Microsoft disabled hotlinks in their Messenger 09 (Messenger 14) product on November 13th, 2009.
There has been a recent spread of malicious links that can infect your computer with a virus and has prompted Microsoft to disable hotlinks in messenger. They recommend you upgrade to the latest version of messenger and that the disabled links are temporary.
If you are anything like me, you don’t want to be forced to do something that someone else imposes on you. The new messenger kind of sucks. Microsoft took out one of the best features – hand writing – so “upgrading” isn’t an option, at least not for me.
1) Downl
oad a free hex-editor program. I recommend XVI32.
2) Exit messenger completely.
3) Open XVI32, and then open the msnmgr.exe file that is located in your program files directory.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger\msnmsgr.exe
4) Click “search”, then “find”, search for “hotlinks” (without quotes).
5) change “hotlinks” into something else, of the equal amount of characters. I changed mine to “totlinks”
6) Save the file
7) Restart MSN
You should be good to go.
If you found this to difficult, I’ve uploaded the modified version for you to download. This is for messenger version 2009, Build 14.0.8117.416 only.
Why does this work?
I searched in the Registry looking for obvious items that would enable / disable this function in messenger, but I couldn’t find anything. Since this started happening without an upgrade, I knew there was something being sent from Microsoft that was disabling hotlinking.
I opened up wireshark and started MSN looking for packets that had to be sent from the server to our messengers as a disabler. I found a packet that contained this:
<cli maj=”14″ min=”0″ minbld=”0″ maxbld=”9999″ deny=”hotlinks” />
HOTLINKS! I knew that had to be it. I couldn’t intercept the packet or change it (at least not easily) so the next best option was to manually edit the code in messenger so that “hotlinks” was no longer a keyword for the application at startup. By changing it to “totlinks“, your msn will never disable “hotlinks”, unless of course microsoft starts sending “deny=”totlinks” in their login process – but then we will just change it to something more crateive, like “bigboobs”.
Enjoy!
Haha, too funny that you just hacked a program that didn’t work how you wanted it to
Also, like that you gave me a copy.
Leave a ReplyThank you so much, you saved me and my friends from a totally rage attack ^^
Leave a Replywon’t allow me to save says error writing msnmsgr.exe
Leave a Replynevermind just had to put in correct compatibility
Leave a ReplyThis works on 14.0.8089.726 as well.
Leave a ReplyHey there, I tried it, must have done something wrong though, it wouldn’t let me save it? I had to do save as. But my mate reckoned that your upload might be okay for me? Even though my version is 2009 (Build 14.0.8089.726). He said they’re basically the same thing.. I figured better to ask than try and potentially do damage lol.
Cheers so much for putting all this up too! Good laughs
Leave a ReplyDamn, thanks dude. I’ve searching for a way to re-enable links for days!
Leave a Reply[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Wanyal, Schoentoon. Schoentoon said: RT @Wanyal: If you're using Windows Live Messenger 2009 and want links to be clickable again, follow this guide: http://is.gd/hxgHC [...]
Leave a ReplyYou have no idea how glad I am that someone worked this out. You are an awesome dude and should feel good.
Leave a ReplyThank you so much, works like a charm.
Leave a ReplyNevermind I tried running XVI32 as an administrator and it was alll good
Totlinks enabled, thanks so much!
Leave a Reply[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Harry Scanlan, Arturo Hernández. Arturo Hernández said: One week ago, MS decided to deny active links on MSN 2009. Bullshit excuses, solution http://bit.ly/aImwc3 >andnotasinglefuckwasgiventhatday [...]
Leave a ReplyDude, thank you so much!
I’ve been having to copy and paste links for the past 10 days or so, and it’s been driving me up a wall. I REFUSE to give into all their pushes to update to the hilariously useless 2011 version, so this is a godsend.
Leave a ReplyNo problem
Leave a ReplyThx a LOT dude! That did the trick:)
Leave a ReplyI support the right to draw cocks and click links!
Very cool! I agree that the new version is worthless, and they made the emotes look really bad.
But like every other major update they do, they’re going to require it in a few months, and you won’t be able to sign in until you upgrade. ]:
When you find a solution to that, get back to me
Leave a ReplyThanks a lot ! I can finally enjoy using msn again, I almost wanted to switch to an alternate client.
Leave a ReplyJust downloaded the version you upload, works perfectly.
Thanks so much for giving us a way to get around the link problem!
Leave a ReplyYou sir, are a God. Thanks for fixing MSN’s stupidity. This link has been passed on! (through MSN, ironically!)
Leave a ReplyThanks for that, genius.
Leave a ReplyThanks for this. Worked like a charm!
Leave a ReplyYou’re a hero, thanks a fuckton!
Leave a ReplyThanks man. It works. But instead of changing it to something I put zeros in the hex code instead of hotlinks.
Leave a ReplyI downloaded your version but it wouldn’t work for me? It said there was a problem with the configuration )8
Leave a ReplyAHHHH!! MUCH BETTER!!
This was quite a hinderance since I pretty much professionally draw cocks and click links all day.
Nice one
Leave a Replyoh by the way you might need to save the modified .exe to another location then cut / paste back to the original location (I did)
Leave a Replynot good, and back into the original work is not msn: S
Leave a ReplyI tried to do it the simple way with the program you made, but it said the side by side configuration is incorrect. Then I tried doing it with the hex editor, but it said I didn’t have permission to save over the hex file in the Messenger folder. I am the administrator and have the permissions. Any advice?
Leave a ReplyThat image of the cock drawn in handwriting seriously cracked me up, me and a mate of mine use handwriting all the time and the majority of them are cocks! LOL
Thanks for the solution for the links, it is seriously appreciated – I was going mad copying/pasting them all the time.
Cheers
Leave a ReplyNever mind. All I had to do was drag the Messenger folder out of Program Files, and put it back in when I was done.
It works! Thank you so much! You are my hero! <3
Leave a Replydrawing dicks and clicking links
feelsgoodman.jpg
Leave a ReplyTHANK YOU SO MUCH! It is so incredibly irritating that Microsoft is punishing users by taking this feature away. I can’t wait to use this fix.
Leave a ReplyThanks mate!
I had a bit of trouble at first because it said I wasn’t allowed to change the file, I then realized I should have opened the program as admin. Maybe you should mention it in your instructions? It seems like maybe it’s a important detail
But thank you, it was driving me insane the fact that I had to c&p every link I was sent!
Leave a ReplyThanks!
Leave a Reply[...] http://www.generationmediagroup.com/…9/#comment-132 Has a fix. __________________ Nocti's 5/25/10, A+ certified 4/27/10 [...]
Leave a ReplyThank you
Leave a ReplyThanks for the tip on editing MSN exe file. The links work again..
Leave a ReplyFor those of you getting an error when saving, make sure you are running the program as Administrador ( Right Click -> Run as Admin..)
Leave a ReplyI LOVE YOU
Leave a ReplyThanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111111111111111111111
Yes, all those 1111!!!’s were needed.
Leave a Replythank you thank you!!!! OP saved my day:D
Leave a ReplyThank you so so SO much! It worked perfectly, and I needed to save the file somewhere else and then copy&paste to the folder (Maybe you should suggest that in the artice just in case)
Leave a ReplyAgain, thank you!
Hey dudes. I’m slightly lost. I get up to the search/find what not, but when I search for hotlinks, it says “string can not be found.” What am I doing wrong?
Leave a ReplyI did a video tut showing how to do this in case anyone is wondering. I referenced this blog in it as well since the credit should be giving to the guy who discovered the fix.
Leave a ReplyOh, the link to the video tut is in my name. Simpy click my nick and you’ll be taken to the vid. =-}
Leave a ReplyThanks for this Del!
Leave a Replydo you mind if I update the blog post to show your video?
Leave a Replyhmm, check out Del’s video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg8YHiut4H4 – might be more useful
Leave a ReplyThank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Leave a ReplyThanks for this, I have 1 friend that always sends me links and when I can’t click them it just angers me even more.
Leave a ReplyThanks so much for this fix
I was so annoyed by the fact that links were disabled. Thanks to you, that problem has been averted. ^_^
Leave a ReplyAny time I try to run the edited version you supplied, it says there’s a side by side error or something. I tried running it as an administrator and it does the same thing. D:
Leave a ReplyWhat do I doooo?!
Very NIIIIIIICE! THANKS!
Leave a Reply@Ana
Make sure msnmsgr.exe isn’t still running when you do this.
The posted download is only for 8117.416 only, but the fix works for both versions of 2009. (May also work for 8064.206 if anyone has that still working)
Leave a ReplyYeah, well, guess I messed up and forgot to back my .exe file up when replacing it with this new one.
Leave a ReplyNow it doesn’t do anything at all.
Can’t repair it, no chance of installing over again…not sure what to do here.
Insanely awesome!
Leave a ReplyThanks for this.
Finally I can get back to sending friends links to cock pictures I’ve drawn.
Leave a ReplyHelp! I can’t save it! Error 5 access denied keeps popping up at me! Even when i am the administrator! Why? Please help! I am so near yet so far!
Leave a ReplyThanks a lot, I mean a LOT, this really saved my day. I’ve been so annoyed that links won’t work and I have to copy-paste them to web browser, I’m really happy that hotlinks are working again, thank youu *bows*
Leave a ReplySeriously, thanks a shit tone.
I was unable to use links for almost 2 weeks now and I never knew why, reinstaled msn a couple of times. I found http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2010/11/12/security-alert-active-links-in-messenger-2009-temporarily-turned-off-to-prevent-a-malicious-worm.aspx#comments
And there was a link to your blog. Your tutorial was easy to follow and now i can finnaly use my msn without having to suffer for the idiots users taht would click on anything they see.
Leave a Reply[...] – Today, 09:58 PM hi, follow this little tutorial to enable links in messenger Re-enable links in Messenger 09 | Generation Media Group example: someone is sending link via messenger View Profile: kojomba but you can't click on it, [...]
Leave a ReplyThanks a lot for this. I didn’t want to “upgrade” to 2011, but the lack of live links was driving me nuts. Perfect fix
Leave a ReplyI LOVE YOU FOR THIS!
Leave a ReplyThank you so much. I tried the new MSN before I even figured out hotlinking was disabled.. it sucks, so you did me a biiiiiig favour.
Thanks again =D
Leave a Reply[...] source: http://www.forumvancouver.com/threads/clickable-links-not-working-on-windows-live-messenger-2009.577/ http://www.generationmediagroup.com/blog/re-enable-links-in-messenger-09/ [...]
Leave a Replythnx dude, rly saved some headaches!
Leave a ReplyGood job with the packet sniffing!
Leave a Replyyou good sir, are my new hero
Leave a Replythanks mate, this works!
Leave a ReplyDon’t work 100%
The other girl that use original will see plain text link.
Leave a ReplyI love you. <3
Leave a ReplyI’m still running XP on some of my computers so this was absolutely essential. Thanks a bunch!
Leave a ReplyI figured that most people who want to re-enable the links don’t want to mess with hex editors or simply want an easier way to do so, so I decided to make this for them.
http://rapidshare.com/files/435605027/Hyperlinkfix.exe
It’s a simple hex patching program made with codefusion to do the same thing as mentioned here, except in an installable format. Enjoy.
Leave a ReplyYou are the shit!!! Awesome stuff!
Leave a Replyi can’t save the file !
Leave a Replyit says: error writing msnmsgr.exe Error 5: File access denied
@ Helpless yeah i have the same problem !
Leave a Reply
IT DOESN’T WORK
Leave a Replyand msnmsgr.exe isn’t running anymore
tell me what to do.
it’s driving me crazy !
I LOVE YOU *_________*
Leave a ReplyPS = I love tha hand writing function too
Leave a Replyhttp://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!10201.entry?sa=212632627
Leave a ReplyThank you so much!
@de: did the sender do the same fix on their msn? I think she has to before she’ll be able to see the hyperlink.
Leave a Reply++ for you
You can instead put 0 in place of the initial ‘h’, the str compare function will always return false
by looking at the asm, I think they can block also filexfer via header
Leave a Replythe check is so stupid, msn picks ’14′ from executable resource, by changing to 15 it automagically believes to be wlm 2011 and displays links
Leave a Replydoesn’t work for me. XVI32 returns ‘string not found.’ when I search for ‘hotlinks’ ‘links’ or ‘link’
Leave a ReplyOpen the editor with administration rights.
Then save it after changing as msnmsgr2.exe
And put a new shortcut on your desk.
if microsoft wil repair it, it wont it again.
cause the other name.
Leave a ReplyThanks a lot for the trick! It works greatly for me! But apparently since a few hours ago the emoticons stopped working in WLM 2009 too… I wouldn’t be surprised if this was another move of the Microsoft team. One thing is sure: I am NOT going to install WLM 2011!
Leave a ReplyNot working for me here…
I’ve followed all steps and used XVI32, even downloaded the already done .exe – no success.
version 8117.416
Leave a ReplySorry, Forgot to mention my exe has a little issue with finding the exe. Copy and paste it into the directory C:/Program Files/Windows Live/Messenger (or navigate to that in my patcher) and it should work for you.
Leave a Reply