Comments on: Remove ADs from Yahoo! Messenger 8 Final

By: pnamajck

pnamajck — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:49:57 +0000

have yahoo messenger 8.1.0.195
have hex editor xv132.2.51

closed yahoo messenger and made backup copy (YahooMessenger.exe.backup)

opened xv132 and went to menu / search / find /
entered text string "enabled"
first instance of "enabled" i highlighted "e" and changed to "u" and then saved the file.

i then relaunched yahoo and presto . . . no damned ad on bottom of buddy-list.

thanks for the hack, vg . . . you rock.

btw . . . how you came up with this hack ? using decompiler, and, once figured out, you sought out the text string in the actual program in hex editor so anyone can do same ?

By: relation

relation — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:34:29 +0000

Hi again,

Unfortunately now I am SURE that the advertisement banner is actually DOWNLOADED.
You can check it in this way that first apply the patch, then clean your IE cache and then sign in to Yahoo Messenger, now by going to "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" you can find the huge flash banner downloaded there, in one case it is ashlee_234x60.flv.hi.video.flv with 1.65 MB!

So I managed to block some Ads Server in the hosts file, so combined with the 'good look' of browser with this patch, the actuall ads may not be downloaded at all!:)

By: relation

relation — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:49:27 +0000

Hi VG,
I have made a patch out of it for the latest version, if you mind you could add it to your blog too.
h??p://rapidshare.com/files/149964767/Y_MadRemove.zip
MD5: 69ce9eb4491732455e319071a9d8c9ba

By: VG

VG — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:32:21 +0000

^^ When we change the "enabled" string, it permanently disable the ad, so its not downloading them.

By: relation

relation — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:08:50 +0000

Hi, after lots of registry and urls.xml and hosts file hacks, the ads in yahoo messenger either were persistent or the removal was parallel to other function loss (such as the loss of Audibles)

In one case of my own hex-messing with the exe file I could change some urls in the exe and in place of the ad I could see the Internet Explorer's error page!

Finally I tried your suggestion, and I found the "enabled" string at offset 3A1250 in version 8.1.0.421 (that is the real final 8 version, I think). And after changing it to "unabled" good! The ad window below the main contact window disappeared; but still I suspect that the ads are downloaded internally but only not shown. That I can imagine from the times that for example I disabled insider.msg.yahoo.com in hosts files and the YahooMessenger.exe memory usage was 32MB while in this final hack it is about 42MB as normal times.

So do you have any idea about fixing it in a way to totally cure the exe file not just to kill the pain?

By: VG

VG — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:42:18 +0000

^^ I'm glad that it worked for you.

By: Mitza

Mitza — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:59:45 +0000

Brilliant hack !!! Thanks a lot! This was the only hack (I tried) and worked also for non-administrator users!

One word though.. on the Messenger version I have (8.1.0.249), the "enabled" string appears at offset 3A1250. Anyway it is the first encounter of "enabled" in the file. I changed that one (after making a backup, of course) and it does the trick.

Many thanks again,
Mitza

By: VG

VG — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:17:04 +0000

^^ Please use XVI32:

http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm

By: Cano

Cano — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:39:12 +0000

Hi VG, I'm a new person in hex , can you tell me what program should i use to open edit the yahoo messenger file?

Thanks..

By: VG

VG — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:27:17 +0000

^^ Thanks. You can subscribe via e-mail using the "Subscribe" button at top in right-sidebar.