MSN stands for Microsoft Network and the messenger program is one of the most commonly used messenger programs available. Despite the big name behind this chat program, and its widespread popularity, it has numerous problems and many users may get exceedingly frustrated. If you are a MSN user, or if you are looking at MSN as your next messenger service, then be sure to read the common problems below and their solutions!
Error #1 The program is slow despite your computer being efficient
Cause – The cause is probably some type of malware that is on your computer. It can slow down your connection speed to the internet and you can see the effects when messages you send are very sluggish in appearing on the messenger screen.
Solution – For malware, run a complete and thorough inspection of your computer with an antivirus program. This should clear up the problem!
Error #2 “There was a problem connecting you to MSN Messenger.”
Cause – Generally caused by a firewall blocking the program from connecting to the internet.
Solution – Go to your firewall program; whether that’s your Window’s Firewall or one installed by your antivirus program. Find the part where you can allow an exception and ensure that MSN Messenger is marked as an exception.
Error #3 All of your contacts are missing
Cause – There can be multiple causes for this, one of the simplest is just a startup error or it could be that your list is simply hidden. Another issue could be that the contacts are completely deleted.
Solution – First, try restarting your computer and seeing if your contacts reappear, if they don’t then go to the tools menu and click on ‘options’. From there you can see the privacy tab and you can see an option that will enable or disable the contact list. If the previous solution failed as well, then try logging onto your MSN on another computer and seeing if this fixes it, if not then all of your contacts have been removed permanently and you will have to reinstall.
Error#4 “Signing in to .NET Messenger Service failed because the service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later”
Cause – There can be multiple causes for this error; either your account has been disabled and you cannot use that particular email on the MSN anymore, or their servers are down.
Solution – If the server is down then simply wait a little while (about a half hour at most) and then try to log in again, however if your login is still bringing up that error message then your account may have been disabled. In the event that your account is disabled then you should go here: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-help-center
There are a variety of other problems that you can encounter with this messenger service, however in general you should experience an issue free messaging service.