Reviving MSN – A new-in-box USB i-Buddy accessory—made for the MSN Messenger era—has been revived on a Windows 7 PC, with Windows recognizing it as USB HID and Escargot helping official clients reconnect after Microsoft shut down the original MSN network.
He thought he was just picking up an old novelty. Then the USB i-Buddy showed up still sealed—ready to be plugged into a Windows 7 machine that could feel the MSN Messenger years in its bones.
Back in 2013. Microsoft put MSN Messenger out to pasture. and for some people the interface and notification sounds never fully left. This accessory was part of that odd. lovable ecosystem: a USB-connected i-Buddy whose head can light up in seven different colors. Twist the torso, and the motion comes to life. The butterfly wings flap too. What it does next isn’t random—it ties those gestures and colors to events from MSN IM. or to more general notifications set by software running on the connected PC.
The revival work hinges on an unexpectedly simple detail. The i-Buddy is recognized by Windows as a USB HID device. meaning no special driver is needed just to get it detected. Programming options still exist as well. including a .NET-based library from when it was still being sold. priced at around $20 at the time.
The bigger problem is what happens after the hardware wakes up: the MSN Messenger network itself is gone. Microsoft’s servers for the network have long since been shut down and “dumped into an e-waste dumpster” at Microsoft HQ. But an alternative exists in the Escargot service, which lets a range of official clients connect again.
In a demonstration shared in a video, Rayly Retro shows the steps. A user account is created through the Escargot site, then the messenger—specifically Window Live Messenger 2009—is patched before signing in. Once that’s done, the i-Buddy setup comes next.
That part turned out to be less smooth. The version of the i-Buddy software included with the device didn’t get along with Windows 7. The fix came from an older forum post that pointed to version 2.10. After switching to that version. the gadget finally worked as expected—lighting up and flapping its wings in a way that feels like it belongs to another internet.
The sequence of steps is the real message here: the MSN era may be over, but with a USB HID accessory, a working programming path, and Escargot standing in for the missing servers, the notifications still find a way to move.
MSN Messenger i-Buddy USB HID Windows 7 Escargot Window Live Messenger 2009 retro computing .NET library
So does it still work on Windows 10 or is this just for dinosaurs?
I had one of these i-buddy things like forever ago and I swear it would never connect right. But MSN being shut down makes me think this is basically just flashing lights for no reason, right?
Wait, Microsoft shut down MSN Messenger servers and somehow a USB device still does “notifications”? That sounds like a hack or something. Also why Windows 7 specifically… don’t tell me people are still using Windows 7 in 2026.
Rayly Retro patching Window Live Messenger 2009 and using Escargot… so basically it’s like bringing back MySpace vibes but with butterflies flapping. I don’t even get the HID part, like isn’t HID for keyboards? either way I’m impressed it was still sealed in box like that. $20 back then is wild though, I would’ve bought 10.