Recently my girlfriend purchased a new PC, and installed XP onto it. It was updated to service pack 3 as well. When we tried to install Windows Live Messenger onto it, the installation appeared to work fine, but upon sign in, we receive the error "Windows Live Communications Platform has encountered and error and needs to close." We have reinstalled, repaired, and done everything we can think of to fix this problem, but it persists.

Below is the screenshot of the exact error we receive:



If I have left out any information that may be useful, let me know and I'll provide it. Any help is extremely appretiated!

Hello Vherion and Welcome.

Sorry for the delay in a response.

When you say as I quoted above, which PC and what OS did it come installed with? I see you put XP on it, but was there anything else factory installed?
Thank you for the screenshot.

I'll mark this open to encourage those in the know to come have a look.

Thanks for your patience

Welcome Vherion,

I'm finding others out on the net with similiar issues. Windows Live has addressed the problem with this response


This was from windows live:
To eliminate that this issue is not caused by corrupted files in the Windows Live Messenger program, you need to perform clean installation. This process is almost the same as removing and reinstalling the program in your computer. However, this will completely remove other files associated with the program.
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 Windows Live 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 using when you sign in and 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\\Sharing Folders"
del "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\\SharingMetaData"
Note: In these examples, is the e-mail address that you use to sign in to Windows Live Messenger.
4. Delete Windows Live Messenger-associated registry keys.
Important: The following steps contain information about how to 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: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986
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 Registry Editor at your own risk.
a. Click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then press Enter to open the command window.
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 exists 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
5. Restart the computer. 6. Reinstall Windows Live Messenger:
a. Visit the following Web site: http://get.live.com/messenger/overview
b. Click Get it free.
c. In the Set up your Messenger window, select your settings and then click Install.
d. In the File Download window, click Save or click Run.
e. Follow the steps to install Windows Live Messenger.

I'm finding that the "fix ratio" on this is about 50/50 though. I'll continue to search.

The PC was custom built, so nothing came factory installed on it. However, the old messenger was installed with the XP disc. We did remove that to ensure that wasn't conflicting with windows live at all.

Thanks for your response as well DCiAdmin. Unfortunatly we found the same response from windows live, and it did not fix the problem.

Nothing new in my research yet, Vherion. I'll continue to look.

Vherion,

Would you supply the information provided in the - "to see what data this error report contains - click here" window?

Thanks

As you requested:




If you need to see what it says in the 'To view technical information about the error report, click here.', let me know. I didn't include that as I wasn't sure if you needed it. If I included what is in there, it would probably be 20+ images I'd have to upload, or just a ton of a text. But of course if you need it, I can include it.