How to remove MessengerSkinner

MessengerSkinner, also known as Messenger Skinner, is classified as a rogue plugin for Windows Live Messenger, it claims to be an useful tool to helps people customize the program but, in real, this program shows an aggressive number of advertisements and it keeps asking the user to pay for being used.

Make sure to not fall in this scam, if your computer is infected with MessengerSkinner, it is recommended to remove it immediately and to scan your system with a real security software.

Symptoms of infection

• The process MessengerSkinner.exee is running in your system
• Slow computer performance
• Repeated security warnings, alerts and system scans
• Web sites that suddenly are shown on your desktop

Malicious web sites and urls:

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messengerskinner.com

When the program is executed, it creates the following files:

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%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\download\defaultPack.cab
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\appconfig.xml
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btn.rgn
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnBnr.rgn
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnIn.rgn
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnInNormal.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnInOver.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnNormal.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnNormal.gif
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnNormalBnr.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnNormalBnr.gif
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnOver.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\MessengerSkinnerDll.dll
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\MessengerSkinner.exe
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnOverBnr.bmp
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\btnOverBnr.gif
%ProgramFiles%\MessengerSkinner\resources\languages_v2.xml
C:\Windows\system32\nvs2.inf

The program creates the following registry entries:

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HKLM\SOFTWARE\MessengerSkinner
HKCU\Software\MessengerSkinner
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\MessengerSkinner

How to remove MessengerSkinner (manual removal) ?

• Kill the running process MessengerSkinner.exe
• Unregister all the MessengerSkinner DLLs
• Delete all the MessengerSkinner files
• Delete all the MessengerSkinner registry entries

How to remove MessengerSkinner (automatic removal) ?

• Download and Install NoVirusThanks Malware Remover
• Update the database
• Click the button Scan
• Delete infected files