1. Installation
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If you already have Skype installed, remove it from the control panel. After that, open the
%appdata%\Skypefolder and delete the fileshared.xml. In the same folder, open the folder with your Skype login and delete the fileconfig.xml.
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Download the old version 6.1.999.130 and install it. If after installation Skype has started automatically, it is very important to close it.
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Open the installation folder (for example,
C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone) and rename the file “Skype” to “Skype_6.1.999.130” (if the operating system asks for your permission, confirm that you want to rename the file).
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Right-click on “Skype_6.1.999.130”, select “Send” and click “Desktop (Create Shortcut)”. A new shortcut "Shortcut for Skype_6.1.999.130" should appear on the desktop.
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Download version 7.17.0.104 (the oldest version that is officially supported) and install it. Please note, you shouldn’t remove the old version 6.1.999.130.
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After installing version 7.17.0.104, there should be two shortcuts on the desktop: “Skype” and “Shortcut for Skype_6.1.999.130”. The first one starts version 7.17.0.104, the second one – 6.1.999.130.
Before going on, make sure that you have succeeded.
2. Settings
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Start Skype using the shortcut “Skype” (that is, you need to run version 7.17.0.104). If you are not sure that you have launched the correct version, click “Help” in the menu bar and select “About Skype” (there you will see the version number). If everything is correct, log in using your username and password.
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Open Skype → Tools → Settings → General Settings and uncheck the box next to the option “Start Skype when I start Windows”. In the same section, just below, check the box “Sign me in when Skype starts”.
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Then, in the menu on the left, click “Advanced”, select “Automatic Update”, click “Disable Automatic Updates” and click “Save”.
3. Using
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To run the old version, use the “Shortcut for Skype_6.1.999.130”. Of course, you can switch between versions at any time (for example, run 6.1.999.130, only when video communication is needed, and in other cases use the new version).
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Before you start one of the versions, make sure that no other version is running (for example, before running 6.1.999.130, be sure to close 7.17.0.104).
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To close Skype, right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (next to the clock) and select “Quit Skype”.
- Never use the “Sign out” option, because you won’t be able to enter the old version until you re-enter the new version.
Attention
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When you first launch the “Shortcut for Skype_6.1.999.130”, the firewall may ask if you agree to allow the program to access the Internet. It is very important to click “Unblock” or “Allow” and permit Skype to connect to the network.
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Authorization data are saved for a limited period of time (approximately 30 days from the last login to Skype). After the expiration of this period, you will have to run the new version again and authorize to it.
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If after authorization to the old version, Skype closes automatically and requires a password, close Skype and delete the files
shared.xmlandconfig.xml.
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There are “patched versions”, so to speak, in the Internet that allow you to log in to Skype, even if they are no longer supported. However, these versions have been changed by strangers, can contain viruses, and Skype developers forbid their use.
- I cannot guarantee that tomorrow this method will still work. Therefore, I highly recommend, if possible, update and always use the latest version.
I don’t know, how many people use old computers without SSE2 support and still need older versions of Skype, but if they are numerous, I promise to develop a simplified version of this instruction. In general, as always, I wait for your feedback and comments.
89 comments
+8), #+1207), # ↑+8), # ↑otherwise version 6.1.999.130 is not set
just remove the two files is not enough
I have a question about Clownfish program where I can ask it?
+1207), # ↑You can ask here about Clownfish, but please note that I don’t use it and it is possible that I will not be able to help you.
+2), #+1207), # ↑+2), # ↑OS: Windows 7
+1207), # ↑+2), # ↑I have three skype accounts running at the same time how do you solve it?
+1207), # ↑About your question, look here How to run multiple Skype accounts at the same time?. If you need to run these accounts under 6.1.999.130, replace “Skype.exe” with “Skype_6.1.999.130.exe”.
+301), # ↑On other laptop i wanted have skype 3.8 but it not works the same like with skype 6.20.0.104, can't connect.
+1207), # ↑/secondary /username:"Username". For more details see How to run multiple Skype accounts at the same time.By the way, you may consider to take a look at How to create a portable Skype for Windows (in this way I am running simultaneously two 6.1.999.130 versions + one 7.34.0.102).
+301), # ↑+1207), # ↑1) Close Skype
2) Open «skype_portable_eng.vbs» and find line 56:
appdata_folder = GetAppdataFolder(username)3) After the line above add the following one:
Shell.Run "cmd.exe /C del /F /S /Q " & Enquote(appdata_folder & "\*.db"), 0, True4) Save changes
5) Run the shortcut
Username_6.20.0.1046) Wait a few minutes until the contacts data is downloaded
+301), # ↑If this is possible i would like have at this moment skype 7.34 on my new laptop + skype 6.20.0.104 portable and skype 3.8 portable on my pendrive. I will try edit this script later but i didn't run skype portable 6.20.0.104 on my pendrive yet. And about this edited script (if this edited script help old older skype create new folder with my skype name it's good but i can't log in even for a second with this created account by new skype because it will ruin everything). I will try create skype 6.20.0.104 on my pendrive again.
[Updated 30 mar 2017 at 17:18]
Sorry for 2 comments but it i have one skype account with 5100+ contacts and i never refresh this account before. Everyone send me a lot messages, pics and video messages and this account is very heavy now. Skype sign in sometimes even few min. I was try refresh it but skype not update all contacts from server, it's always stops on 3777 contacts. I try 10 times then i try wait longer, i was waiting 1 month and was online everyday but it never update the rest contacts. I don't know what to do with it.
[Updated 31 mar 2017 at 20:47]
I use this script and it works. I had normal skype 7.34 and skype portable Username_6.20.0.104. I closed all skype and edited this script as you say and it refresh my skype portable Username_6.20.0.104. Ater it was done i close skype portable Username_6.20.0.104 and open it again, and it again refresh it. I wanted refresh it only one time and leave so i thought i must delete this script and download fresh script and i did it. I close skype portable Username_6.20.0.104 and open my normal skype 7.34. I realize that it refresh all my skype accouts, not just this one skype portable Username_6.20.0.104. I thought that appdata with normal skype will be untouchable. And now i have mess, all history and chat was gone. I didn't wanted refresh all my skype accounts. I do it everyday but only with one account that i use very often. The rest i refresh only when they are too heavy and i wanted have choice which one refresh. But this script is very good thing. I don't know what to do now.
+1207), # ↑%appdata%\Skypefolder from system drive (so you can find there your old conversations and files).About refreshing data on demand, instead of the command from third step use conditional statement like this:
btn = MsgBox("Do you want to clear data?", 36, AppTitle())If btn = 6 Then
Shell.Run "cmd.exe /C del /F /S /Q " & Enquote(appdata_folder & "\*.db"), 0, True
End If
If you want to show the prompt only for one username, wrap code above with this condition:
If username = "your_username" Then...here goes the code above...
End If
+301), # ↑And today it happend again and it clear %appdata%\Skype folder from my system drive. I close all skype, edit this script. Above this line
appdata_folder = GetAppdataFolder(username)i write:If username = "your_username" Thenbtn = MsgBox("Do you want to clear data?", 36, AppTitle())
If btn = 6 Then
Shell.Run "cmd.exe /C del /F /S /Q " & Enquote(appdata_folder & "\*.db"), 0, True
End If
End If
Of course in place "your_username" i type my username that i want refresh. Just didn't know if at the end it must be "End If " one or two times, i write "End if" two times. Then i save it and at 13:39 i run Username_6.20.0.104. It refresh my skype portable good.Then i close skype and i look at my data from %appdata%\Skype folder from my system drive and ALL my folder usernames was changed on the same time (13:39) as i run Username_6.20.0.104. I even did screenshots before i run Username_6.20.0.104 and after. Then i log in two accouts and it was totally empty, after 20 minutes it's stil empty, nothing update from server.
+1207), # ↑appdata_foldervariable declaration, and because it’s treated as empty string, thedelcommand removes all .db files starting from the system root. Please read again the third step and note that I said “After the line above”, not “Before the line above”. So your complete code should look like this:appdata_folder = GetAppdataFolder(username)
If username = "your_username" Then
btn = MsgBox("Do you want to clear data?", 36, AppTitle())
If btn = 6 Then
Shell.Run "cmd.exe /C del /F /S /Q " & Enquote(appdata_folder & "\*.db"), 0, True
End If
End If
+301), # ↑[Updated 9 apr 2017 at 06:42]
Is there chance to refresh accounts in skype 6.20.0.104 faster with this script? Normally when i always did it before, it was not clear history from last month and for refresh account with 40 contacts i was wait 2-3 min. Now i waiting 3-4 hours. When i always refresh account before i just deleted folder with my skype name and log in and skype updated everything what should update withouth modyfication and it was enough.
+1207), # ↑1) Copy
config.xmlto an “external” location2) Remove profile folder
3) Move
config.xmlto profile folder+301), # ↑[Updated ]
Sorry for a lot messages, this refresh fast and good but i have one more problem. When On skype 6.20.0.104 nobody of my contacts not appear as yellow i can't sending and receiving offline messages. I don't know how this portable works if two or more versions skype can use the same appdata folder name and some things change and some not change when i use both skype version. I mean two things:
a) If i create folder name in appdata by skype portable 7.17.0.104 then i see profile information of all my contacts on both skype portable versions. But if i create folder name in appdata by skype portable 6.20.0.104 then i don't see profile information contacts who was offline for long time (and yes i want it and it always works like that), and when i sign in to skype 7.17.0.104 it's the same. If i would do the same by normal skype, not this portable, then skype 7.17.0.104 would be pernamently change appdata and i would see profile information on both skype versions of all my contacts, no matter if appdata would be created by skype 6.20.0.104. But it's good that it works that way and i see profile information only contacts who was online the last time on both skype versions if i create appdata folder by skype portable 6.20.0.104.
b) On skype 7.17.0.104 i can send offline messages and on skype 6.20.0.104 i can't send offline messages. But both skype versions use the same config.xml
+5), #Windows 10 64 bit.
+1207), # ↑+4), # ↑+1207), # ↑+4), # ↑+1207), # ↑As I wrote, the main purpose of this article is to help users make video calls on old processors. For chatting, they can easily switch to the newer version.
0), #+13), #First I backed up the original .exe as well as main.db and msn.db in a separate folder before uninstalling my current Skype and going into AppData to delete shared.xml and config.xml.
I then ran my 6.21 installer again and tried to "Quit" it when it ran afterwards ASAP.
I then used the installer linked here for 7.17 and it installed but now I've tried signing in a few times with both my Skype name and my Microsoft account email and it keeps saying it can't connect.
I don't know why, isn't 7.17 not dead yet? I've heard the trick doesn't work with 7.33 so I haven't tried it with that. I don't know if I need to use a different new version between 7.17 and 7.33 or if something else is going wrong. Help would really be appreciated!
[Updated 21 mar 2017 at 23:21]
It turns out my issue was actually the recent sign-in problem, really bad timing...
I now managed to sign in to 7.17, change the settings, "Quit Skype" and boot up 6.21! I was a bit worried after encountering the screen with "signing in" and "Skype is updating files. This may take some time" (or something like that) but after that it popped up successfully! It's running kind of slowly at the moment but that could be something else.
Thank you so much for this article, you saved me from the awful new interface!
+179), #But I'm curious, why 6.19 and not 6.21?
I can understand why 7.17--perhaps later versions don't work for this purpose for some reason.
[Updated 23 mar 2017 at 18:49]
OK, sorry, I see that you mentioned 6.19 for those with certain hardware, but is there any version to use 7.17 aside from it being the oldest version that's officially supported?
+1207), # ↑+179), # ↑BTW, I'm not sure if it happens as a result of the "upgrade" or later when you run the old version again, but somewhere along the way, Skype increases your chat database size by at least 50%. That's a lot. Fortunately, it can be compacted again with the handy standalone tool SpeedyFox.
+7), #Sometimes the messages goes through though when someone sends me a message then all my previous messages that remained unsent goes through too, but not always.
Also not sure if its relevant but i did not see any mention of this in the guide but after i logged in on the supported 7 version, then closed that fully and opened my 6.21.0.104 to use it had to install/fix files for a while before it could log in the first time. I am not sure if that is normal.
+1207), # ↑ps. I am planning to publish tomorrow a script for creating a portable copy of any Skype version. Among other things, this will allow you to run old versions. So stay tuned.
+179), #Also, the "/dumpmsnp" command now shows you as logged out, even though others will not see you that way. This does mean, however, that the "offline message" feature is gone. That is, if you send a message to someone and then go offline yourself, the person won't receive the message until you go online again -- like the way it was several years ago. Not good.
I think the party is pretty much over.
+1207), # ↑+179), # ↑The issue some of us are seeing means, as another person also pointed out, that your status will not necessarily be correct as seen by other people, and also that there's no offline messaging (the "spinning circles" are a hint of that). Messages ARE delivered once both parties are on at the same time, the way things used to be for everyone using Skype more than about 3 or 4 years ago.
If the above hasn't hit you yet, is it possibly because you're not using the old version for long periods of time but rather just occasionally for testing? Just a guess, for all I know you use it 24x7.
+1207), # ↑The main thing that you need to understand is that old versions do not support cloud “features”. This means, that you cannot send “offline” messages, you cannot receive files from newer versions, you cannot use group chats and any cloud features are not available for you because this is impossible. Moreover, the
/showplacescommand as well as MSNP protocol can be “understood” only by cloud endpoints (i.e., newer versions).+179), # ↑https://blogs.skype.com/news/2014/06/20/making-way-for-the-next-generation-of-skype-on-desktop
Look at the date of that blog.
It wasn't until last week that MS changed something on the server side to put the bullet in later 6.x versions. I've been using 6.21 every day since late 2014, and believe me, it had offline messaging, MSNP, the works (you could even go as far back as 6.14 and still have it). It was all there. Until they took it away (I'm guessing, arbitrarily, though possibly for a good reason that they just haven't revealed yet) last week.
Offline messaging, for me, was the most important Skype feature of the last half decade. If 6.21 didn't work with that, I would have stopped using it in 2015, despite the horrible change to the chat UI that would come in 7.x.
+1207), # ↑Of course, you are right and many “dropped” versions support cloud features. Moreover, version 7.16 supports the same cloud features as 7.17. I have no idea why 7.17 is it so “special”, but I suppose that the decision is based on statistics or perhaps 7.17 contains latest core changes.
+7), #+1207), # ↑0), #+3), #+7), #I also have figured out a POSSIBLE SOLUTION (?) theory on how to make old skypes work but my computer is such a mess and my skype account so important I dont want to risk trying it myself till others have since i cant afford to mess up. I suspect it just may be possible to log in using an old version (possibly may need to be freshly installed if other newer versions were installed over it so all the parts are full compatible with themselves) and have full functionality of some old versions if you while skype is closed use a program to modify the Skype.exe version number to match a more up to date version to trick skype servers then log in like normal or if not log in like normal try to log in with the same old trick using a newer exe and autologin with the old exe with the modified version number.
I do not know what program would be safe to use to do this (as in not a virus or spyware) and I do not know if it would work or if skype would suspect youre using an unoficial skype version and lock down your account or something but this is just paranoia on my part. I also do not know if you have to do the same to the dll files to modify their version number. Im also not sure if you also have to modify the MD5 number as well somehow. I have no idea how they check your version. A quick search and I did find some programs that claim to or seem like they might be able to modify version numbers of exe's and dll's. I dont know programming or anything so I can only guess how to do this and i have no luck finding any skype users who did this. :( Would any of these work? I dont know if it's open source or not or fully free or not or if it's safe or not so approach with caution. I'm not sure if there is a rule on this blog about posting links to software but I hope that wont be an issue since i provide warning of my lack of experience with such programs. This is just two I found although there is more but the second seems like it would be easier to use possibly as it has less features seemingly. If anyone knows a good free open source program better than these do tell.
angusj.com/resourcehacker/
carifred.com/fvie/
It would be great if someone could try this out to see if it works to make older skype versions functional again if they too can no longer stay logged in or if it may restore offline messaging and receiving of photos from cloud. I hope it works and i hope if anyone tries this it wont cause any problems for them. Id hate for my suggestion to lead to any damage out of my own ignorance.
+1207), # ↑Concerning to crack Skype, you need a disassembler (for example try a look at OllyDbg), but be aware that according to Skype Terms: You may not and you agree not to:undertake, cause, permit or authorise the modification, creation of derivative works or improvements, translation, reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, decryption, emulation, hacking, discovery or attempted discovery of the source code or protocols of the Software or any part or features thereof (except to the extent permitted by law).
+301), #+1207), # ↑+301), # ↑+10), #+3), #+1207), # ↑+3), #+1207), # ↑+10), #+11), #+1207), # ↑+11), # ↑+7), #+1207), # ↑+7), # ↑+3), #I executed all steps but with a new version of skype (version 8) and it does not seem work... Do you have any update about it?
Thank you in advance
+1207), # ↑%appdata%\Microsoft\Skype for Desktop\skylib+301), #+1207), # ↑+301), # ↑+301), # ↑+3), #+1207), # ↑0), #+1207), # ↑0), #+1207), # ↑0), #+1207), # ↑+7), #English: Skype can't connect.
+1207), # ↑+7), # ↑[Updated ]
Thanks, it works ! Excellent.
+1), #version 7.31.104 it works
has anyone succeced with even older version ?
0), #+1207), # ↑+13), #Currently using this exploit with 7.31 and 6.21 seems to work mostly, but the forced-sign-out period has gotten insanely quick now, must be less than an hour or so. Is there a way to solve this?
Thanks in advance!
+1207), # ↑+13), # ↑It got a lot less touchy after that but I know about the impending discontinuation.
I had heard about portable versions, would that help?
[Updated ]
As suggested before, I was now forced to update to 8.34/36 and it's utterly awful, plus I can't seem to use my normal method.
Is there another way to get this trick working? Particularly with talk of "portable versions".
+29), #0), #+4), #+2), #Until and unless Microsoft changes this rule in its Skype servers, I don't think it is possible.
It's really unfortunate though...
+3), # ↑