Why does Live Messenger create an 8GB file upon startup?

Kainz · 11 Feb 2006 at 18:29

Large pic here
So I'm trawling my hard disk as one does when utterly bored, when I noticed Docs & Settings dir taking up 8gb+. I naturally thought it would be a dr.watson tmp file from a crashed app, but it wasn't. Tracked it down to Live Messenger.

Tried deleting the file, but it just gets recreated upon re-running the app. So, before I delete this bloat (I hate bloated progs), does anyone know why it requires such a fat file? A mate also confirms that he has the same thing.

Al Vallario · 11 Feb 2006 at 18:38

Right click and select properties. You should find it actually takes up very little space on disk (Around 1MB).

A quick Google reveals a number of other people with the same file. Apparently it's a sparse file and has something to do with shared folders feature. Some have claimed it's possible to delete this file without any unpleasant consequences, but I'd advise against it as it's taking up so little space!

av.

Big Chris · 11 Feb 2006 at 19:29

Kainz said:
Large pic here

OT but what prog do you use to skin windows like that, and what skin is it?

Kainz · 11 Feb 2006 at 19:49

Cheers Al, did some searching and saw that it wasn't that bad of an issue but uninstalled Live anyway. Even though I had no probs with it, I just prefered a more compact msn in the end.

Big Chris what skinning are you referring to mate?

PinkPig · 11 Feb 2006 at 20:32

Think he's referring to the top of the Windows Explorer window.

Big Chris · 11 Feb 2006 at 20:37

PinkPig said:
Think he's referring to the top of the Windows Explorer window.

Yep, the black and the red buttons etc.

Kainz · 11 Feb 2006 at 22:14

Hmm thats the Luna Element 5 visual style.

Big Chris · 11 Feb 2006 at 22:26

Thanks, what app do you use to apply it though, and can you choose the colour?

I've been thinking about doing stuff like this to my machine but wouldn't know where to start.

Kainz · 12 Feb 2006 at 00:23

It's very easy, and most themes come in various colors. Luna Element has blue & black colors. Basically you need to run a small patch. See Here for info.

Big Chris · 12 Feb 2006 at 10:03

Thanks for the info Kainz, much appreciated.

Does this method have any significant effect on system performance though?

Kainz · 12 Feb 2006 at 10:30

Skinning or applying a theme is native to XP already so it won't slow down the system by a large percentage at all, since the OS has skinning support. The only thing you may notice is window redraws could be slower but given that todays gpu's are so quick you'll hardly notice a thing.

Big Chris · 12 Feb 2006 at 11:14

I'm about due a format and XP reinstall so will look into this when that's out of the way.

Thanks again for the info

.