Delete Notification Area Item

[flavet]

In my Notification Area, there is an item called Windows Messenger. I do not use Windows Messenger (so far as I know), and I would like to delete this item from the Notification Area.
When I work my way down to the dialog screen that is entitled Customize Notifications, and in the section called Current Items, there are four items one of which is "Windows Messenger - Not Signed In". I would like to delete this; the other three are okay to keep.
Since I do not use Windows Messenger I see no reason to tell me I am not signed in. Help would be appreciated.

[tfspry]

You might find that Messenger is automatically starting. To remove from StartUp try ......
Run>msconfig>Startup> uncheck the box for "msmsgs" (without quotes) and then reboot.

[flavet]

I just followed your suggestion, and it looks like it worked - no more item in the NA list. Thank you for your help.

[CLiNT]

Remove Old Notification Icons In Windows 7
Author: Martin Tuesday February 9, 2010
http://www.ghacks.net

• • Press [Windows R], type [regedit] and hit [enter]
  • Navigate to the Registry key HKCU \Software \Classes \LocalSettings \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \TrayNotify
  • Make a backup of the Registry key by right-clicking on TrayNotify and selecting Export.
  • Now delete the following two Registry keys: IconStreams and PastIconsStream
  • Open the Windows Task Manager with [Ctrl Shift Esc]
  • Terminate the explorer.exe process
  • Click on File > New Task Run and enter explorer.exe to reload the explorer process

  This removes all icons that are currently not in use from the system tray. Users who prefer a software solution can try Tray Cleaner instead.

[Medico]

Generally msconfig.exe start up tab is good for seeing what is running, and disabling one at a time to see what is causing a proble. To delete the running app it should be deleted from it's start up location. To do this an app such as What's In Startup is ideal. See my attached screen shot.

WhatsInStartup.jpg

This app will delete the start up item from it's start up location very effectively.

[jwitalka]

Since you do not use Messanger, why not uninstall it as well?

[flavet]

@Clint & @tedshemyers - thank you for your suggestions. (my OS: XP SP3 MCE)
@jwitalka - After reading some of the posts here related to Windows Messenger and just plain Messenger, I was reluctant to do that. Thankfully the first reply above solved my problem. Thank you for your suggestion.