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How to: Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

Elena Santos

Elena Santos

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Judging by the user comments I’ve read in the program’s review and blog post, I’d say Windows Live Messenger 2011 hasn’t been very successful among users. Whether the problem is the integration with Facebook or the new “social” interface, I can’t tell. What I know for sure is that many people want to get rid of it and go back to a previous, lighter and more friendly version of Live Messenger. So here’s a short tutorial I wrote on how to downgrade to Windows Live Messenger 2009 in just a few easy steps.

1. First of all, you need to remove Windows Live Messenger from your computer. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features, scroll down to Windows Live Essentials 2011, right click on it and start the uninstalling wizard.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

2. In the first screen of the wizard, select the “Remove one or more Windows Live programs”.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

3. Select the programs you want to uninstall. Bad news is that you need to remove all the apps you’ve installed from the Live Essentials suite, besides Messenger (good news is that you can reinstall them all afterwards).

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

4. Wait for the process to finish, and then you’ll have to restart the system.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

5. Now that your computer is free from version 2011, it’s time to install Windows Live Messenger 2009. Get the file and run it.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

6. Select Live Messenger, plus all the apps you want to install back – and which you were forced to uninstall in setp 3 – and wait for the process to complete.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

7. Once done, go to the Start menu and launch Messenger. There! Version 2009 is ready for you.

Uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011

Elena Santos

Elena Santos

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