Protocols/MSNP/How to move

Other languages: Português, Español

Special Notice: There is now a simple patch tool which takes care of the moving hosts for you, you can get it here.

Escargot services are moving to msnmsgr.escargot.chat and as such you'll need to prepare your client.

Important: If your password is saved in your client, you will need to uncheck save, retype it, and check save again, otherwise it will often not authenticate correctly after the server change. This is because Messenger saves your login information (token), and each server will result in a different token, thus it won't allow you to login.

Beyond this tutorial, you read additional frequently asked questions for clients and the Escargot service.

Close your client

Before continuing, be sure to totally close out of MSN or WLM, including the system tray.

Choose your client

Important: If you run into an error, please consult this error list before asking for help.

MSN 1.0 - 4.6

The fastest way is to download the registry update, open it, click Yes. You can find more detailed information with screenshots here.

MSN 4.7, 5.0 - 2009

Edit the file msnmsgr.exe-escargot.ini present on

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSN Messenger\ (MSN 4.7-7.5) 
or 
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger 

Note: In some cases you will need to edit this as administrator, by first opening Notepad as administrator (right click on Notepad, click Run as Administrator) and then opening the file to edit.

Update the following lines at the end:

server = msnmsgr.escargot.chat
configserver = conf.escargot.chat

Those lines should look how they appear in this example:

Important: If using 2009, edit

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Contacts\wlmcomm.exe-escargot.ini 

and add these lines as well.