MSN has hijacked outlook express

Tools > Internet Options > Programs. Click to open the the 2cnd Dropdown Box, "EMail", scroll to "Outlook Express", click to highlight and select it, click "Apply", then click OK. You may have to reboot for the change to take effect.

When next you use MSN, don't click "Yes" when you are prompted to make MSN your default email client; it didn't hijack anything; either when you installed the MSN software, or when you used MSN Hotmail to send an Email, it asked if you wanted MSN to be your default client, and you clicked "Yes".

A number of the free privacy utilities touted here in connection with yuckare prevention/removal are able to lock you default homepage, search, and email settings, among others, putting such changes at least a couple more mouseclicks away from happening.

Thanks timber, but I never selected to use the thing in the first place!

Oh, I have no doubt you didn't actively choose it ... if I recall correctly, I think you actually have to tell MSN to NOT become your default browser and email client ... and its an easy thing to overlook. You prolly didn't click "Yes"; you just didn't happen to notice when you shouldda clicked "NO", come to think of it. I don't use MSN myself, but Mrs Timber loves it, uses nothing but. If she neglects to close all the way out of it, and I don't happen to notice the damned butterfly down there in the taskbar, it sneaks up on me once in a while.