Two options are available to remove Skype from the Windows 7 Taskbar. The first solution is to run Skype in Vista compatibility mode. A right-click on the Skype icon in the Windows start menu and the selection of properties opens a new Window with configuration options.

The compatibility tab holds those options. Here it is possible to activate the compatibility mode by checking “run this program in compatibility mode for”, and selecting Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the list.

skype compatibility mode

A click on OK saves the settings. Skype needs to be restarted before it runs in compatibility mode. It is now possible to minimize the Skype window and close the taskbar icon (by right-clicking) so that Skype does not appear in the Windows 7 taskbar all the time. A side-effect is that the jumplist is no longer available.

A better solution is found in the Skype options. Select Tools > Options in Skype. Click the advanced tab afterwards, and locate “Keep Skype in the taskbar while I’m signed in”. Unchecking that option ensures that Skype will not stay in the taskbar if minimized. Please note that you need to disable the compatibility mode first for this option to become available.

skype windows taskbar

Skype still needs to be closed in the taskbar after the window has been minimized. This is done by right-clicking Skype and selecting Close Window from the context menu.

Skype users who are running Skype 4.0 or later can use the /secondary startup parameter to start another instance of Skype.

• Click Start > Run, or press Windows-R on the keyboard to display the run window
• Enter the following command including the quotes and hit enter: “”c:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\skype.exe” /secondary
• This launches another instance of Skype, so that it is possible to log in with another Skype account at the same time.
• If you get an error message make sure that the path to the Skype executable is correct.

While it is not an issue to start a second instance of Skype this way, many users may find it comfortable to create a shortcut instead to optimize the process. A new Skype instance can then be started by double-clicking on the program icon.

• Locate the Skype executable, it is usually in c:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\skype.exe
• Right-click skype.exe and select create shortcut from the context menu
• Right-click the shortcut, and select properties from the menu.
• Locate the target field, and add /secondary to the end, the full target field should now be: “c:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone\skype.exe” /secondary
• Please note that the path may be different depending on the location of skype.exe on the computer system.
• Click ok to save the changes. Now move the Skype shortcut to another location, e.g. the desktop, taskbar or start menu.

A click on the shortcut will from then on create a new Skype instance.

Fiddling around with shortcuts and startup parameters is not to everyone’s liking. An alternative to configuring multiple Skype instances manually is the portable software Calimero Skype Launcher.

skype launcher

Then again, some users may not be comfortable to enter their Skype username and password into the program interface.

Security conscious users may prefer to use the shortcut to launch multiple Skype instances at the same time.

Problems will arise however if you want to remove the chat history with one contact from the list. This is not possible in Skype. We mentioned a manual way of clearing the Skype chat history for one contact but that was a rather complicated way of achieving this. Our reader Primoz mentioned a program that he wrote in the comments that can be used to automatically clear the chat history with one contact from Skype chat.

The program is completely portable and works with both Skype 3 and Skype 4. Skype has to be closed to run it. All the user needs to do to clear the chat with one contact from Skype chat is to pick a user account and enter the name of the chat partner. The software program will automatically remove the chat history with that client from Skype and leave the rest of the chat history in its current stage.

Primoz suggests the following steps to run the program:

• Close skype
• Create backup if something goes wrong for folder \Documents and Settings\{win username}\Application Data\Skype\{skype username}
• Run application (.net 2.0 framework is required)
• Input skype username and contact username and click remove button.
• Run Skype again

Backing up the Skype databases is an important step in the procedure to avoid loosing data if something goes wrong. Skype Chat Remove can be downloaded directly from the Skype forums.

It can happen that the information stored in the shared.xml file is not optimal for the connection which can have a direct impact on sound quality of the conversation. Imaging being routed over half the world to call a friend who is living two blocks away from your location.

Deleting the file shared.xml forces Skype to rebuild that list during the next startup. You need to close Skype first and then head over to the Documents and Settings \Username \Application Data \Skype folder in which the shared.xml file can be found.

Just delete that file and restart Skype. Skype will automatically create a new file with that name in the very same directory. That’s still no guarantee that the Skype sound quality will be any better but it offers a good chance if other reasons like blocked ports, p2p background processes and the like are not reducing the quality.

The major problem with being a Skype Super-Node is that the bandwidth usage per hour will be much higher which might cause concern for users with Internet accounts that are having bandwidth limitations.

A great way for finding out if your system is being used as a Skype Super-Node is by installing a software that logs the bandwidth usage of Skype when the application is running. One tool that can do that is the trial version of Netlimiter which can be used for 30 days before it has to be registered.

Netlimiter logs all incoming and outgoing connections and their traffic consumption and it is possible to display the traffic consumption of a specific application as well.

The best way in my opinion to find out if Skype is acting as a Super-Node is to start it and let it run for a few hours without using it actively. Bandwidth consumption is obviously higher if you make calls or transfer data with Skype and it is more difficulty to find out if Skype is acting as a Super-Node if you have to analyze the traffic in direct and indirect traffic.

The above screenshot is showing the incoming and outgoing Skype bandwidth for most of today and as you can see it’s less than 500 Kilobyte. Super-Nodes can use hundreds of Megabytes.

The easiest way to prevent Skype from being a Super-Node is to block access to the ports 80 and 443 in Skype. You can do that under Tools > Options > Connections. Just uncheck the option “Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections”.

There is however an easy way to get rid of the plugin manager process skypePM.exe. The first and probably best way is to simply rename or delete the folder Plugin Manager which is installed during the Skype installation. Skype from now on does not load the skypePM.exe process during startup which speeds it up quite a bit and does save RAM as well.

The folder was located on the same directory level as my Skype folder, not sure why it was not included in the Skype folder instead. If you can’t locate it search for Plugin Manager directory.

The second method would be to uninstall Skype and install it again without the Plugin Manager. You will probably run into an error message called: “A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file C:\Windows\Installer\PluginManager.msi” which will appear if you moved or deleted the Skype Plugin Manager folder before.

You do need a Microsoft utilitiy called Windows Installer CleanUp Utility and remove the PluginManager.msi installation file using this tool. You run it twice. The first time scans all the files and the second time displays all known installation packages. Browse to the Skype Plugin Manager entry in the menu and remove it from there.

The installation of Skype will go through without error messages afterwards. Make sure you click on Options in the left lower corner of the installation window to uncheck Install Skype Extras Manager.

If you uncheck that box Skype will not install the Plugin Manager which will save you a good portion of RAM and make Skype start faster.

Skype offers a way to delete the complete chat history of every contact and to change the time period in which the chat history is kept. It leaves the user clueless however on how to remove the chat history with one contact only and the official answer from Skype is that it is not possible to delete the chat history of one contact.

This is only partially correct. There is no easy way to clear the chat history but there is one. Skype saves all chats with contacts in a Skype folder in Documents & Settings. The full path would be C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Skype\skype username.

In there you find the databases chatmsg256.dbb, chatmsg512.dbb, chatmsg1024.dbb, chatmsg2048.dbb, chatmsg4096.dbb and chatmsg8192.dbb. Those files contain your chat history. Unfortunately though those are not sorted by contact but by length.

This means that you would have to open each of the files and look for the lines of the contact that you want to delete. What makes things worse is that there will be lots of garbage in the text editor and that it is not always obvious who the chat contact of the current line is.

The best approach in my opinion would be to make copies of the files and work with them. You can’t open the originals if Skype is open and you do need Skype to look at the chat history and search for the phrases in those files.

It is lots of work but the only working way of clearing the chat history of one contact in Skype.

Enterprises should put the application in the same category as Instant Messaging and other peer-to-peer apps. If they ban those, they should ban Skype says the research company.

Here are the five reasons to ban Skype:

1. It’s too firewall-friendly.
2. It has too many vulnerabilities
3. It poses a communication barrier with other countries or institutions.
4. It violates established legal requirements.
5. It’s one more type of communication to secure, monitor, store, and archive.

Update: The website where the report was originally posted on is no longer available. The page returns a 404 not found error.

When you analyze the points that have been made by the research group you will probably come to a different conclusion.

It is true that Skype is a closed source system, but so is the Windows operating system and many of the applications that the majority of computer users use, even in a business environment. A core reason for businesses is that the Skype software may use user computer’s as Super Nodes. These nodes are then used to redirect some of the traffic and may cause excessive bandwidth utilization on the network.

Microsoft recently purchased Skype for 8.5 Billion US Dollars which could improve the voice over IP software’s standing in enterprise and business environments. Like any other popular software, vulnerabilities are detected from time to time. With Microsoft taking over, Skype could however see a more streamlined patching process from which everyone would benefit.