Shoutbox

On the MSN main window, go to help->about MSN Messenger. THe version will be 7 but the build should be 7.0.0777. To install programs, you need to have a administrator account on XP. If yours is limited, you cannot install the new MSN on your user, but will have to switch to an administrator account.

To check your hosts, open up My computer and paste this in the address bar.
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

If there is a file in there called hosts, right click on it and open with, then choose notepad.

There will be a list of numbers and websites. See if shoutbox.menthix.net is there. If it is, delete this text and the number next to it. Then save and close the window. Then try going to msgplus.net again.