I
think msmsgs.exe is only for the Windows Messenger chat app (not the Messenger Service, & not MSN Messenger) - so, you should be able to stop it / get rid of it completely / deny it in ZoneAlarm, etc, & still use MSN Messenger.
You can't stop it in services.msc - you use services.msc to stop the Messenger Service (seperate thing).
For stopping Windows Messenger....
Prevent Windows Messenger from automatically starting
Windows Messenger - disable completely
Windows Messenger - remove
Also....
For Zone Alarm 5... I've seen other threads here where people have suddenly found ZA denying things after upgrading to version 5...1st I could find -
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=13450