Can't disable Windows Mail

Question

I don't want Windows Mail, and I'd like to disable it. From what I can tell, it's part of the system, so it's not something I can uninstall. That's fine, but I've looked everywhere and can't find a way to disable it. It shows up in Task Manager as a service, but when I go to the full Services listing, I can't find it. So the best I can do is try to remember to stop it from running once I've booted the machine.   Anyone have any suggestions?

Mary G · Answer

It is part of Windows and you cannot uninstall or disable it, but you can just ignore it. It does not start up automatically. Do not set up any email accounts in Winmail and you will never see it. Windows Mail is the new name for Outlook Express. Windows Mail is also a Newsreader. You might be using it for that. It should not show up in Processes or Services. You must be seeing something else like WinLogon or another necessary Windows program. The program is called Winmail.exe. It doesn't appear in Services even when it is running.

Rebel9 · Answer

I haven't 'disabled' Windows Mail, and I DON'T see it anywhere in Task Manager services.

OldMom · Answer

I appreciate your responses, Rebel and Mary - thanks! I did make one mistake when I said that it was in Services; it's on the Processes tab. I made this screenshot shortly after a reboot.

Thing is, I don't want to just ignore it, because it does start up automatically on my computer and uses a fair amount of my CPU resources. I've never set up an account in it or even clicked on anything related to it, haven't subscribed to newsgroups in many years (I go to Usenet for the few that interest me), and have used web mail exclusively for the last three or four years.

In fact, I can't ignore it because I keep getting annoying reminders of any update I don't download, and that includes Windows Mail. Seems there's no longer an option to hide some downloads, or I'd do that. Just an FYI, I'm on slow dialup (usually connect at 26.4Kbps), so I don't allow automatic downloads from any site, because they often used to completely chew up my bandwidth when I least expected it.

So, I'm still looking to disable it if you or anyone else can come up with a way, and I will bow down and kiss the feet of anyone who does. ;-)

Message Edited by OldMom on 11-14-2007 05:27 PM

Rebel9 · Answer

As you've been told, you CAN'T disable it. As for it using 'a fair amount of my CPU resources' - 00 (zero - as per your screen shot) certainly doesn't seem to be terribly excessive to me ???

Rebel9 · Answer

OldMom, Don't worry about it. We all sound 'snippy' at one time or another. As for the Windows Update reminders, simply allow the update to be installed. As Windows Mail is a part of the operating system, WU is simply doing its job. And as for Vista's 'making all my decisions for me', Vista actually does do a pretty good job at this. Certainly you can tailor your own customizations, but all in all, Vista does a much better job than XP, especially in the memory management area.   Good Luck with Vista and don't let it frustrate you.

Garred · Answer

Have you checked your Startup Folder to see if WinMail is listed there?  That could be one possible place that it is getting loaded on a reboot.   You can run msconfig and press the Startup Tab and see if WinMail.exe is listed.  Then if it is listed then uncheck it and reboot.

OldMom · Answer

Thanks for your post, Rebel. My apologies to you and Mary for sounding so snippy yesterday; I was just so derned frustrated by Windows Updater requiring me to download the update to an app I've never even touched and don't want to use.   As for the screen shot, I don't know what to say. I ordered the processes to be listed by CPU usage.   I guess I'll just have to give in to Vista's making all my decisions for me. Sigh.   Thanks

OldMom · Answer

Hi Garred, and thanks for your post. Yep, I should have mentioned earlier that the first thing I did was run msconfig.exe, and it wasn't there. That's how I realized it was probably an integral part of the OS.   Thanks for understanding, Rebel. I guess it's just hard to change my ways, especially since I have adult ADD. I resisted the change from DOS to Windows until I had absolutely no choice, did fine going from Win95 to Win98, skipped 2000 for reasons I don't recall, skipped ME because of all the problems I'd heard about it, struggled just a wee bit with XP, but I really loved it.   My sister and I have ongoing battles about PCs vs. Macs, but I kind of feel that Windows and its GUI interface and control issues are getting closer & closer to the Mac. I'd switch to Linux if I thought I could learn it, but I just don't want to start all over again from scratch. Besides, I believe that some of my most important graphics apps won't run on it. And I'd use Firefox instead of IE if I thought it would make a huge difference, even though I  really don't care for the tabbed interface.   OK, that was going way OT and turned into a bit of a rant. Sorry about that, but I do feel better now. :smileywink:

Windows General

Can't disable Windows Mail

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