For those of you using still using instant messaging via MSN, you might have noticed that the latest version contains a few more advertisement frames then before. While chatting to your friends, you now can get annoying adverts that may expand beyond their dedicated space to piss you off some more. There’s a quick fix, it’s old, it’s hacky - but it works.

Edit your Windows hosts file to redirect ad traffic to localhost, here’s how: Locate the hosts file, usually located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Edit the file and add the line: 127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com. Ensure they are separated by a single tab. Save and close the file, restart Windows Live Messenger. The advert space will now be replaced by an MSN placeholder logo. Much prettier, ey?

	Posted November 23, 2011
	Written by John Payne