Windows 7 & the freezing Windows Live Messenger

Symptoms:

• Windows Live Messenger freezes randomly from a few seconds to a few minutes on a Windows 7 system. The problem occurs while you chat and gets worse when you try to select an emoticon or wink from the menu.

Cause:

• Windows 7 has a service called WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service  which gets called by Windows Live Messenger each time it wants an internet connection. This service fails to perform as expected under some circumstances.

Solution:

• Windows Live Messenger uses Internet Explorer settings to determine the type of internet connection the user has.
• Disabling Automatically detect settings under LAN Settings in Internet Explorer would prevent Windows Live Messenger from using the WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service. To do this:
  
  • Open Internet Explorer.
  • Go to Tools => Internet Options.
  • Select Connections tab.
  • Click LAN Settings.
  • Uncheck Automatically detect settings.
  • Click OK.