Microsoft Windows XP Power Toolkit

The settings on the Personal tab control the way the public sees your Windows Messenger persona. There are three publicly visible features that can be configured using the Personal tab, as shown in Figure 15-12:

• My .NET Messenger Service Display Name  The name you enter in this text box is displayed instead of your e-mail address when you use Windows Messenger. Uniqueness is not required for this screen name, because it is just the way your account is displayed. It is identified by the unique e-mail address you entered when configuring your Windows Messenger account.

  

  Figure 15-12.   Personalizing your public Windows Messenger information.

• My Public Profile  Clicking the Edit Profile button starts a Web browser and opens the Passport Member Services Web site for editing your account properties. On the Web site, you can add or edit your publicly displayed profile.

• My Message Text  Click the Change Font button to select the default font to be used with all your Windows Messenger instant messages. Emoticons can be disabled or enabled here.

Its name is somewhat misleading because the Phone tab, shown in Figure 15-13, doesn’t actually allow you to configure phone numbers entered under the My Phone Numbers frame that are used for anything. The data provided here changes only the display. However, the Phone tab does allow you to configure mobile devices. The tab is divided into the following two areas:

• My Phone Numbers  These settings gives you the ability to enter up to three phone numbers that you would like to make available as part of the public information available to your Windows Messenger contacts.

• Mobile Device  Clicking Mobile Settings opens the MSN Mobile Web site, where you can configure your mobile device (mobile phone, pager, Pocket PC, or MSN T900 Pager) to receive alerts and text messages.

  

  Figure 15-13.   Changing the phone numbers displayed on the Phone tab.

All the basic behaviors of the Windows Messenger client are configured on the Preferences tab. By default, all items on this tab are activated, but you can clear check boxes, change sounds, and alter drive paths to customize the way Windows Messenger works for you.

The Preferences tab is divided into the following panes:

• General  In the General pane, the default settings are to run Windows Messenger in the background when Windows starts, and to show your status as Away when you’ve been inactive for 10 minutes.

• Alerts   In the Alerts pane, the default settings are to display alerts (pop-up message boxes) when your contacts log on to the Windows Messenger service, to display alerts (showing a pop-up alert and flashing the Conversation taskbar item) when you receive an instant message, to display alerts when e-mail is received (and to increment the new mail counter in the main Windows Messenger window), and to play a sound when a contact signs in or sends you a message.

• File Transfer  In the File Transfer pane, the default setting is to store files transferred during messaging sessions in the Windows Messenger Service Receive Files folder within the My Documents folder.

All contact data for users within Windows Messenger is stored on the Windows Messenger servers, not on the local machine. The Privacy tab, shown in Figure 15-14, controls how that information is displayed and how you can access it.

The My Allow List shows you which users can see you and send you messages. By default, the group All Other Users is included in the My Allow List. The My Block List shows you the Windows Messenger users you’ve chosen to deny knowledge of your online status and the ability to send you messages. You can query the Windows Messenger servers to see a list of users who have added you to their contact list by clicking View.

The Alert Me When Other Users Add Me To Their Contact Lists check box is selected by default. It causes a message to appear on your screen when another user adds you to their Windows Messenger contact list. If you are not online when this occurs, you’ll have the opportunity to prevent yourself from being added when you next sign in to the service.

Below that is the Always Ask Me For My Password When Checking Hotmail Or Opening Other .NET Passport–Enabled Web Pages check box. By default, your .NET Passport password is not requested as long as you are signed in to Windows Messenger. For added security you can change the default behavior to force the application to prompt you whenever it accesses data that requires your password.

The last option to configure is the This Is A Shared Computer So Don’t Display My Tabs check box. If your computer is shared with other users, you can clear this check box to turn off the tab display for your Windows Messenger account. The check box is cleared by default for this option.

The Accounts tab allows you to add additional communication services accounts, such as other messenger service clients. Currently, however, there is only limited use for this feature, and it focuses more on internal corporate communications than on the needs of individual users. If you do decide to enable the Communication Service option, it requires the use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

If you’re in a corporate environment and your Internet connectivity requires access through a firewall or a proxy server, you’ll need to make the appropriate configuration changes to settings on the Connection tab (shown in Figure 15-15) to allow your Windows Messenger client to work properly. You might be required to supply specific server and protocol port information and possibly logon credentials. These settings will depend on how the firewall or a proxy server was configured. You might need to consult your network administrator for these settings, as well as for help with the configuration.