Hello

A friend of mine is having this problem, when he is logging into Windows live messenger he will appear offline even though he is signed in and online. Nobody on his contact list can see him but he able to send and receive messages to others. I have tried the steps below that where suggested by Microsoft. I would appreciate suggestions anybody may have on how to remidy this problem.

Thank you,
Michael


Which Version of Messenger are you running? (Within Messenger, click the ''Help'' menu and then select ''About'' to find the current version.)
Windows Live Messenger 8.0 [Windows Live Messenger 8.0]
Frequency of the issue:
Always present [Always present]
Where are you trying to connect from?
Home [Home]
If you have a firewall, which one?
Norton Internet Security [Norton Internet Security]
Type of Internet connection:
Cable Modem [Cable Modem]

Which operating system are you using?Windows XP, Service Pack 2 (SP2): Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; SIMBAR Enabled; SIMBAR={727895A3-88C7-4f82-9A6D-36D13BA04E54}; SIMBAR=0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
Which browser are you using: IE6
Location: en-us - English (United States)
Type of Support: E-mail Support
Browser Default Language: en-us

1. Remove Windows Live Messenger from the computer.

a. In the notification area, right-click the Windows Live Messenger icon, and then click "Sign Out."
b. Click "Start," click "Run," type "control appwiz.cpl", and then click "OK."
c. In the list of currently installed programs, select "MSN Messenger" or select "Windows Live Messenger," and then click "Remove."
d. If you are prompted to confirm, click "Yes."

2. Remove the temporary files and folders from the computer:

a. Click "Start," click "Run," type "cleanmgr," and then click "OK."
b. If you are prompted, click "C:" in the "Select the drive you want to clean up" list, and then click "OK."

NOTES:
- If you partitioned the hard disk, the CleanMgr utility prompts you to select a drive.
- The Disk Cleanup utility displays how much disk space can be freed.
- This process can take several minutes.

c. On the "Disk Cleanup" tab, make sure that only the following options are selected:
-- "Downloaded Program Files"
-- "Temporary Internet Files"
-- "Temporary files"
-- "Temporary Offline Files"
-- "Offline Files"

d. Click "OK" two times.

3. Delete Messenger related cache files.

a. Click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then press ENTER to open a command window. Execute the following commands one at a time and hit Enter after each command to execute each of them.
b. The following commands delete files that are used when you sign in and files that are related to the Contacts Cache folders.

del "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\IdentityCRL"
del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\IdentityCRL"
del "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts"
del "%USERPROFILE%\Contacts"

c. The following commands delete files related to sharing folders. Executing this command may result in deleting the files your contacts shared with you or that you shared with your contacts using the sharing Folders feature. Please create a backup of these files , if desired, before executing the next two commands.

del "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\<Users Live ID>\Sharing Folders"
del "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\<Users Live ID>\SharingMetaData"

4. Delete the Windows Live Messenger-associated registry keys.

IMPORTANT: The following steps contain information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up, and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, visit the following Web site: Windows registry information for advanced users

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use the Registry Editor at your own risk.

a. Click "Start," type "cmd," and then press ENTER. The Command Prompt window opens.
b. Type the following commands exactly as they appear below. Press ENTER after typing each command to execute the command.

Note: In some case you may encounter the error that the key does not exist. If you have typed the command correctly, this may be because the key has already been removed earlier or does not exist on your machine.

REG DELETE HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger /f
REG DELETE HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSNMessenger /f
REG DELETE HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Live\Communications Clients\Shared /f
REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\IdentityCRL /f
REG DELETE HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\usnjsvc /f

c. Type "exit," and then press ENTER.

5. Restart the computer.

6. Reinstall Windows Live Messenger:
__________________________________________________ _______________________
David, there are times that conflicts sometimes happen on your contact list. As result, you would sometimes appear offline to all of your contacts even though you are already online. To fix this, try the following steps below:

Step 1: Refresh your contacts cache:

a. Click Start, click Run and type the following commands:

a1. %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft click OK and then delete the "Windows Live Contacts" folder.

a2. %USERPROFILE% click OK and then delete the "Contacts" folder.

Step 2: Create a back up of your contact list:

a. Sign in to Windows Live Messenger.
b. On the Contacts menu, click Save Contact List. Click Save Instant Messaging Contacts.
c. Choose a location for the contact list.
d. Click Save and then click OK.

Note: The saved contact list has a .ctt extension.

Step 3: Delete all your contacts:

a. Select and right-click the contact, and then click Delete contact.
b. Select the option Also Remove from Hotmail contacts
c. Click Yes to confirm deletion.

Step 4: Import all your saved contacts:

a. Sign in to Windows Live Messenger.
b. On the Contacts menu, click Import Contacts from a File.
c. Locate the file that contains your saved contacts, click Open, and then click Yes.

Tell him to double check he's signing on as online, it sounds stupid but you don't know how many times I kept wondering "why am I offline when I'm online.." and then realized I kept on signing on as offline... >.>

Yeah, thanks DarkLord7854, I double checked that one, it says he is online.

Ah.. That's a bugger then..

What happens if he tries logging from a different computer?

same thing happens, he appears off line to others on his list even though he is logged in showing online status. I thought it might be the version of messenger he is usiing, so I downgraded him to version 7 and that didn't fix the problem.

Has he tried making a fresh new account and seeing if the problem is there? It could be an account thing..