[andreaborman]

Microsoft have started to issue a mandatory update to all Windows Vista users with Service Pack 2,Windows 7 users and Windows 8 users,this month-July 2012. Who are still using Windows Live Essentials 2009 version to upgrade to WLE 2011 version.

Note if you have got Windows XP,Windows Vista without any service packs or Windows Vista with Service Pack 1,you will NOT be given the mandatory update. But if you have any later versions of Windows you WILL be given the mandatory upgrade.

But I and most people are not happy with WLE 2011 and have avoided it and stayed with WLE 2009 version. I have tried WLE 2011 several times and I knew right away I did not like it. So I have have stayed with WLE 2009 which I have on all of my Windows 7,Windows 8 and Windows Vista computers. And of course on my Windows XP computers.

But unfortunately this month July 2012 Microsoft have issued a mandatory upgrade to try to force all Windows 7,Windows Vista and Windows 8 users to upgrade from WLE 2009 version,to the much hated my many including me,WLE 2011 version.

And you can see here on the Microsoft Answers forums there are over 32 pages of responses from members on that thread. And most of the posters on there are very unhappy and angry about the forced update from WLE 2009 to WLE 2011. And even the ones who did upgrade or install WLE 2011 are having problems with it. And the staff on Microsoft Answers were not very helpful to the many who complained of the forced update on that thread. And they locked the thread.
See here-http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/messenger-wlinstall/mandatory-update-to-windows-live-essentials-is-now/0816b1b7-71ff-44f7-8d74-52505bbbf290

And so you have tried to log into WL Messenger 2009 and have got the notification that a new version of Messenger is available and you must upgrade. And if you refuse to update it won't let you log into WL Messenger 2009.

But here is a way to avoid the mandatory upgrade from WLE 2009 version to WLE 2011 version. And keep WLE 2009 and carry on using WL Messenger 2009.

First if you have WLE 2011 you must uninstall it. This is because Windows will not install on older version of Windows Live Essentials if it detects a newer version on your computer.

Now download WLE 209 if you have not already done so. You may find that when you go to the Microsoft website,you are redirected to the WLE 2011 download page instead. But you don't want to download WLE 2011. So if this happens,you can download WLE2009 from another website.
The current version of WLE 2009 is WLE 2009 Build 14.0.8117.416 the Windows XP version,that works on all versions of Windows.

After you have installed WLE 2009 for the first time WL Messenger 2009 will open up right away. Because it is set by default to start when Windows starts. You need to change this setting not to start with Windows. Do this by un-ticking start with Windows in options settings. Then log off then log in again.

In order to run Windows Live Messenger 2009 again,you need to change the program compatibility settings, You need to set WL Messenger 2009 to run in program compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows XP Service Pack 2.

To change program compatibility settings,right click on the WL Messenger 2009 exe found in your start menu or Windows Live programs folder. Then click properties.

Under compatibility select change settings for all users. Then select run in compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 3. Or run in compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 2. Save settings then exit.


Now when you run WL Messenger 2009 you will now be able to log in again and use it again.And you will no longer get the annoying reminder telling you to upgrade. And you will be able to keep WLE 2009 and WL Messenger 2009.

Note-

If you have WLE 2009 WITHOUT WL Messenger,you WILL NOT be given the update. As the mandatory update is only being issued on Windows Live Messenger 2009. Not on Windows Live Mail 2009,Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009 or any of the other Windows Live Essentials 2009.

But if you do have WL Messenger 2009 installed with or without the other WLE 2009 YOU WILL be given the update. UNLESS you do what I say and change the WL Messenger 2009 program compatibility mode to Windows XP.

But as long as you do set Messenger 2009 in program compatibility mode for Windows XP,either Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows XP Service Pack 2,you will have no problems using it again.

Windows Live Essentials 2009 works on Windows 7,Windows Vista,Windows 8 and of course Windows XP. And is much better and far superior than the horrible Windows Live Essentials 2011. Which I and most Windows 7 users won't install. Andrea Borman.

This post has been edited by andreaborman: 11 August 2012 - 08:00 AM

[andreaborman]

Here is Windows Live Messenger 2009 and Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009 working on my Windows 8 netbook.

WLE 2009 works on Windows Vista,Windows 7 and Windows 8. Andrea Borman.

 Windows Live Messenger 2009 on Windows 8..JPG (97.79K)
Number of downloads: 11

 Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009 on Windows 8..JPG (98.75K)
Number of downloads: 8

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Shouldn't the 2nd question have NO as a final choice? I can't complete the poll without it.

Fully agree that the Live Essentials should not be forced ever.

It should be called Live Non-Essentials

[MagicAndre1981]

setting the XP compatibility causes an UAC prompt, so the messenger runs elevated. This is not good. A better way is to use ACT and only set the XPSp3VersionLie.

[andreaborman]

Quote

CharlotteTheHarlot wrote-
Shouldn't the 2nd question have NO as a final choice? I can't complete the poll without it.

Fully agree that the Live Essentials should not be forced ever.

It should be called Live Non-Essentials

Well the WLE 2009 is all right.It is good. But you are right about WLE 2011. It is just not the same as WLE 2009 and previous versions. I don't like the Ribbon in WL Photo Gallery 2011 or in WL Mail 2011. WL Messenger 2011 is also not very user friendly and crashed every time I tried to make video calls. The problem with WLE 2011 is that it's TOO different from WLE 2009 and previous versions.

The only good thing about WLE 2011 is perhaps you can record direct for your webcam in Windows Live Movie Maker 2011.But you can't in WL Movie Maker 2009. But then you can record direct from your webcam in Windows Movie Maker 2.1 from Windows XP. Which works on Windows Vista,Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Quote

MagicAndre1981 wrote-
setting the XP compatibility causes an UAC prompt, so the messenger runs elevated. This is not good. A better way is to use ACT and only set the XPSp3VersionLie

I don't have UAC on Windows 7,Windows 8 or Windows Vista. I have permanently disabled it.

And I have also disabled Smart Screen on Windows 8,as well as UAC.

UAC is annoying and so is Smart Screen. UAC asks you do you want to run this program,yes or no? And you click yes,then it asks you again and again. So people are just going to click yes to get rid of the UAC prompt.

If I were you I would turn off UAC like I do. And turn off that Smart Screen in Windows 8,like I do.

And what does ACT stand for? I don't know what that is. Andrea Borman.

This post has been edited by andreaborman: 04 August 2012 - 06:01 AM

[jaclaz]

I presume that CharlotteTheHarlot is asking about the freedom to vote in the poll.
Personally I would vote:

• What do you think of the forced upgrade to Windows Live Essentials 2011?
  Wrong
  
• Do you use an older version of Windows Live Messenger 2009?
  NO. ( I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will.)
  
• Do you ever want to upgrade to Windows Live Essentials 2011 version?
  NO. ( I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will, let alone Live Essentials.)

I cannot answer the second question as it does not provide me with the appropriate choice.

An alternative is to call the poll "reserved to people that use Live Messenger"...

jaclaz

[andreaborman]

jaclaz, on 04 August 2012 - 06:40 AM, said:

I presume that CharlotteTheHarlot is asking about the freedom to vote in the poll.
Personally I would vote:

• What do you think of the forced upgrade to Windows Live Essentials 2011?
  Wrong
  
• Do you use an older version of Windows Live Messenger 2009?
  NO. ( I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will.)
  
• Do you ever want to upgrade to Windows Live Essentials 2011 version?
  NO. ( I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will, let alone Live Essentials.)

I cannot answer the second question as it does not provide me with the appropriate choice.

An alternative is to call the poll "reserved to people that use Live Messenger"...

jaclaz

Looks like I did not set it up correctly I have never set up polls before. I tried on My digital Life forums. But I did not set it up right there either.

As for MSN Messenger 7.5,it works on Windows 7 if you set it to program compatibility mode for Windows 2000. And WL Messenger 8.5 also works on Windows 7. But the webcam features does not work.Unless the person you are calling is also using the same version of Messenger. And not many people are using MSN Messenger 7.5 or WL Messenger 8.5 now.

And even on Windows XP the latest version is WL Messenger 2009,Build 14.0.8117. Which also works on later versions of Windows,Windows 7 and Windows 8. As well as on Windows Vista. And you can also make video and voice calls on WLM 2009 to someone who is using WLM 2011.

So WLM 2009 is still supported. But Microsoft prefer Windows Vista,users with Service Pack 2,Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to use WLE 2011 and WL Messenger 2011. Which most people,including me don't like.

I always have WL Messenger 2009 set to program compatibility mode for Windows XP. but on one of my netbooks I had to re-install Windows 7 and Messenger opened right away after the install. Without giving me the chance to change the settings. So of course that's when I got the reminder to upgrade. But now that I have set Messenger 2009 in Windows XP compatibility mode,I am using it again. The same as on my other netbooks.

But maybe I am pushing mine and other peoples luck by posting here and on other sites about how to avoid the update. As if Microsoft reads the posts they may block that way round it.Andrea Borman.

This post has been edited by andreaborman: 04 August 2012 - 07:07 AM

[tomasz86]

There's always aMSN...

[andreaborman]

tomasz86, on 04 August 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

There's always aMSN...

But last year when I downloaded AMSN I got an alert from Windows Defender telling me it had adware. And it removed the file for me. Windows Defender flagged A MSN as having adware,which was the Open Candy that they put in AMSN. I got the alert on Windows Defender on both Windows XP and Windows 7. So AMSN has adware or malware in it. See here about Open Candy from the Microsoft website-http://www.microsoft...WIN32/OPENCANDY

So AMSN is out. But there is Emesene which is safe to use. And it looks a lot like MSN Messenger 7.5. But Emesene does not support video or voice chat. So it has limited functions. And AMSN also looks like the old MSN Mesenger 7.5 but AMSN is not safe to use. Andrea Borman.

[CoffeeFiend]

jaclaz, on 04 August 2012 - 06:40 AM, said:

I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will

Pretty much the same here. Don't have it installed anywhere, be it at home or work (none of our work PCs have it). I don't think I'm really missing out on anything. The kids haven't asked me to install it either. Seemingly all kids chat on facebook instead, some people still use old fashionned IRC (group chat / support mostly) and everybody I see that wants audio / video chatting uses Skype instead.

Unfortunately, the poll doesn't have a "I don't give a F" option, nor a "Why would I want to use either?" option so no vote.

[andreaborman]

CoffeeFiend, on 04 August 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

jaclaz, on 04 August 2012 - 06:40 AM, said:

I don't use ANY version of Windows Live Messenger, never did and never will

Pretty much the same here. Don't have it installed anywhere, be it at home or work (none of our work PCs have it). I don't think I'm really missing out on anything. The kids haven't asked me to install it either. Seemingly all kids chat on facebook instead, some people still use old fashionned IRC (group chat / support mostly) and everybody I see that wants audio / video chatting uses Skype instead.

Unfortunately, the poll doesn't have a "I don't give a F" option, nor a "Why would I want to use either?" option so no vote.

Well I have added some more options to the poll. Is this better? Take a look. Andrea Borman.

[tomasz86]

andreaborman, on 04 August 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

tomasz86, on 04 August 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

There's always aMSN...

But last year when I downloaded AMSN I got an alert from Windows Defender telling me it had adware. And it removed the file for me. Windows Defender flagged A MSN as having adware,which was the Open Candy that they put in AMSN. I got the alert on Windows Defender on both Windows XP and Windows 7. So AMSN has adware or malware in it. See here about Open Candy from the Microsoft website-http://www.microsoft...WIN32/OPENCANDY

So AMSN is out. But there is Emesene which is safe to use. And it looks a lot like MSN Messenger 7.5. But Emesene does not support video or voice chat. So it has limited functions. And AMSN also looks like the old MSN Mesenger 7.5 but AMSN is not safe to use. Andrea Borman.

While I personally dislike it very much when there's another software/toolbars bundled with an installer I don't really think there's anything risky in installing aMSN as long as you look at the screen before clicking "yes" and don't agree to install any additional software. aMSN itself is open source.

About OpenCandy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCandy

[-X-]

I don't get why people use the monstrosities that come from the instant messenger makers.

I prefer this small package that's fully portable...

[andreaborman]

Well another time when I tried AMSN a few months ago it seems that they no longer put Open Candy in it. Because when I tried it on Windows XP,Windows 7 and Windows 8,Windows Defender did not give me any alerts.

But when I tried the webcam feature on AMSN it crashed Windows 8 and I had to restart. And on Windows 7,the blue screen of death flashed for a few seconds. The same thing on Windows XP. So I uninstalled it.

And as for Miranda it did not even open when I clicked on it.It does not work.

But what is annoying is that you get to like a software and get used to it. And then in the new version,they make changes to it and make it so different.

What they have done with Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Essentials reminds me of Splitcam. Splitcam is a webcam tool that was for years just a software to take photos with. And you could use your webcam in more than one place and make your photos different colors,pink,blue etc.

Then in 2011 they go and make a new version that is completely different from the old version. That now lets you record videos from your webcam and upload them to You Tube or Facebook. But the sound is not working and it records videos WITHOUT SOUND. And they go and make several updated versions of the new version. All with the same problem,no sound in the videos.Even though there is supposed to be. So I carried on using the old version for a while and then gave up and uninstalled that.

It is the same with WLE. WLE 2009 and WL Messenger 2009 and earlier versions of WLE 2009 are all exactly the same as one another. And true,WL Messenger 8.5 was different. And MSN Messenger 7.5 was different again. But the layout was similar and you could use it.

Windows Live Messenger 2011 is not the same and not so user friendly. And does not work as well on my netbook. And I don't like the Ribbon in Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 and Windows Live Mail 2011.

So that's why I use Windows Live Essentials 2009 version. And I use WLE 2009 on my Windows XP.So why can't I use it on my Windows 7,Windows Vista and Windows 8?

And WLE 2009 is for all versions of Windows,Windows XP,windows Vista,Windows 7 and Windows 8. But WLE 2011 only works on Windows Vista with service Pack 2,Windows 7 and Windows 8. That says it all for WLE 2011 version. It figures. Andrea Borman.

[MagicAndre1981]

andreaborman, on 04 August 2012 - 05:59 AM, said:

And what does ACT stand for? I don't know what that is. Andrea Borman.

ACT = Application Compatibility Toolkit which is part of the Windows ADK

I will never upgrade to 2011 because the ribbon in Live Mail uses too much vertical space. And you can't Mix the essentials version,so the 2011 setup will always update all installed 2009 versions

This post has been edited by MagicAndre1981: 05 August 2012 - 05:39 AM

[jaclaz]

Andrea :

• Thanks, voted.
  
• With all due respect, and though I cannot find personally one reason in the world to have a "messenger" app, the aMSN is not a "niche" product, tested and used by a small bunch of geeks, we are talking of more than 40 millions downloads:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMSN
  http://www.amsn-project.net/
  so I do suspect that there is something specific to your setup that creates the issues you described.
  
  Same goes fo Miranda:
  http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Miranda_IM
  http://www.miranda-im.org/

Layman's comparison:
If your old model Volkswagen Beetle (or Renault R4) doesn't start in the morning, you don't go around saying that the Volkswagen Beetle (or Renault R4) doesn't work and/or is not reliable/tough, you simply have a single specimen that doesn't work or you failed to perform the necessary maintenance or you left it all night with lights on and battery is dead.
You have one of the two most reliable cars ever built, but even the best one may not start.


jaclaz

[andreaborman]

Quote

MagicAndre1981 wrote-
setting the XP compatibility causes an UAC prompt, so the messenger runs elevated. This is not good. A better way is to use ACT and only set the XPSp3VersionLie.

MagicAndre1981 wrote-
ACT = Application Compatibility Toolkit which is part of the Windows ADK

I will never upgrade to 2011 because the ribbon in Live Mail uses too much vertical space. And you can't Mix the essentials version,so the 2011 setup will always update all installed 2009 versions.

That's right. If you have Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009,Windows Live Mail 2009 installed along with Windows Live Messenger 2009. You cannot just upgrade WL Messenger only. Because when you choose to upgrade WL Messenger 2009 to WL Messenger 2011,it will also upgrade all of your other Windows Live Essentials that you have installed,such as WL Photo Gallery 2009 and all of the others to WLE 2011 version.
So you CANNOT just keep WL Photo Gallery 2009,WL Mail 2009 and just upgrade the WL Messenger 2009 to 2011 version,no. It will upgrade ALL of your Windows Live Essentials 2009 to Windows Live Essentials 2011 version.

And yes I searched on Google and I found out about ACT it is Application Compatibility Toolkit. And from what I read about it on the Microsoft website.It tells you what programs are compatible with Windows 7. But most Windows XP programs are anyway. I have installed many Windows XP Programs on Windows 7 and Windows 8. By copying the program files over from my Windows XP netbook onto Windows 7 and Windows 8. And most of them work. And so do downloads for software made for Windows XP,they install and work on Windows 7.

So you don't need to use ACT.

Quote

Jaclaz wrote-
Andrea :
Thanks, voted.
With all due respect, and though I cannot find personally one reason in the world to have a "messenger" app, the aMSN is not a "niche" product, tested and used by a small bunch of geeks, we are talking of more than 40 millions downloads:

Well last year Windows Defender did flag aMSN as having adware,the Open Candy. But it did not in the version I downloaded 2 months ago. So aMSN have probably stopped including Open Candy in their new versions. But it still does not work. Andrea Borman.

[tomasz86]

andreaborman, on 05 August 2012 - 06:20 AM, said:

Well last year Windows Defender did flag aMSN as having adware,the Open Candy. But it did not in the version I downloaded 2 months ago. So aMSN have probably stopped including Open Candy in their new versions. But it still does not work. Andrea Borman.

When a program doesn't work it doesn't necessarily mean the problem lies in the program itself. Something may be broken in the OS which makes it unable to run the program

Just a few days ago after updating Firefox on my computer it suddenly stopped working (the UI was completely frozen). I thought that something had been changed in Firefox itself but in the end I realised that there was a problem in my system, not Firefox, and it was gone after I restored the system from a backup image. Anyway, what I want to say is that unless you've tested the application on different configurations and it didn't work on any of them saying that it "doesn't work" can have many different meanings.

[andreaborman]

Well when they stopped making Firefox 3.6 and replaced it with Firefox 4 onward,I moved to Pale Moon web browser. Pale Moon is one of the many Firefox browsers or Firefox clones,like Comet Bird. But unlike Comet Bird they make 2 versions of Pale Moon. One is Pale moon 3.6 which is the same as Firefox 3.6 branch. And the oter is Pale Moon 12 which is the same as the current Firefox 12. But both versions Pale Moon 3.6 and 12 are constantly being updated like Firefox. And Pale Moon is the only Firefox browser to still have Firefox 3.6. You can get Pale moon from here-http://www.palemoon.org/

As you can see from my pictures I have Pale Moon.Because I don't like Firefox 12. I like Firefox 3.6.

And also if you try to download WLE 2009 version on Windows 7,Windows Vista or Windows 8,on the Microsoft website.They redirect you to the WLE 2011 download page. You can only get onto the WLE 2009 download page on the Microsoft website on Windows XP.Have you noticed that? They started doing that about 4 months ago.

But at the moment I am writing this on my Windows XP netbook. And you can see from the screenshot of the system requirements webpage for WLE 2009 version.That it is not only for Windows XP,it is for Windows Vista,Windows7 and works on Windows 8.

So why don't they just scrap the WLE 2011 version and just have WLE2009 version instead? Well they already do. It's just that Microsoft are trying to discourage you from using it if you are on Windows Vista,windows 7 or Windows 8. I don't know why because it's better than 2011 version. Andrea Borman.

This post has been edited by andreaborman: 05 August 2012 - 08:38 AM

[jaclaz]

tomasz86, on 05 August 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

When a program doesn't work it doesn't necessarily mean the problem lies in the program itself. Something may be broken in the OS which makes it unable to run the program

And ... since Andrea failed to catch the meaning of the layman's comparison , then I will venture to hypotesize that a PEBCAK may be occurring, additionally
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/User_error

jaclaz