MSN Messenger erase or how do I uninstall properly?

Question

Hello everyone
I wanted to install MSN Messenger original Microsoft Version. So I downloaded the compressed file, decompressed it and installed MSN Messenger. But the icon of the drive in which the compressed data was located wouldn't go away. And when I put it in the trash can and emptied it, MSN Messenger wouldn't start anymore, but display a big question mark in the icon located in the dock. So I removed this one as well. I wanted to know if there are any rests of files left on my hard drive, which should be erased. In general: How do I uninstall software from my MAC? Is there a special way to do it? And in case of MSN Messenger, do you think it was removed properly? If not, how can I do it afterwards?
Thank you so much

Answer 1

Hello,
Here is what you should have done to install it:
Download the program.
Then, open the disk image that you received as your download.
Then, from the disk image, copy the Messenger program to your Applications folder on your hard drive.
Then, eject the disk image and if you wanted delete the downloaded file.
Then, you would have gone into the Applications folder to run your Messenger program.
What you did was run the program from the disk image rather than from your hard drive. So, naturally, when you ejected the disk image, the program was gone.
The installation method I mentioned above is the standard method of installing programs on Macintosh computers.
As for whether Messenger is a self-contained package, it is self-contained. If you delete the main program, then the whole program is gone.
All that it leaves behind is your conversation history / cache and a couple of preference files in your preferences folder that contains your user-name and password and your settings.
These files are called:
com.microsoft.MessengerDaemon.plist
and
com.microsoft.Messenger.plist
and
com.microsoft.AlertsDaemon.plist
and
Microsoft Messenger User Cache
These files are located in:
Hard Drive --> Users --> "Your User Name" --> Library --> Preferences --> Microsoft
If you delete these files as well as the main application, then everything is gone.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.