MSN Messenger 6.1 error 0x81000301

I cannot connect to my email account via MSN Messenger 6.1.

The error I get is this:
"We were unable to sign you in to .NET Messenger Service, possibly because of a problem with the service, your internet service, or your proxy settings. Please make sure that you are connected to the internet. 0x81000301 "

I am connected through a firewall at work. Everyone else seems to be able to access their messenger account fine. I tried setting a proxy connection through port 80 but still got the same error.

Any help is welcome

 

First, check the date on your computer. Sounds far-fetched but if the date and/or time is wrong, Messenger won't hook up.

If that isn't the problem, tell Messenger you want to "Sign in using another account" and then sign in with your usual account and password.

If that still doesn't do it, the following fix usually works:
1. Exit msn messenger completely...right click on the Messenger icon in the system tray and click Exit to make sure it's closed
2. Go to Start, then Run, type "regedit" (without the quotes), click OK (Usual warning: Be careful when editing the registry; you can do a lot of damage if you get in a hurry)
3.Navigate to:
MyComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger.
4. Click the 'MSNMessenger' key (Do not double click, just highlight it)
5. On the Edit menu click Delete, Click "Yes" to confirm the operation.
6. Disable any anti-virus program you may have running in the background while you re-install Messenger
7. Re-install Messenger and you should be able to sign in

 

The REAL fix for this annoyance.

OK I've tried all of the supposed fixes that are out there on the net for this annoying problem. I got the 0x81000301 error after upgrading from Messenger 6.0 to 6.1 and now I've gotten it again after upgrading from 6.1 to 6.2. I had found a fix a few months ago after scouring the net but I'd forgotten it. Anyway I found it again. Here's what I did: Goto www.microsoft.com and do a search for the 0x81000301 code. It tells you if you get that error there's a problem with Winsock. Now thats your clue. The problem isn't changing your password or anything else and reinstalling Messenger won't reinstall winsock. What you've gotta do is reinstall winsock.. thats why for the people that reinstalled their entire O/S the problem was fixed. Winsock is part of your tcpip drivers and its a kind of middleware that helps all sorts of applications connect to whatever server they need to connect to. Reinstalling Winsock will fix your problem. Fixed mine.