I have had this really irritating error come about in the last week where I can't sign in to messenger. Error 81000306 indicates that the problem could be caused by a firewall, proxy settings, DNS cache. I followed all Microsoft's instructions but to no avail and I have ALLOWED msnmsgr.exe in ZoneAlarm, so the lack of info they're giving me is getting on my nerves. I even uninstalled, ran Registry cleaner and reinstalled but still nothing. Can anyone help?

Its a stupid thing with MSN live Wellcome screen

If u have Zonealarm Go to:

1. control Center
2. Privacy
3. Disable ad blocking, and cookie Control

And it should Work It did for me....

Later on U can play with custom settings if u have the nervs

I didnt

for people that think they tried it all and still get the error 81000306:

I had no firewall
latest messenger installed
all services were running ok
logged in from website
tried to run all dlls mentioned on forums
messenger worked but live messenger didn't log in...

then I noticed that messenger didn't connect to .net messenger service
(tools/options/conections) and UPnP wasn't checked as ok...
I turned on UPnP to try connecting thro NAT

I turned it on, and all my troubles were gone.

I feel stupid now.. should have tried that first...

Thanks guys, the problem has long been solved. Thanks again

Hi guys

I'm using Vista but cannot find a solution to this problem. I don't have messenger to amend the options. Only live messenger which I cannot access.

Hi

I can't find UPnP in my tools/options/connections on the Live Messenger menu. Am I looking in the wrong place?

HELP!!! I have been struck by the infamous Error 81000306.

But this is a very, very weird one.

For one, I cannot log onto my own account...BUT...I can log onto my wife's account...ON THE SAME MACHINE.

I know this is not a password issue because I can log onto the Windows Live Web Site and using my Live ID.

I tried many things, among them:

1. making sure UPnP is enabled
2. running the "regsvr32 Softpub.dll Mssip32.dll Initpki.dll" command
3. running the "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal" command
4. flushing my DNS cache with the "ipconfig /flushdns" command
5. uninstalling and installing Live Messenger on my machine
6. uninstalling and installing Live Messenger on ANOTHER machine
7. disabling my Firewall
8. and yes, rebooting my PC many, many times after performing each preceding step

I wish I could contact micro$oft tech support...but there is no place on the micro$oft web site where I can do that. Anyone knows to what e-mail address I can forward my complain?

If anyone knows how to solve this...I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH. And if you live near Costa Mesa or Irvine, CA. I'm buying beer.

I have been trying all day to resolve this same issue, with a couple of major differences. First, anyone else on my home network is able to access Windows Live. I do not have the UPnP option mentioned above, and I can not sign into to web messenger. I am using XP SP3, have flushed my DNS, deleted my SOCKS, and done everything that I can find online that suggests it may fix this problem. I have uninstalled old version and reinstalled new version, changed my password and am finally asking for help. Any suggestions?

Finally...micro$oft replied...after I used the "Report an Abuse" link to get help.

"Report an Abuse"...can you believe those Redmond clowns?

I digress...

Do the following:

a. On Start, Right Click and Click Explore, then press on Enter.
b. To show hidden files and folders, click on Tools, then select Folder Options. A new window will open, click on the View tab; find the Hidden files and folders section; click on the radio button that says: Show hidden files and folder. Finally, click on OK, press F5 to refresh the window.
c. Delete the folder with the e-mail address you are having contacts issue with.
d. Click on Start, then Run, type Local Settings then press Enter.
e. Open these folders: Application Data > Microsoft > Windows Live Contacts then open the folder with the email address you are having contacts issue with.
f. Your Windows Live Messenger e-mail address folder, delete the real folder and the shadow folder.
g. Try to sign in to Messenger again.

Thanks for your help wsycng, but it didn't work for me.

I notice two of you have encountered this problem and posted about it recently. Please see these instructions for work through:

Windows Live Messenger Error 81000306:
http://messenger-support.spaces.live...3F!13932.entry

Thank you Bobbye, but that was one of the things I had already tried. It didnt work. And today, still nothing.

Likewise. I've been having a problem logging in since Daylight savings time kicked in. I checked with my router and the daylight savings settings were incorrect. I've corrected them to ensure that the time on my router is the correct time, and still cannot log into either Windows Live Messenger or Web messenger. WTF. :P

How do you change the time settings on the router?

I figured it out Still no change tho.

See if the following helps any of you with this problem. It's best to boot into Safe Mode when changing the Services because of the Dependencies:

Start> Run> services.msc> right click on and set as follows:
UPnP> Set Startup type to either Manual or Automatic
The two following Services are Dependencies of UPnP so must be set on Manual or Automatic.
HTTP> Set Startup type to either Manual or Automatic
SSDP> Set Startup type to either Manual or Automatic.

Reboot into Normal Mode. The Services will start as needed.

Hmm.... I found UPnP and SSDP Discovery (both are set to Automatic), but HTTP cannot be found. I'm running Vista Ultimate x64.

I should also note that I downloaded Windows Messenger 5.1 and tried to log in with that with no success. Something is seriously FUBAR'd.

I can't seem to sign in on my 360, put in my password and nothing happens. Why is this?

Sorry, I didn't check for the different operating systems. HERE is the Black Viper site for the Vista Ultimate x64.

A couple of possibilities:
1. Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service> SSTP
SSTP is available in Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista SP1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_...eling_Protocol

2. HTTPS has also been known as "Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer", but now HTTPS may be secured by the Transport Layer Security (TLS) instead of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS

3. Enable SSL on IIS7 and Windows Vista> result: The certificate gets created and is displayed in the ‘Server Certificates’ view. This certificate can now be used for HTTP SSL processing. See http://www.dotnetcurry.com/ShowArtic...ookieSupport=1

Vista users: see if you can reconcile this on Vista. If you do, please let us know. I'm on Windows XP and just trying to find what Vista uses in place of HTTP SSL.

I'm a bit confused. If I click on that link it takes me to XPx64. I've tried the other tasks where I could and they didn't do anything, unfortunately.

I also wanted to point out that I "Troubleshoot" Windows Live Messenger when the connection fails and the process completes without any error. This is truly baffling.