Live Messenger 8.1/8.5 Bypass Mandatory Upgrade
Posted by watashii | Filed under Software, Web
Today when logging into my Windows Live Messenger 8.1, I received a message forcing me to upgrade to the latest Windows Live Messenger (2009). This was discussed on their blog less than 1 month ago (thanks for the short heads-up). However, like many others, upgrading to the 2009 version was not ideal. That is: it just doesn’t work at all.
For me, I ran into problems logging in (via my workplace), as I kept getting the error: “Signing in to Windows Live Messenger failed because the authentication service is not compatible with this version of the program.
Error code: 8100030f”. And NOTHING in the online help provided any clues with this message!
So the only resolution for me was to find a way to continue using the old version. Here I found a workaround to skip the mandatory upgrade (I’m on XP, however Vista should work also).
Tags: live messenger, msn, windows
Winamp – Live Messenger (MSN) ‘Now Playing’ Updates
Posted by watashii | Filed under Software
The Windows Live Messenger (MSN) has a feature to “Show what I’m listening to” on Windows Media Player. But what if you want to show titles for your favourite music player like Winamp?
The solution is very simple. Just install the right Winamp plugin, and you’re done. The one i’m using is the now playing plugin (gen_msn). I am using Winamp 5.52 and Live Messenger 8.5.1
For power users, you can check out the advanced title formatting reference to allow you to fully customize the line display to any string value you like.
Tags: live messenger, msn, now playing, show what i'm listening to, winamp, windows media player
