yeah i have the same problem as do (apparently) quite a few other people. I and several friends have been using msn messenger 6.2 for quite some time now and never had any problems, now we have downloaded and installed messenger plus 3 virtually all of our messengers have refused to work, strongly suggesting that the problem lies with plus 3 as it would be a bit of a coincidence for us all to download and use messenge pus 3 at roughly the same time (7 people within two days) and all (7 people) have exactly the same problem and it not be to do with plus 3!!!! its a pity cos i really liked the program while i had it but now i am in the process of removing all messenger services and reloading just messenger. there is another post somewhere suggesting the use of a server selector, which seems to work for some people, (post came from sunshine) but it doesnt work for all. If there is a patch to solve this problem i would be greatful if somebody would tell me about it, as far as i can see this isnt even a recognised official problem with messenger plus dispite the fact that so many people seem to be reporting the same problem with the same error message in connection with using messenger plus.