[WinMsg 4.7] Online contacts show as Offline

Some contacts show as Offline when indeed they're Online. Why is this?

1. One contact was still showing as Offline even while we were talking
in a 3-way discussion. Another user had brought him into the
conversation. I still showed him as Offline.

2. Another one I couldn't even contact other than email because he was
showing as Offline. He's in the next room, and I know he was Online, as
was I. We were both logged on and on each other's buddy lists. Why can't
we see each other?

Would upgrading to Windows Messenger 5.1 solve this problem, or are
there other things I should try?

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:06:28 -0800, Seamaiden pondered exceedingly, then took
quill in hand and carefully composed...

| Some contacts show as Offline when indeed they're Online. Why is this?
|
| 1. One contact was still showing as Offline even while we were talking
| in a 3-way discussion. Another user had brought him into the
| conversation. I still showed him as Offline.
|
| 2. Another one I couldn't even contact other than email because he was
| showing as Offline. He's in the next room, and I know he was Online, as
| was I. We were both logged on and on each other's buddy lists. Why can't
| we see each other?
|
| Would upgrading to Windows Messenger 5.1 solve this problem, or are
| there other things I should try?

MSN Messenger 7.5 does the same thing. I was chatting with a friend last night
when the top banner suddenly popped up saying he was offline. He wasn't.
Before we finished chatting, I got a signal that he had signed in and the
offline banner went away.

If it walks like a bug, talks like a bug and looks like a bug, odds are that
it's a bug!

ChrisM

I had the same online/offline problem as Seamaiden, but when I installed
MSN Messenger 7.5, that fixed it. If Chris May is having the same
problem with 7.5, maybe the problem is intermittent and only happens
some of the time or on certain systems. This is online/offline thing is
a big problem on 8.0 beta too, from what I've read. The other thing that
could be happening is that a user may be online but have his or her
status set to offline. In that case, he/she can still see your messages
and respond to you.

Chris May sent a subspace message on 3/31/2006 10:35 PM:
On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:06:28 -0800, Seamaiden pondered exceedingly, then took
quill in hand and carefully composed...

| Some contacts show as Offline when indeed they're Online. Why is this?
|
| 1. One contact was still showing as Offline even while we were talking
| in a 3-way discussion. Another user had brought him into the
| conversation. I still showed him as Offline.
|
| 2. Another one I couldn't even contact other than email because he was
| showing as Offline. He's in the next room, and I know he was Online, as
| was I. We were both logged on and on each other's buddy lists. Why can't
| we see each other?
|
| Would upgrading to Windows Messenger 5.1 solve this problem, or are
| there other things I should try?

MSN Messenger 7.5 does the same thing. I was chatting with a friend last night
when the top banner suddenly popped up saying he was offline. He wasn't.
Before we finished chatting, I got a signal that he had signed in and the
offline banner went away.

If it walks like a bug, talks like a bug and looks like a bug, odds are that
it's a bug!

ChrisM

On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 09:46:59 -0700, Merci pondered exceedingly, then took quill
in hand and carefully composed...

| I had the same online/offline problem as Seamaiden, but when I installed
| MSN Messenger 7.5, that fixed it. If Chris May is having the same
| problem with 7.5, maybe the problem is intermittent and only happens
| some of the time or on certain systems. This is online/offline thing is
| a big problem on 8.0 beta too, from what I've read. The other thing that
| could be happening is that a user may be online but have his or her
| status set to offline. In that case, he/she can still see your messages
| and respond to you.

In my case, neither of us tried to hide and neither changed anything during the
time we were chatting. The offline message popped up without warning in the
middle of a chat and disappeared the same way. Yet we were still able to chat
without interruption. We are both using MSN Messenger 7.5

I sense a big fat bug! ;-/

ChrisM

Chris May wrote:
On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 09:46:59 -0700, Merci pondered exceedingly, then took quill
in hand and carefully composed...

| I had the same online/offline problem as Seamaiden, but when I installed
| MSN Messenger 7.5, that fixed it. If Chris May is having the same
| problem with 7.5, maybe the problem is intermittent and only happens
| some of the time or on certain systems. This is online/offline thing is
| a big problem on 8.0 beta too, from what I've read. The other thing that
| could be happening is that a user may be online but have his or her
| status set to offline. In that case, he/she can still see your messages
| and respond to you.

In my case, neither of us tried to hide and neither changed anything during the
time we were chatting. The offline message popped up without warning in the
middle of a chat and disappeared the same way. Yet we were still able to chat
without interruption. We are both using MSN Messenger 7.5

I sense a big fat bug! ;-/

ChrisM