Trick To Remove Ads From Yahoo Messenger

Ahhh.. It feels so good to be back :) Exams went great, and so did my blog stats. I’m really happy to see that my feed count did not decrease. Thank you all for staying with the feed :)

Since Yahoo! has released Yahoo Messenger 8, they started displaying ads at the bottom of the window. Yahoo! Messenger, itself is crowded with stuff like Radio, plugins etc. and with ads it looks very ugly. It gets really annoying when they display flashy animated ads.

In this post, I’ll tell you how to remove those ads from the bottom of Yahoo! Messenger 8 and 9 Beta.

NOTE: After you remove the ads, you won’t be able to use the Chat Room feature. So, don’t try this trick if you use that feature.

How to remove ads in Yahoo! Messenger 8

1. Make sure your Yahoo! Messenger is closed.

2. Download and save this batch (.bat) file anywhere in your PC and execute it.

Done! :P Yeah, really… It’s done!

What actually happened

The batch file you downloaded changes the following registry entries from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Yahoo\pager\YUrl

Messenger Ad
Webcam Upload Ad
Webcam Viewer Ad
Webcam Viewer Ad Big
Webcam Viewer Ad Medium
Change Room Banner
Conf Adurl
Chat Adurl

The data value of the above entries is changed to an asterisk (*).

How to remove ads in Yahoo! Messenger 9 Beta

The above procedure doesn’t work for the version 9 Beta. So I found an alternate method to remove the ads. But remember, by trying this you are breaking Yahoo! Messenger’s terms of service.

1. Exit Yahoo! Messenger.

2. Backup C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\YahooMessenger.exe by creating a new copy.

3. Download a hex editor (recommended: HxD)

4. Open C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\YahooMessenger.exe in the hex editor.

5. Go to the offset 295928 (in HxD: Search/GoTo)

6. Look at the right column and replace y from “y.m.s.g.r.a.d.s” with p

ymsgr-hex-editor

7. Save the file and close your hex editor.

Done! lol

I hope you enjoyed this trick and would love to subscribe to my RSS feed. I’ll be updating this post for future Yahoo! Messenger version updates.

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Author: Haris Nadeem
He is the founder of Sizzled Core and a Pakistani blogger who loves gadgets and exploring out the web!

37 Comments

Vijay

That certainly is useful.. I’ve grown tired of seeing those ads as well.

Nov 18th, 2007
Haris

@Vijay: I’m glad that you liked it :)

Nov 18th, 2007
Technobuzz.net

Nice tips Haris, Never knew about it :)

Nov 18th, 2007
Madhur Kapoor

Nice tip buddy. Good to see you back in the blogosphere.

Nov 19th, 2007
Haris

Thanks :)

Nov 19th, 2007
Sumesh

Nice tip, but I use GTalk, Skype and Mirinda for my needs.

Nov 24th, 2007
Mary

i use Y!M 9 but it didn’t work that trick :(

Dec 13th, 2007
Dermot

I have built a patch for all 9.0 beta builds

you can get it below..

http://shadow-corp.net

:)

Apr 24th, 2008
Ravi

Nice trick…
How to make yahoo messenger look so simple..
i mean how to remove all other useless things..

Aug 21st, 2008
johnny

New offset for build 1389 seems to be 2D8C10

Sep 16th, 2008
hasyim

terima kasih thank’s

Sep 21st, 2008
Yahoo User

BAT file did not work.
It is full of artifacts.

Sep 26th, 2008
Joshua

New offset for build 1912 is 2E7DC0

Changing that, however, does not seem to remove the ads.

Oct 2nd, 2008
dedndave

I wrote a patch program for versions 9.0.0.2018 and 9.0.0.2034…
It only removes the main window ads
http://www.4shared.com/file/72.....Patch.html

This is the one for 8.1.0.421 - this patch also fixes a few problems..
http://www.4shared.com/file/73.....10421.html

Dec 1st, 2008
cinoz

@dedndave

thx :D

@all

the patch working 4 me
im using versions 9.0.0.2034

Jan 8th, 2009
dedndave

Patch for 9.0.0.2018/2034/2112
Below is a link to download an HTML file.
Download the HTML file and open it in your browser.
It provides links to download the pre-patched exe files for all 28 countries.
- dedndave
http://www.4shared.com/file/80.....atch9.html

Jan 16th, 2009
dedndave

Below are links to download the patch
files for versions 9.0.0.2123/2124.
- dedndave

http://www.4shared.com/file/83...../2123.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/83...../2124.html

Jan 31st, 2009
dedndave

9.0.0.2128 patch…

http://www.4shared.com/file/85...../2128.html

- dedndave

Feb 8th, 2009
dedndave

Here’s a little trick that many will enjoy. I absolutely hate the mouse-over contact information cards. Some users may like them. I find not only the pop-up feature annoying, but
it also reflects “Update” information that is sometimes incorrect. Mine says my mood changed from happy to excited to special and back to happy again. I never changed anything to give the server that impression. Perhaps it is reflected from the emoticons I may have used in a conversation. This information comes from the server in the Temporary Internet Files in a file named “vitality.html”. I also find the use of IE annoying.
If you want to disable the cards, find the folder “C:\Documents and Settings\(YourWindowsUserName)\Local Settings\Application Data\Y!Msgr\skins\Default”. In that folder, you will find a few xml files. One is named ContactCard.ContactCard.xml. Delete the file and create a folder of the same name in its’ place. After that, you may have to sign in and out of Messenger twice, but the contact info cards will be gone. Also gone is the IE download of the vitality files.
If you want to keep the contact cards, but remove the “update” info and the IE vitality files, add 2 URL values to the registry key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\YUrl”. Under that key, create 2 new string-type values. Here is what a .REG file would look like:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\YUrl]
“vitality banner”=”*”
“vitality proxy server”=”*”

A .REG file to turn them back on would look like this:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\YUrl]
“vitality banner”=-
“vitality proxy server”=-

Notice that the trick to remove the cards is on a per-user basis, while disabling the vitality “updates” is on a per-computer basis.

Enjoy - dedndave

Tim and Dermot - you guys may want to add this to your patch programs.

Feb 10th, 2009
dedndave

Ooops - my mistake - both tricks are per-user (dunno what I was thinking - lol)
- dedndave

Feb 10th, 2009
dedndave

ver 2133 patched…

http://www.4shared.com/file/88.....P2133.html

- dedndave

Feb 20th, 2009
dedndave

I apologize for taking so long. I have been busy.
Also, they are creating releases like horny rabbits.
- dedndave

http://www.4shared.com/file/90.....P2136.html

Mar 3rd, 2009
Legolas

I tried the patch for build 2136 but I get the message…

“YP2136.exe - Unable To Locate Component”
“This application has failed to start because YImage.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem”

Mar 21st, 2009
timmi

thank you man!

Mar 25th, 2009
dedndave

@ Legolas
You must replace the YahooMessenger.exe file in the
C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger folder with the patched
exe file. It must be renamed to YahooMessenger.exe. Most
people rename the original, but you may delete it if you like.
- dedndave

Mar 27th, 2009
dedndave

@ Legolas
You have to rename the original YahooMessenger.exe file to something else.
Then rename the patched exe file to YahooMessenger.exe and place it in the Messenger folder.
I believe this is what causes this problem.
- dedndave

@ Timmi
Glad to hear it…

Mar 30th, 2009
weekender

thanks dedndave for the trick with removing contact update card. it was really annoying.
not anymore :D

Apr 14th, 2009
ANDREW DALLISON

Sorry guys, this does NOT work in Yahoo Messenger 9.0 Version 9.00.2152.
When you open the Messenger.exe correctly with HXD, the Yahoo Messenger exe file ( on the line numbes 295928), neither the Hex code or the letters /numbers CORRESPOND CORRECTLY - (Ie: similary to what is shown and stated above sadly.) Back to the drawing board /think tank please as “Nobody” it woudl r seems so far has managed to crack this problem, I personally have spent days trying to find a solution to remove the adverts, in Yahoo Messenger, lol which are so annoying and an unnecessary page filler etc.

Apr 26th, 2009
dedndave

again, my appologies for taking so long
as always, rename the original YahooMessenger.exe to something else
then replace it with the d/l file (named as YahooMessenger.exe)
- dedndave

9.0.0.2162
http://www.4shared.com/file/10.....P2162.html

9.0.0.2161
http://www.4shared.com/file/10.....P2161.html

9.0.0.2160
http://www.4shared.com/file/10.....P2160.html

for those who like to edit their own, change the
byte from 84h to 83h at the following offsets

9.0.0.2162 offset 3780E 84h -> 83h
9.0.0.2161 offset 3780E 84h -> 83h
9.0.0.2160 offset 37F4D 84h -> 83h

Jun 5th, 2009
Bob

This takes care of the Ad at the bottom of the Yahoo main panel, but it doesn’t remove the annoying AD and weblink at the bottom of the IM window itself (chat window with a contact).

I’ve recently started getting these AD links, and don’t recall them before loading 9.0.0.2162.

Jun 9th, 2009
YahooUser

I’m sorry to say, I have XP & have YM version .2162 and this did not work; even after re-booting my PC.

Jun 10th, 2009
dedndave

@Yahoo User
make sure you follow the instructions in my previous post

as for getting rid of the other ads - that is a different story
there are a couple other patches that may get rid of it

Tim’s patch at wackyB might do the job

Jun 14th, 2009
dedndave

Heads Up!!!
Yahoo! is changing a couple things…

First, if you have more than one Yahoo! account using the
same primary e-mail address, you may lose the account.
This is a gradual change; I have seen no official announcement.
But, I wanted to make a new Yahoo! ID and in the process,
I was informed that any other account that had the same
“primary” e-mail addess would become inaccessible.

Second, I noticed that, by the end of the year, Yahoo!
intends to do away with geocities free hosted sites.
So, if you have any geocities sites bookmarked for great
info or downloads, best get crackin and get what you want.

- dedndave

Jun 14th, 2009