Greetings Mike,

It's somewhat necessary (you may encounter some problems with Remote Assistance within
Windows XP and other applications if you remove it).  To stop it from showing up, you can
disable Windows Messenger by opening it up, click Tools, Options, Preferences tab and
unchecking 'Run this Program when Windows starts' or 'Run Windows Messenger when Windows
starts' (depending on version).  As well, you can disable it further by going to Start,
Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components on the left, uncheck
Windows Messenger in the components list and click Next >. Note: this is only available if
you've installed Windows XP Service Pack 1 -- if you haven't, visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.  This won't remove Windows Messenger completely, but it
will let it stay out of your way.

Also, do you have Norton Antivirus 2003 installed?  Norton added a new "instant messaging
scanning" feature to Norton Antivirus 2003, which can conflict with Messenger and cause some
of this behavior. To stop it, open Norton Antivirus (Right-click on the Norton Antivirus icon
in the System Tray/Notification Area (by the clock), choose 'Open Norton Antivirus'), click
Options, then Instant Messenger then uncheck MSN Instant Messenger and click OK.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com