Looking for some help on sniffing

Ok heres what i need i do visual basic (No C++) i do not have a sniffer so i would like to use the same sniffer of which the winning bidder uses (windows 98 here) even if i have to buy a copy to make it all legal unless it's an out ragous amount like distinct 1,500$'s then i may ask the winning bider to use a different one.. i want to go over sniffing out MSN messenger we will both use the same account name and password i want to see how to connect how to then sign in to the messenger then how it goes into the chat room how they send im's to others how to get the list of people chatting i will need to understand and learn from hands on not copy and paste i want to add the coding to vb myself with your gidence this doesn't have to be a rush job but once we are done i want to be able to use the winsock control data recieve and all. and how to work out some encryptions to connect to protocals like MSN on my own i have worked with vb for a while just never with winsock. feel like you would want to do this job few hours a day or whatever looks like i will be starting classes this afternoon but i will find the time to give you my full attention as i strive myself to be a quick and efficent learner Ps i need a good in depth understanding of "working a sniffer" and reading the hex decimals and some one that will be able to take alot of questions being asked of why and how ## Deliverables Complete and fully-functional working program(s)/BRAIN in executable form as well as complete source code of all work done. Complete copyrights to all work purchased. ## Platform 98, me, 95, xp, 2000