How to Read Skype Chat History

Two points first:

1)  You can read the history from within Skype by opening up a chat window for a contact and clicking on the links near the top of the chat window that indicate how far back to display conversations.

2)  The Skype log files are located here:  c:\users\username\AppData\Roaming

Okay, now to read Skype history without having Skype open (and you must have Skype closed to unlock the files), try using this free software:

SkypeLogView

Very simple.

Skype: Remove Skype Links from Web Browser

When you browse the web, Skype will locate phone numbers and offer to let you call the phones through Skype.  You have two options to disable this:

1)  Uninstall "Skype Toolbar" from Add/Remove Programs.

2)  In Skype, go to Tools > Options > Advanced and uncheck the boxes "Use Skype to call callto: links on the web" and "Automatically start Extras".

I recommend just getting rid of the toolbar, which often are culprits when web browsers crash.

Skype Slowness Issues

Problem:  whenever Skype opens, the computer slows down significantly.

Solution (possibly):  I have seen some version of Skype slowdown when trying to pull contacts from Outlook.  Though this feature might be nice for some reason, it wasn't for me and definitely wasn't worth bring my computer to a halt.  Turn off this integration by doing the following:

1.  Open Skype.
2.  Go to Contacts  and make sure "Show Outlook Contacts" is NOT checked.

Older versions of Skype may have the "Show Outlook Contacts" option listed elsewhere, but you should upgrade to the latest version of Skype anyway.  It may fix your problem without disconnecting the Skype/Outlook connection.

Other things to try:  uninstall Skype Toolbar or see if your antivirus might be the culprit. 

Skype: "We are having problems connecting to the download server"

When you go to Skype's main page to download the latest version, you're not really downloading Skype, you're installing a downloader that manages the install of Skype.  Confused yet?  Anyway, sometimes the downloader has problems managing the connection and you'll get errors such as "We are having problems connecting to the download server."

Solution:  Download the standalone install for Skype.

This is especially useful if you have your own download manager that can resume should the source of the problem be a slow or unreliable internet connection.  Or just use it to install it on several computers that may not have an internet connection at the time.

Skype's Disappearing Cat and Other Hidden Icons

Skype has some hidden emoticons not listed in the standard sub-menu of their chat window.  The complete list can be seen here.

However, there are a couple more that have caused people to think they may have a virus or wonder why exactly they are seeing:

1)  The disappearing cat.

How to recreate it:  hold down the keys C-A-T at the same time.
What happens:  a gray cat holds out its paw and eventually disappears.
Why:  this indicates that the typer's cat may be stepping on the keyboard.

2)  The disappearing hands.

How to recreate it:  hold down any three keys at the same time.
What happens:  two hands appear to wrap over the top of a line on the screen and eventually disappears.
Why:  this indicates the typer is probably leaning on the keyboard.

It's somewhat a mystery that Skype wouldn't let its users know what these are supposed to mean to the user.

Skype Virus Automatically Sends Facebookgallery.info links

Here's how you get infected: 

One day you're on your computer and you get a message from a friend asking you to look at these crazy pictures of them, making sure they look okay (there are other variants of this message).  The links points to a site called facebook.info, in the example below it's http://srv06.facebookgallery.info:89/.  You click the link and accept all the prompts after that and the next think you know, those same messages are being sent from you to friends on your Skype list.

The following example says "I can't believe I got tagged in this picture!!  Do you think I look ok?"

What's worse it that you can't download the regular virus-removal tools because when you click to download one, you get a page that says "Google Error.  Not Found.  The requested URL /Files/ProcessExplorer.zip was not found on this server".  NOTE:  This came up when I tried to download Process Explorer to stop services.  See below:

Also, if you already have tools available, they close shortly after opening. 

Here's how to remove it:

1)  Edit the hosts by going to Start > Run... and entering the following:
 notepad "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"

2)  Scroll down a little ways and delete everything at the bottom.  It's going to be a bunch of garbled text.  After deleting, then save the changes. 

NOTE:  If you're not comfortable with this, you can try HostXpert, but you'll have to download it on another computer and transfer it to the infected computer before you can use it.  Just run it and click "Restore MS Hosts File"

3)   The above steps get rid of the Google Error pages, so now you're free to download any tool you wish to fight this thing.  I used ComboFix to get rid of this thing.  Download it to your desktop and rename it to "nothing.exe" -- otherwise the virus will recognize it and close it automatically.

4)  Run "nothing.exe" and accept everything it wishes to do and you'll be virus-free soon.  It may require a restart.

Sometimes an extra step is needed if you lose your internet connection after performing these steps.  Right-click the My Computer icon and go to Properties.  Click on the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.  In the list under Network Adapters you'll see two copies of each of your network devices.  Uninstall the copy without the exclamation point next to it -- it'll remove both copies from the list.  Then go to Action > Scan for hardware changes.  Windows should detect your network device drivers and get you going again.

Spam from Skype

Skype does not scan your system or Skype itself for viruses.  This simple statement will help you deal with messages you receive on Skype similar to the following:

[Time] System Monitor ® says: WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

=============================

ATTENTION ! Security Center has detected
malware on your computer !

Affected Software:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows Win98
Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution / Virus Infection /
Unexpected shutdowns

Recommendation: Users running vulnerable version should install a repair
utility immediately

Your system IS affected, download the patch from the address below !
Failure to do so may result in severe computer malfunction.

Just ignore it.  Or better yet, prevent these messages from reaching you (or someone who just doesn't seem to get it).
 
This is how:
 
1.  In Skype, go to Tools > Options. 
 
2.  Click on "Privacy"
 
3.  Select "Only allow people in my Contact list to contact me. 
 
There.  No more anonymous people sending messages about viruses that aren't on your computer.