Refreshing contacts

[Alex]

My msn messenger does not refresh, ie I keep have to switching it off and on
in order to find out if some of my contacts are on line.
Thanks for any help that resolves this problem.

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Alex,

When the contacts aren't refreshing (as someone to block you for a few minutes or something
similar), try changing your status -- if it gives you an "your status could not be changed"
error, then you've been disconnected from the main server, but your conversations will still
be going (they operate using a different connection).

If this is the case, here are some suggestions that might help:

If you're using a third-party firewall (Sygate, ZoneAlarm, Norton, etc.) try uninstalling
them or set Messenger to "Permit All" or "Allow" type options in the firewall configuration.

If you're using a router, make sure you have the latest firmware from your router
manufacturer. As well, you might try setting your computers local IP into the routers DMZ
setting (see documentation on how to do this).

If you see the disconnection problem on a corporate network, the network may be timing out
your settings -- in this case, you might want to ask your system administrator to adjust the
corporate internet sharing solution/firewall (if possible).

Finally, this can also happen due to a lack of bandwidth. If you have Kazaa, WinMX, GNUtella
or some other file sharing-type application or something else that takes considerable amounts
of bandwidth, you may want to shut it down and see if that helps the situation (even if
you're using a high speed connection, these applications can use most of the resources of
your connection).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

"Alex" > wrote in message ...
> My msn messenger does not refresh, ie I keep have to switching it off and on
> in order to find out if some of my contacts are on line.
> Thanks for any help that resolves this problem.
>
>