I restarted, I had to delete the Windows Messenger start up info,
but after that, I was home free!

I've got my running processes down to 27, clearly some of those
deletions had services running that I neither needed or wanted. So,
it's all good.

We've been running XP (pre-alpha, alpha and beta) since 1990 or so
(commonly called DOS3, DOS5, DOS6, Win95, Win98 etc). Glad to see
Bill's OS progressing towards a usable product:>: I don't recommend it
to my friends yet, but we have had XP running for 2 years (without
reinstalling), a new record. Hopefully he will continue to work the
bugs out and someday produce a usable product! XP is a giant step in
that direction, although each time he releases a new version, he seems
to charge for it-over and over::>

Regarding the Splash screen elimination.....is it my imagination, or
does windows load faster with the splash screen gone????

Can you also comment on the ramifications of making the auto-login
changes outlined in your FAQ? It seems to be a step in the wrong
direction (to me) relative to security. Doesn't this allow a hacker
into the system if he gets past the firewall (I have a hardware
firewall in the DSL modem and run Zone Alarm (freeware version)? Or,
would this be ok as long as the account with the auto-login doesn't
have administrative privileges????

Hey John, again many thanks. I think Bill should pay you guys! An MVP
helped me out of a mess a few years ago and I've always felt the
individual did a better job than Bill's outsourced (Willie from India)
tech support people. Clearly, you all are much more in touch with real
people.

Regards

Ari

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:43:30 -0000, "John Barnett MVP"
<freelanceit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

visit my website http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Click the Win XP Faq
button and take a look at question 15 - how do i uninstall windows
messenger. alternatively look at question 17. How do i prevent windows
messenegr from auto starting



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