DREK, If someone has an idea to share they will post it. No need to reply to your own topic. Perhaps try a
Search and see what you can dig up in the meantime.
I can tell you this though - The official version does not require any patches for games to work, only the leaked beta's actually used them. If your not already, try using the US version of MSN Messenger from
http://messenger.msn.com
Perhaps post your OS and any other system specs that might help narrow down the problem. Are you using a router, behind a firewall, are you using an administrator account in Windows NT/2000/XP?