Option To Always Sign-In As Offline Disappeared

When I first installed MSN Messenger 7, in Options > General, I selected the
option "Always Sign-In As Offline". Today I noticed that my status on the
MSN Messenger showed as Online, but I did not change it.

Presently the “Automatically run Messenger when I log on to Windows� option
shows as selected, and the "Always Sign-In As Offline" option is absent.

How do I get the "Always Sign-In As Offline" option to show again so that I
can reselect it?

I believe you are thinking of something else, as that option has never existed there
actually.

To set what you're looking for though, load up Messenger as-per-usual. If it automatically
signs you in, right-click on the icon in the notification area (by the clock), and choose
Sign out. Next, double-click the icon and bring up the main Messenger window.

Now under 'Sign in as', just select the status you want (aka Appear Offline), make sure
'Remember me' (and any of the other saved options you prefer) is selected and click the Sign
in button. It will now retain this for future sessions.

Following is the Sign in process I experience, which is not the one you
described.

When I open the main MSN Messenger window, it reads as below:

MSN Messenger
WELCOME
Always sign in as: Appear Offline (this is the one I originally selected;
if I left click on the box, other options, such as Online, Busy, etc., appear)
Click below to sign in:

Sign in

When I click on the Sign in button, a .NET Messenger Service small popup
window appears that reads as below:

..NET Messenger Service
Please sign in with your Microsoft Passport to see your online contacts,
have online conversations, and receive alerts.

E-mail address: (drop-down menu that shows my Hotmail email address to
select)
Password:

Sign me in automatically (can be checkmarked or left blank, I leave it blank)

OK Cancel

Microsoft
Passport.NET Get a .NET Passport Help


You stated: "make sure 'Remember me' (and any of the other saved options
you prefer) is selected and click the Sign in button. It will now retain
this for future sessions." I did not see an option for Remember Me or any
others. I also checked for these options in the menu above but I could not
find them.

My concern is to make sure that my “Always sign in as: Appear Offline� is
my default and has been saved, so that it will not be changed by the system,
as it happened a few days ago.

Thank you.

As long as you've successfully signed in once and shut down Messenger since, the option
should be saved. Don't worry about the rest of it.

The reason for the difference in wording and the windows being shown is because you're using
quite an old version (in Messenger versioning, it's actually rather ancient to be honest).
If it works for you, there's no reason to upgrade or anything though.

[Mukwah]

Hi folks !

I am experiencing the same problem when signing on to Messenger.....there is no option to "appear offline" that I can find anywhere. It ceases to exist.

The "sign in as".....does not have an option to sign on as offline and YES it used to.

After just reinstalling Windows XP to my laptop after it became totally buggered up in every way........Messenger has reconfigured /updated itself I guess? And it definately doesnt offer a choice of "appearing offline" - other than to sign in and manually click "appear offline".

Thanks