Most of the times, if any of Microsoft’s products stop working due to certain reasons, it generates an error code which helps us to reach to root of the error and its best known solutions, provided by Microsoft. But there are some worst case scenarios also, when your programs may crash and no error code is generated. So what  will you do now?

In this article I am providing you the best known solutions if Windows Live Messenger stops working due to unknown reasons without giving any error code. Start with performing the following checks:

1. Verify that the Date and Time Settings on the computer are set to current

• Navigate to notification area of taskbar and click on date and time and then change date and time settings.
• Ensure that the date and time settings are set to the current date, time, and year, and then click OK. (If not then set it to the current date and time).

2. Verify if Windows Live Messenger is enabled through the firewall

If you are not sure which firewall you have installed on the computer.If you are using the default Windows Firewall then click on Start and open Control Panel, and open Windows Firewall or if you are using any other third party firewall program then look for Programs and Features to know about it from the list of installed applications.

Some popular firewall vendors include Norton, McAfee, and Zone Alarm. Open their controlling console and make the necessary changes. (You can ask me here by leaving comment if you are not able to do it by yourself).

Windows Live Messenger application is installed at C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\msnmsgr.exe. Ensure that msnmsgr.exe is allowed in your firewall software. This is only a temporary workaround and you may have to reinstall the firewall software again if none of the above steps works. If you have disabled the firewall in the past, it may still be blocking Windows Live Messenger, try to restart the firewall. After the firewall software is running, make sure that Windows Live Messenger is enabled through the firewall. Also try removing the firewall program that is installed to verify that it is not causing a problem even if it is disabled.

3. Clear the Check for server certificate revocation option in Internet Explorer

• Start Internet Explorer.
• On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Under Security, clear the Check for Server certificate revocation (requires restart) check box.
• Click Ok.
• Exit Internet Explorer.

Restart computer and then sign-in to Windows Live Messenger again.

If the problem still persist then perform a repair or a clean install of Windows Live Essentials.

Also see how to troubleshoot issues with Windows Live Messenger on Windows.