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Add friends
Mates make Messenger more fun. Get started by adding friends from Hotmail.
Click the Contacts icon and select Add a contact... from the menu.
Type your friend's e-mail address and click Next.
If you like, add a brief note, and then click Send invitation. Repeat for more friends.
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'Promote' friends to favorites
Speed-dial for your contact list - Favorite contacts always appear on top.
Drag and drop your friend's user tile into Favorites.
Or, right-click on the Favorites category title and choose Edit favorites from the context menu. Click on the friends you'd like to add and choose Save.
To give your favorites bigger user tiles, right-click on the Favorites category title and choose Change favorites layout from the context menu.
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Change your password
Change your password regularly to help protect yourself from SPAM.
If you're signed into Messenger, sign out and ensure the options are shown on the Messenger Sign In window.
Select Forgot your password? and then follow the instructions.
Alternatively, simply enter this URL in your browser and follow the instructions to change your password: https://account.live.com/PasswordPin.aspx.
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Add photos to your IMs
Share photos with your friends while instant messaging.
Open a chat window.
Locate the photos on your PC you'd like to share.
Drag and drop one photo, or a selection of photos, from your PC into the conversation window.
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Broadcast your status
Share a quick message with your Messenger friends.
In the Messenger header, click and type a quick message.
Your Messenger contacts can see your message displayed in their contact list and your what's new feed is updated.
Share what music you're listening to in the same way.
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Play games
Loads of free games - challenge your mates.
Select a contact, and open a chat window.
Click Games in the menu bar to open the Games browser.
Browse and select a game. Click Start Game to invite your friend to play.
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Make a free voice or video call
Call your friend's PC for free, anywhere in the world.
Open a chat window and click Voice Call or Video Call*.
Your contact will be sent a call invitation (and their computer will 'ring').
Once your contact accepts your invitation, start talking!
*Webcam and headset or microphone and speakers required.
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Change your Scene
Personalise Messenger with Scenes - your friends see your Scene when they IM with you.
Move your mouse toward the upper right corner of your Messenger header area until the paintbrush icon appears.
Click the icon and choose your scene and colour. Select 'Apply' or 'OK'.
Or you can simply drag and drop a picture from your PC to your Messenger header area to change your scene.
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Make a video display picture
Use your webcam to create a unique video display picture.
Click on your display picture to open the Display picture options and select Webcam picture.
Use your webcam to create a picture or short video. Click Done.
Or click on your display picture to open the Display picture options and select Dynamic picture.. to associate webcam pictures or video clips with emoticons. When you send those emoticons in your IMs, your display picture will change to match.
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Read your What's new feed
Get updates when your friends publish to the web.
The What's new feed at the bottom of your contacts pane lets you know what your friends have been doing online. See who added photos to Facebook or Flickr or posted a tweet.
Inside the feed, click on your friend's name to visit their profile or click on the activity to go straight to that post.
Expand the what's new area by clicking the 'Expand' arrow to see more details from each feed.
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Access your inbox
See if new Hotmail has arrived in your inbox.
The mail icon automatically updates to let you know how many unread Hotmail messages you have in your inbox.
Click the icon to read your new messages.
If you have Windows Live Mail installed, this will open and display your new messages, otherwise, you'll go straight to Hotmail.
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Save your contact list
Import or Export your contact list.
Open the Menu and hover over the 'Contacts' option to open the Contacts menu.
To save contacts, choose the Save... option on the Contacts menu and then browse to a location on your PC to save the ctt file.
To import contacts, choose the Import... option on the Contacts menu and then browse to the location where the ctt file is stored on your PC. Click Open.