Tip 115: Prevent Windows XP from reminding you to enter Microsoft .NET Passport details

After installing XP, the OS will prompt you to enter a .NET Passport account to enable access to certain Internet communication features.

To turn off this reminder, perform the following steps:

  1. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
  2. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MessengerService registry subkey.
  3. If the PassportBalloon registry value doesn’t already exist, go to the Edit menu; select New, Binary Value; enter a name of PassportBalloon; then press Enter.
  4. Double-click the PassportBalloon value, set it to 0A 00 00 00, then click OK.
  5. Close the registry editor.