quote:
Originally posted by SikStyles
and it is in default mode, but what does it really mean? what if its on Default mode - forced or alternate mode?
Default mode - MsgPlus! gets started when starting up Windows
Default mode forced - Incase default doesn't work for some reason you can choose this to force MsgPlus! to start up on starting up Windows.
Alternate mode - MsgPlus! gets started when you start MSN Messenger. MsgPlus! will not be deleted from the start up list automaticly but will switch if need be. If MsgPlus! interferes with another program or other programs with MsgPlus! this is the desired hooking method, remove it from startup list in this case (how? more info how to set alternate mode properly? click link
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From changelog:
The Misc section of the preferences now offers 3 methods to control the way Messenger Plus! hooks Messenger: Default Mode, Default Mode - Forced, and Alternate Mode (only available in Windows 2000/XP).
Default Mode is the way Messenger Plus! has always used so far. Keep it that way if you never experienced problems related to the Plus! menu disappearing for no apparent reason. Default Mode - Forced is equivalent to the previous "Enable Force Mode" option and is just a trick applied over the same Default Mode to try to compensate for poorly designed softwares when the system startups.
Alternate Mode is the new mode of interest. This mode sets a special registry key in Windows (called AppInit_DLLs) to ask Windows to load the MsgPlusLoader.dll directly when a new process is created. The end result is the same as with the Default Mode, however, this technique normally prevents other softwares from breaking the hook chain.
Alternate Mode is in theory better than Default Mode because once it's activated, MsgPlus.exe does not need to be running for Plus! to attach to Messenger. Note that MsgPlus.exe is still not automatically removed from your computer startup when Alternate Mode is selected, that's because MsgPlus.exe is responsible for doing some basic installation diagnostic and displaying the Recovery Window. However, if you remove the MessengerPlus3 value from the Run key, everything will continue to work properly (see below).
More and more software now monitor registry changes to "protect" users from unwanted programs. Depending on how those software are configured, changed in the Run key may be prevented automatically or by default, creating the now well known "I have to reinstall Messenger Plus! every time I restart my computer" problem. Messenger Plus! now checks for the existence of its value in the Run key and if it can't find it, Alternate Mode is automatically selected to repair the problem.
Note that the registry key used to activate Alternate Mode could also be monitored by a software installed on your computer. Trying to enable Alternate Mode and preventing the registry change to occur will simply result in Messenger Plus! not working anymore. As any other program, Messenger Plus! adds/changes registry settings to function properly. Badly designed registry monitor programs cause much more problem than they prevent, for any program.
Edit: you're welcome