MSN Messenger speaker is muted and will not un-mute. What do you do?

This worked for me in two occasions. There is a conflict between the audio setup of Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger. Why Microsoft insists on having two messengers, I have no idea, but that is what has caused this problem.

To fix it, completely exit MSN Messenger. Right click on your MSN Messenger, and select "Exit".

Next start up Windows Messenger. Run the "Audio Tuning Wizard". In options, ensure that Windows Messenger is not set up to start up automatically. Exit Windows Messenger. NOTE: if you cannot find Windows Messenger on your menus, you should be able to run it from Start/Run and type in: C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe

Now start up MSN Messenger again, and run the Audio/Video tuning wizard.

Once you have configured everything, you should be good to go!

UPDATE: I had to stop using MSN Messenger for my MSN Messenger activities when I bought a MacBook last summer. At that time, MSN was not fully supported on the Mac O/S (for instance: cameras were not supported). I now use aMSN, which has a LOT more configurable parameters and is supported on the Mac. (05/20/2009)

Last Update: May 20, 2009