I have Win XP/Pro SP3
"Atually, removing these two items is simple." Thanks for your reply, but removing these two items is not as simple as you might expect.
"go to Add/Remove Programs and select Add/Remove Windows Components. MSN should be it's own category (sometimes labeled "MSN Explorer" also)" Yes, I found it listed as MSN Explorer.
"Just un-check their boxes and continue until the wizard has finished." The instructions are "To add or remove a component, click the checkbox." This I did. I also made sure that other items in the list, which were checked when the list opened, were unchecked. While the "wizard" was working, the message "deleting files" appeared briefly.
After the "wizard" finished (and I restarted the computer), I checked the Program Files directory. The folder marked MSN is still present, with 2 subfolders, one of which is empty. I deleted the empty folder.
The MSN Gaming Zone folder was empty, but I could not delete it. I receive the message "MSN Gaming Zone is in use ...." which it is not. BTW, although there is a "Accessories and Utilities/Games" choice in the Add/Remove Windows Components, MSN Gaming Zone is not listed there.
There are some other oddities about Add/Remove Windows Components, but for the moment, I am interested in sticking with my original intent of removing MSN.
Any additional ideas?