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 Go, Shawty, it’s your birthday. We’re gonna party like it’s your birthday. We’re gonna sip Bacardi like it’s your birthday. But do you know how we add this f*cking smiley? Since MSN Messenger 6.2 your shortcut codes are automatically replaced with corresponding emoticons while you’re typing. Because of this new feature, users can not use the <:o) shortcut for Party smile anymore because it will get replaced with the surprised smiley ). Here’s how to add it to your conversation:

a) You will have to select it from the emoticons shortcut list (in MSN Messenger 7, you can Pin it so the smiley always appears in the list)

b) Or type <o) and then add the : before the o.

Party on!

While we were not expecting any new emoticons at all, at least one debuted in the 604 build of MSN Messenger 7 (currently unavailable to the public). Say nnnnnaaaaaaaaaaa-hhhhh to mister goat, the 79th default emoticon and 7th animal emoticon to be listed in MSN Messenger. Like detn8r told me, it replaces the (?) emoticon (do I hear IRC-addicts mourning?).

The non-animated emoticon, which is drawn in the same, non-typical (read: ugly) style as the sheep and turtle emoticons, can be called with the (nah) keyboard shortcut, resembling the bleating sound of a goat.

Thinking of the various meanings of “goat”, I can imagine a lot of dialogues in which the emoticon could come in handy:

- Scapegoat, old goat,…

- G.O.A.T.: Greatest Of All Time (one of Muhammed Ali’s nicknames)

- GoAT: Go Away, Troll (common Usenet abbreviation).

- Etc.

Ah, you’re a victim of the dreadful: “We were unable to sign you in to .NET Messenger Service, possibly because of a problem with the service or with your Internet connection. Please make sure that you are connected to the Internet. 0×81000301”

#1 Changing your password

I encountered this error myself last night and I must admit it was a bit scary as if Alzheimer kicked in already and I completely forgot my password. So what I did was change the password at Passport’s Member Services. I had been signed out of my Passport account and the same, correct password was also being denied! So after answering my Secret Question I was finally allowed to change your password.

That “passport password” combo did the trick for me, but I can imagine there’s more to this error than just that, so feel free to comment.

#2 Quick Delete and Fix Attempt (by Jonathan Kay)

Even just trying this solution you will lose all your custom emoticons and display pictures. We recommend backing up your personalized images using the CE/DP Manager before advancing.

Important: Close MSN Messenger completely until the tray icon is gone.

- Windows 98 or Millenium users

1) Click Start > Run
2) Type: %windir% and press enter.
3) Open Application Data and then the Microsoft folder.
4) Right-click the MSN Messenger folder and delete it.

Note: if you’re using Profiles with Windows 98/ME, you’ll need to go to the Profiles folder, choose your username and then go to the Application Data folder (then continue with the same
process).  If you don’t know if you have Profiles setup, most likely you do not (if you don’t have Profiles folder in the Windows folder, then you aren’t).

- Windows 2000 or Windows XP users
1) Click Start > Run
2) Type: %appdata%\Microsoft and press enter.
3) Right-click the MSN Messenger folder and delete it.

Now restart MSN Messenger and try to sign in again…

If you just can’t live without MSN Messenger BETA 7, even when you’re working on Windows 2003 Server, then you’ll probably receive a 80072f19 error when you try to login lately. This error will occur after you’ve patched your Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 with the latest February 2005 security fixes.

This is the suggested solution:

1) Start Internet Explorer and select Menu > Tools > Internet Options > Advanced.

2) Under the Security Section, clear the “Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)” check box.

3) Start MSN Messenger BETA 7 again and you’ll have to issue your Passport account information again. You’ll receive one more error. Login again and it will work!

Note: Previously, MSN Messenger v6.x would not recognize your UPnP Router, now BETA 7 can.

[Source: Yin’s Limited]

Did you just ask how to… block MSN Messenger? Surely, you must be out of your mind. But alright, we’ll respect your decision as long as you remember to reverse your changes afterwards.

MSN Messenger communicates with the .NET Messenger service using either port 1863 for direct TCP connections or using HTTP using port 80. Network administrators can disable access to the .NET Messenger Services through their firewall:

1) Block outbound access to TCP port 1863.

2) Block HTTP access to messenger.hotmail.com.

3) Block HTTP access to webmessenger.msn.com if you also want to block access to MSN Web Messenger.

*Pssst… I didn’t tell you this*