Windows Messenger plugin - a way to pause from starting up?

My TLB is on a laptop computer with a wireless connection. If i am in an area with no internet LAN connection or wireless hotspot, The windows messenger plugin keeps pounding away at computer resources trying to restart windows messenger. I have to delete the plugin from the toolbar to stop it from attempting to start messenger. I'd like to be able to quickly pause the plugin until I internet access again, instead of deleting and adding new plugin to the toolbar every time. Or if a future design to have the plugin throttle back the restart atttempts as not to drain resources would be nice for future development?

Thanks