I, like thousands of others, use the Mess.be Windows Live Messenger patch to remove all the useless crap from WLM. One option you can choose is to remove the Live Call button from the top of the contact list. Since you have to go through the trouble of signing up to use it, and I already have Skype, I really don’t see the point in having it.

I remove the icon, but Live Call is still started in the background when I click on the Windows Live Messenger icon. This wastes memory, so I found out how you get rid of it completely.

Close WLM if you have it open.

Go to the folder C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger.

Create a new folder, call it LiveCall or something similar.

Move the following files into it:

htc.8.1.0178.00.dll
livecall.exe
pcsexeps.dll
softphone.dll
softphoneps.dll
softphoneres.dll

Now delete any icons for Windows Live Messenger you may have, in the Start Menu, on your Desktop or in the Quick Launch bar, and recreate them (“C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe”)

The last step is important, otherwise WLM will reinstall the files you just moved.

Now when you run Windows Live Messenger, it’ll run without Live Call being loaded into the background, and may even start up a little quicker.