MSN Messenger often saves conversation histories automatically into a folder on the hard drive, usually as XML files. These files can be found by opening the MSN Instant Messenger and selecting 'Show Menu' at the top of the screen, followed by going to 'Tools' and selecting 'Options'. It is then necessary to select 'Messages' and within this sub-menu, select 'Message History'.
The folder name where the conversations are stored should then be visible. This folder can then be browsed using Windows Explorer. Should the messages have been deleted from this folder, there are three possible ways to restore this information.
The first, and simplest, way is to get in touch with the people who were involved in the missing conversations and ask them to forward their copies of them.
The second way is try and use System Restore. This requires going to the Start up menu, selecting 'All Programs', followed by 'Accessories', then 'System Tools' and 'System Restore'. The resulting panel will then instruct as to how to continue. The idea is to restore the computer to a date or time before the files in question were deleted. It may be necessary to create a back-up of files or software installed after this date, as they may otherwise be lost in the process of restoring the hard drive to an earlier date.
The third way is to stop using the computer to prevent over-writing the files; find a good, free data recovery program and proceed in one of two ways:
The folder name where the conversations are stored should then be visible. This folder can then be browsed using Windows Explorer. Should the messages have been deleted from this folder, there are three possible ways to restore this information.
The first, and simplest, way is to get in touch with the people who were involved in the missing conversations and ask them to forward their copies of them.
The second way is try and use System Restore. This requires going to the Start up menu, selecting 'All Programs', followed by 'Accessories', then 'System Tools' and 'System Restore'. The resulting panel will then instruct as to how to continue. The idea is to restore the computer to a date or time before the files in question were deleted. It may be necessary to create a back-up of files or software installed after this date, as they may otherwise be lost in the process of restoring the hard drive to an earlier date.
The third way is to stop using the computer to prevent over-writing the files; find a good, free data recovery program and proceed in one of two ways:
- Install this program onto another computer, save the hard drive of the computer with the missing files to this second computer and access the data; or install and run the program on the computer with the deleted files. This could, however, result in over-writing missing files.
