*bump*
A friend of mine's got the same problem. i asked him to do all the obvious stuff: uninstall plus and messenger, delete folders, then reinstall Messenger without Plus, and he still got the problem, so i guess we can say it's not related to Plus!
But i cant figure out what the problem is
He said he got the problem after having some issues while signing in. He was getting the typical error which is solved by updating the date/time of the computer. Then he could finally sign in, but he got the problem explained above (emoticons with black background, no Plus! at all...)
He has never installed other programs for messenger. He didnt use the lock feature either
Any ideas?
(see attachment for screenshot)