How do I stop "Do you want to add this person to messenger" popups

Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
to messenger".
This is getting very, very annoying.
How do I turn this "feature" off?
I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
can turn it on when that time comes.

Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!

What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.

Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
and send me messages".

"Tony" wrote:

> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
> to messenger".
> This is getting very, very annoying.
> How do I turn this "feature" off?
> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
> can turn it on when that time comes.

Hi,

DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option off
(and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.

So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
your contact list.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--


"AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
> Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
>
> What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
> under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
> people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
>
> Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
> uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
> and send me messages".
>
> "Tony" wrote:
>
>> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
>> to messenger".
>> This is getting very, very annoying.
>> How do I turn this "feature" off?
>> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
>> can turn it on when that time comes.

Ok, I read you loud and clear about NOT unchecking that box and I understand
the reason why. But surely there must be some way to silence these incoming
requests that I get all day from bogus sources... right? I haven't found
anything in Preferences that would seem to affect this so I'm assuming it is
a Permissions thing buried somewhere in my profile settings online.

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option off
> (and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
> automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.
>
> So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
> your contact list.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> --
>
>
> "AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
> news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
> > Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
> >
> > What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
> > under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
> > people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
> >
> > Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
> > uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
> > and send me messages".
> >
> > "Tony" wrote:
> >
> >> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
> >> to messenger".
> >> This is getting very, very annoying.
> >> How do I turn this "feature" off?
> >> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
> >> can turn it on when that time comes.
>
>
> .
>

Hi,

There is no way in Messenger today (nor in previous versions) to stop add requests. I've
been working on a few approaches to help with this but haven't really had time to get beyond
the prototype stage.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--


"Barkingshins" <> wrote in message
news:75D4B1B1-0F92-449C-BD8E-...
> Ok, I read you loud and clear about NOT unchecking that box and I understand
> the reason why. But surely there must be some way to silence these incoming
> requests that I get all day from bogus sources... right? I haven't found
> anything in Preferences that would seem to affect this so I'm assuming it is
> a Permissions thing buried somewhere in my profile settings online.
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option
>> off
>> (and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
>> automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.
>>
>> So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
>> your contact list.
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Kay
>> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
>> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
>> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
>> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
>> --
>>
>>
>> "AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
>> news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
>> > Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
>> >
>> > What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
>> > under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
>> > people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
>> >
>> > Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
>> > uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
>> > and send me messages".
>> >
>> > "Tony" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
>> >> to messenger".
>> >> This is getting very, very annoying.
>> >> How do I turn this "feature" off?
>> >> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
>> >> can turn it on when that time comes.
>>
>>
>> .
>>

Ah, that stinks. This has been an ongoing issue for the past couple months, I get a few a day and it is really annoying. Are you guys receiving the messages when the "report this contact" box is checked when denying a new contact request
Can you find out who the spammer is and block their ip's?

---
frmsrcurl: http://msgroups.net/microsoft.public...on-to-messenge

how utterly annoying! this never happens in my skype of yahoo.. ya'd think if
I have WM set not to "show my status on the web" then nobody should be able
to locate me.. wondering if hotmail has a glitch and is making us all
public.. >:
--
What if our now.. never went away?


"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> There is no way in Messenger today (nor in previous versions) to stop add requests. I've
> been working on a few approaches to help with this but haven't really had time to get beyond
> the prototype stage.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> --
>
>
> "Barkingshins" <> wrote in message
> news:75D4B1B1-0F92-449C-BD8E-...
> > Ok, I read you loud and clear about NOT unchecking that box and I understand
> > the reason why. But surely there must be some way to silence these incoming
> > requests that I get all day from bogus sources... right? I haven't found
> > anything in Preferences that would seem to affect this so I'm assuming it is
> > a Permissions thing buried somewhere in my profile settings online.
> >
> > "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option
> >> off
> >> (and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
> >> automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.
> >>
> >> So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
> >> your contact list.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jonathan Kay
> >> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> >> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> >> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> >> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> >> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >> "AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
> >> news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
> >> > Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
> >> >
> >> > What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
> >> > under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
> >> > people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
> >> >
> >> > Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
> >> > uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
> >> > and send me messages".
> >> >
> >> > "Tony" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
> >> >> to messenger".
> >> >> This is getting very, very annoying.
> >> >> How do I turn this "feature" off?
> >> >> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
> >> >> can turn it on when that time comes.
> >>
> >>
> >> .
> >>
>
> .
>

Busy you may have been - but if this has been going on in previous versions
its taking a long time and perhaps its not a priority because nobody is
complaining, but then I wont be the first person who has been frustrated by
searching for the innocuous dialogue title which is something like "welcome
to windows live messenger"
The problem may have existed in previous versions, but I have been using it
for many years and not really noticed the problem, it may be that a piece of
code has been broken, because something has aided the failure to burden users
with this unwanted spam.

I am actually questioning why I need Windows Live at the moment because this
is so irritating, and lets face it I can message my Windows Live/MSN
Messenger contacts through a number of other multiprotocol clients - take a
look at wikipedia "Comparison of instant messaging clients"

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> There is no way in Messenger today (nor in previous versions) to stop add requests. I've
> been working on a few approaches to help with this but haven't really had time to get beyond
> the prototype stage.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> --
>
>
> "Barkingshins" <> wrote in message
> news:75D4B1B1-0F92-449C-BD8E-...
> > Ok, I read you loud and clear about NOT unchecking that box and I understand
> > the reason why. But surely there must be some way to silence these incoming
> > requests that I get all day from bogus sources... right? I haven't found
> > anything in Preferences that would seem to affect this so I'm assuming it is
> > a Permissions thing buried somewhere in my profile settings online.
> >
> > "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option
> >> off
> >> (and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
> >> automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.
> >>
> >> So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
> >> your contact list.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jonathan Kay
> >> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> >> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> >> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> >> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> >> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >> "AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
> >> news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
> >> > Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
> >> >
> >> > What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
> >> > under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
> >> > people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
> >> >
> >> > Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
> >> > uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
> >> > and send me messages".
> >> >
> >> > "Tony" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
> >> >> to messenger".
> >> >> This is getting very, very annoying.
> >> >> How do I turn this "feature" off?
> >> >> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
> >> >> can turn it on when that time comes.
> >>
> >>
> >> .
> >>
>
> .
>

If Microsoft is too busy to do something about this they are going to loose a
lot of users of Messenger. They will have to add an option to suppress these
notifications sooner or later (or even better stop the spammers from sending
them). Microsoft should prioritize this. As has already been said, there are
lots of other IM products out there.

Jonathon, can you give an update on what Microsoft's stance is on this?

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> There is no way in Messenger today (nor in previous versions) to stop add requests. I've
> been working on a few approaches to help with this but haven't really had time to get beyond
> the prototype stage.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> --
>
>
> "Barkingshins" <> wrote in message
> news:75D4B1B1-0F92-449C-BD8E-...
> > Ok, I read you loud and clear about NOT unchecking that box and I understand
> > the reason why. But surely there must be some way to silence these incoming
> > requests that I get all day from bogus sources... right? I haven't found
> > anything in Preferences that would seem to affect this so I'm assuming it is
> > a Permissions thing buried somewhere in my profile settings online.
> >
> > "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> DO NOT uncheck this especially if you're getting spam requests. By turning this option
> >> off
> >> (and the reason why it's grayed out with that option), is that unchecking this will
> >> automatically add anyone who requests you to your contact list.
> >>
> >> So basically if you uncheck this option, you'll end up with a list of spammers/scammers on
> >> your contact list.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jonathan Kay
> >> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> >> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> >> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> >> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> >> (c) 2010 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >> "AlfCheesey" <> wrote in message
> >> news:BB165972-DF7B-4F48-A3AE-...
> >> > Several times a week? I get it many times a day, and it's driving me crazy!
> >> >
> >> > What you are supposed to do is go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy. Here,
> >> > under Contact Lists you will find a check box saying "Alert me when other
> >> > people add me to their contact list". You want to uncheck this.
> >> >
> >> > Unfortunately, for some reason, my check box is greyed out, and I cannot
> >> > uncheck it, unless I uncheck "Only people on my Allow List can see my status
> >> > and send me messages".
> >> >
> >> > "Tony" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Several times a week I'm getting popups, asking if I want to "add this person
> >> >> to messenger".
> >> >> This is getting very, very annoying.
> >> >> How do I turn this "feature" off?
> >> >> I know when someone I actually care about is going to add me to messenger, I
> >> >> can turn it on when that time comes.
> >>
> >>
> >> .
> >>
>
> .
>

I'd just like to add my 2c in this and say this is beyond annoying ....
I should just be able to set an option that makes me invisible to al
but my contacts. If people have my email address, the request shoul
come through there because the spam catcher in will toss em out... (
guess?

I only use it to get to my hotmail - anyone know of an alternative I ca
sit in my task bar that can log me into hotmail

--
ptrubs