Enable or Disable Aero Border Frame in Windows Live MSN Messenger (with Auto Switcher)

In Windows Vista, Windows 7 or other Windows OS with Windows Aero feature enabled, when user installs new version of Windows Live Messenger (WLM) such as MSN Messenger in Windows Live Essentials 2009, there tends to be a thick border frame similar to typical apps around the WLM main window and chat window. The window frame, of course, is to demonstrate the Aero transparency effect.

In old classic MSN Messenger era style, the main window nor instant messaging chat window of Windows Live Messenger does not have any border frame. Refer illustration below for the differences between two styles of Windows Live Messenger window’s frame, with Aero and without Aero.

Windows Live MSN Messenger Aero Window Frame

Some user may prefer the classic legacy look of Windows Live Messenger, aka MSN Messenger. To do so, follow these steps to apply the registry hack to remove the Aero transparency window frame or border of Windows Live Messenger.

  1. Run Registry Editor (regedit).
  2. Navigate to the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Live\Messenger

    For 64-bit (x64) system, go to following registry branch:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows Live\Messenger

  3. On the right pane, right click on any blank space, then select New in the context menu, and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value to create a new registry value entry.
  4. Name the new registry entry as AeroWindowFrameEnabled.
  5. Modify the AeroWindowFrameEnabled and set its value to 0 to disable Aero window frame of Messenger (disable Aero effect on WL Messenger).

    To continue showing the partially transparent window border on Messenger program and IM chat window, set its value to 1 (enable Aero effect on Windows Live Messenger).

  6. Close and re-open the Windows Live Messenger main window and/or chat message window for the change to take effect. There is no need to exit from the MSN Messenger program.

Download Windows Live Messenger Aero Frame Auto Switcher

For user who doesn’t want to edit the system registry directly, just download the following Windows Live Messenger Aero Frame Auto Switcher, and then run the corresponding registry file to merge the value to registry in order to turn on or turn off Aero Frame Window feature in WLM.

Download WLMessenger-Aero-Frame-Auto-Switcher.zip (mirror)

The ZIP package contains Disable-WLMessenger-Aero-Frame.reg and Enable-WLMessenger-Aero-Frame.reg files. To disable the new Aero style WLM, double click on Disable-WLMessenger-Aero-Frame.reg to return to classic legacy Windows Live Messenger view with no Aero Frame. To restore to Windows Aero layout with partially transparent border frame, double click on Enable-WLMessenger-Aero-Frame.reg instead.

Note: When system prompts a warning, click on Yes to continue.

Close and open Windows Live Messenger windows to see the new layout style.


This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 2:13 am and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

14 Responses to “Enable or Disable Aero Border Frame in Windows Live MSN Messenger (with Auto Switcher)”

  1. ratsalad
    October 27th, 2009 15:54
    14

    Hi, I can’t get this to work in Windows 7 X64, anybody know how to do it?

    Thanks

  2. Marcus
    October 9th, 2009 08:21
    13

    And what about add this bar in windows XP??

    I want to see my other themer in WLM 2009.

    Please send it to my email

    Thank you.

  3. Lissa
    September 26th, 2009 07:37
    12

    I thought this wouldn’t work, but it did . Thanks !

    I hate the new MSN, by the way. Oh, it’s not even called that anymore, is it ?

    :/

  4. Rimuovere il bordo dalle finestre di Windows Live Messenger in Windows 7 e Vista | Upyou.it The Blog
    August 6th, 2009 21:03
    11

    [...] una piccola ricerca con il fido Google ho trovato questo post in cui è spiegato come rimuovere il bordo e incorporare i pulsanti di chiusura, minimizzazione e [...]

  5. Amanda
    July 29th, 2009 12:52
    10

    This is great, I prolonged getting the new MSN for as long as I could, but I finally had to reformat my laptop and was forced to download the new version. I was so used to no border with the old one that it was driving me crazy.

    Thank you!!

  6. ES_JAY
    May 18th, 2009 11:13
    9

    yeah it worked quite well :D
    it was really worth the try
    Thanks and great job ;)

  7. tiff
    April 24th, 2009 21:13
    8

    heya i wanted to unlock msn properly but i cudnt but its getting ready now

  8. Crash Test
    March 28th, 2009 10:08
    7

    Hi
    great job :)

    Could you make the same for WLMail? would be fantastic ^^

  9. Valiante
    March 12th, 2009 01:12
    6

    I’m afraid this didn’t work for me. Setting the DWORD value to 0 or 1 makes no difference. I have tried completely exiting the application to no avail.

    I’m using Windows 7 Beta and Windows Live Messenger 2009. Has anyone else had any success with this hack using the same combination of app & OS?

  10. NeoShock
    February 27th, 2009 01:57
    5

    Very Good, Thanks !!

  11. Pete
    February 20th, 2009 22:25
    4

    It’s been driving me mad too! Thanks mate!

  12. ratsalad
    February 2nd, 2009 17:52
    3

    Great hack :-D thanks, but is there a way of putting the shadow back under the window once the frame has been disabled?

  13. James
    January 14th, 2009 14:14
    2

    Thanx a mil…

    How did you find out to do that?

  14. Twist944
    January 12th, 2009 05:45
    1

    THANK YOU! God this has been driving me mad until now.

    Looks far better without…

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Subscribe to comments feature has been disabled. To receive notification of latest comments posted, subscribe to My Digital Life Comments RSS feed or register to receive new comments in daily email digest.
« iLuv Announced Its Latest i1166 Portable Multimedia Player For iPod and DVDs
New Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote Control Offering Customizable Touch Screen »

Custom Search

New Articles

Incoming Search Terms for the Article

windows live messenger border - windows live messenger 9 remove frame - messenger Live windows remove frame - hide aero border - live messenger border - kaj pomeni aero border frame - windows live messenger aero - turn off windows live messenger windows 7 - how to i remove the frame from windows live messenger - msn 9 aero - remove windows live messenger frame - hide border from messenger - Can't open chat in messenger in windows 7 - Hide the frame in MSN 9 - how to get rid of windows live messenger border - messenger hide frame - remove border msn 9 - Turn off What's NEw MSN - windows live messenger 2009 hide border - windows live messenger vista window frame - how to get rid of border around msn - msn remove windows frame - msn live registry windows 7 - remove window 7 border image - windows msn aero - disabling aero for windows live messenger - how to disable window live messenger in window 7 - how to turn off windows live messenger for window 7 - messenger border - no aero messenger - Removing MSN Messenger border - windows live messenger frame - msn messenger in windows 7 border - msn "window frame" - border frame - extra border around msn windows - remove messenger border - remove frame around msn windows - remove frame around msn chat windows - windows live messenger hide border - windows 7 turn off messenger - remove msn messenger frame - how do i get rid of the frame in msn messenger - msn aero windows 7 - remove aero frame msn - remove aero border msn - enable or disaable aero border fram - how to get rid of msn border - live messenger 2009 hide frame - MSN Live Messenger window frame -