Stopping Chat Service

You can stop and start Chat Service from the Services application in Control Panel or from the command line using the NET command. Stopping Chat Service disconnects chat clients that are currently connected to the service, prevents the service from accepting new connections, and invalidates all administrative client sessions.

Caution You should stop Chat Service only if you need to shut down the service or to make more server memory available for other Windows NT services or applications. Also, do not stop the service while the Chat Service Manager or Chat Web Administrator utility is running. If you do, you must close and then restart the utility.

To stop Chat Service from Control Panel

From the Start menu, choose Settings, and then choose Control Panel.
Run the Services application.
In the Service box, select Microsoft Exchange Chat.
Choose Stop.

To shut down Chat Service without disconnecting users

Start the Chat Service Manager utility.
Select a chat server under Microsoft Exchange Chat Service in the left pane.
From the Action menu, choose Properties.
From the General property sheet, select Disable new connections, and then choose OK. This prevents chat clients from establishing new connections to the service without disconnecting its current users.
Exit the Chat Service Manager utility.
From the Start menu, choose Programs, choose Administrative Tools (Common), and then choose Performance Monitor.
From the Edit menu, choose Add To Chart.
From the Object box, choose Chat Service.
From the Counter box, choose Current Local Clients, choose Add, and then choose Done. This allows you to monitor the number of clients currently logged on to the chat server.
When the value of Current Local Clients reaches zero, stop the service from Control Panel or from the command line using the following command:

NET STOP CHATSVC

Important Before you stop Chat Service, verify that Chat Service Manager is not running.