Bypass the Windows Live Messenger 2009 forced upgrade

The release of Windows Live Messenger 2011 was met with an overwhelming amount of negative reactions. Many users chose to stick with the tried and true older version of the popular messaging program as a result. Windows Live Messenger 2009 users encountered an unwelcome surprise a few days ago though, when logging into the messaging service.

Upon login, Windows Live Messenger 2009 now displays a popup box, informing users that a newer version of the program was available that must be installed in order to launch the program.

Not cool, Microsoft. Not cool at all.

Annoying, right? For many, the newer version just didn’t cut it in terms of the features that weren’t carried over from its 2009 predecessor. Some users encountered stability issues, or just plain didn’t like the added social features as a part of their messaging experience. It probably explains why our blog post explaining how to uninstall Windows Live Messenger 2011 ended up being so popular.

Fortunately, there’s a way to bypass this forced upgrade, and that’s by using a simple little tool called Messenger Reviver. Messenger Reviver is a small utility that forces Windows Live Messenger to automatically shut down. Then you can restart it, this time without the forced upgrade notification.

You do need to have Windows Live Messenger 2009 already installed on your PC for Messenger Reviver to work. Other than that, the program is a piece of cake to use, and gets around the necessary upgrade message without much hassle. Note that Messenger Reviver requires .NET Framework 2.0 or higher to work. Windows 7 and Vista users don’t have to worry as it’s already installed.

Give Messenger Reviver a try if you want to keep on using Windows Live Messenger 2009, and let us know how it goes!