Hi,
I have been battling this Communications Platform error for the last 3 weeks and have eventually solved the problem.
I don't have Windows Blinds, Alien Guise, Nvidea drives etc. I tried disabling Visual Themes and changed compatibility as suggested by numerous people. I ran an clean uninstall following the step-by-step instructions as requested by the MSN tech team, all to no avail.
The last email I received from them suggested the following:
1. Microsoft now provides a tool that can remove the most common viruses. You can access the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool by visiting
https://www.microsoft.com/download/malicious-soft...-tool-details.aspx
(Please note: this scan kept crashing after about 10seconds when I first tried it so I skipped to Step 2 then came back to Step 1 after I rebooted and was able to scan!)
2. Open Command Prompt in administrator mode.
a. Click Start .
b. Click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
c. Right-click the Command Prompt option, and then click Run as administrator from the drop-down menu.
If the UAC (User Access Control) is enabled, you will be asked for authorization. Click Continue if you are the administrator or enter the administrator password. Do not disable the UAC.
3. Start File Checker.
a. In the Command Prompt window, type
sfc/scannow , and then press Enter .
b. The scan will begin and it will take some time. (Windows will replace the corrupted or missing files and you will be prompted to insert a Windows CD or DVD)
(Scan results showed I had some corrupted Windows files and would be repaired on the next reboot. It didn't ask me for a Windows CD.)
4. After the scan is complete, restart the computer.
(Whilst rebooting, a Windows screen appeared showing that it was repairing 9 files, only took a minute or two then Windows started as normal and Live Messenger worked again! I then ran the Malicious Software scan (step 1) to make sure there was no malware lurking anywhere in the system.)
I hope this helps anyone that is still suffering from this problem.
Good luck!
Moderator edit: updated link