I found a leak of the brand new QFE Patch for MSN Messenger.
The 2.33mb patch updates your MSN Messenger 7.5.0311 version to MSN Messenger 7.5.0319 and comes with the enhancements of improving the sign in process (80048820 error) more thoroughly, as well as the error reporting linked to it.

Something else that’s been fixed is a bug with emoticon shortcuts via the IME (Input Method Editor) in Korea.
On a commercial note, the conversation window text ads will show properly on Dynamic Backgrounds from Blue Mountain.
Finally, build 319 says goodbye to a bug in a DLL that would make MSN Messenger crash if you unplugged a USB device after running the Audio Video Tuning Wizard on that device.


Because this QFE Patch hasn’t been officially released yet and it is thus unsupported by Microsoft, I do not recommend updating until further notice. But if you’re unable to run your MSN Messenger for days and weeks already, you can try updating using the QFE Patch and see if it fixs your 80048820 sign in error.

Update 19 December 2005: A new full install MSN Messenger v7.5.0322 is out. Please download from this link. It should fix the MSN Messenger Error 80048820.