Some of our esteemed readers were not yet out of diapers back in 2013 when Microsoft decided to put MSN Messenger out to pasture, but the memories that this instant messenger’s (IM) interface and notification sounds have left are hard to erase. This also includes some of the weirdest accessories that this IM spawned, such as the USB-connected i-Buddy. Recently [Rayly Retro] got his mittens on a new-in-box one to revive alongside an era-appropriate Windows 7 PC.

What the i-Buddy gets you is the ability to light up the head in seven different colors, twist the torso and flap the butterfly wings, all of which can correspond to certain events in the MSN IM or for more general notifications, as set by software running on the connected PC. Interestingly, this i-Buddy is recognized by Windows as a USB HID, so no special driver is needed. A range of ways to program it exist too, including a .NET-based library from back when it was still being sold for around $20.

Although the MSN Messenger network’s servers have long since been dumped into an e-waste dumpster over at Microsoft HQ, an alternative exists in the form of the Escargot service using which a range of official clients can work again.

In the video it’s demonstrated how to create a user account with the Escargot site and how to patch the messenger – here Window Live Messenger 2009 – before signing in. With that step completed, getting the i-Buddy up and running is next. This took a lot of struggling, since the version of the i-Buddy software that comes with the device didn’t like Windows 7 much. Fortunately an old forum post led to a download of version 2.10, using which the gadget jumped to life, happily lighting up and flapping its wings.