Skype service down for some, quick fix available now [updated]

By on May 26, 2011 at 9:45 AM
mobile May 26, 2011

Skype confirmed early Thursday morning that some users may experience connection issues signing into the service or making Skype calls. The company says it has identified the problem and has posted instructions for fixing the issue. The good news is it doesn’t look like the outage will be as massive as the one last December, which was later blamed on an overloaded cluster of support servers. If you’re experiencing issues now, hit the jump for some quick fix instructions from Skype. Just don’t blame it on Microsoft, alright?

Update: Skype says Windows users should update their client to the newest version for an immediate and easier fix. A Max OS X update is also on the way.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

1.    Close Skype.
a.    Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at the bottom right of the screen)
b.    Choose Quit.
2.    Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.
a.    Click Start, type run and press Enter.
b.    Type control folders and click OK.
c.    Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.
3.    Locate the shared.xml file.
a.    Click Start, type run and press Enter.
b.    Type %appdata%skype and click OK.
c.    Delete the shared.xml file.
4.    Restart Skype. The shared.xml file will be recreated.

Windows XP

1.    Close Skype.
a.    Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at the bottom right of the screen)
b.    Choose Quit.
2.    Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.
a.    Click Start and then Run…
b.    Type control folders and click OK.
c.    Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.
3.    Locate the shared.xml file.
a.    Click Start and then Run…
b.    Type %appdata%skype and click OK.
c.    Delete the shared.xml file.
4.    Restart Skype. The shared.xml file will be recreated.

Mac OS X

1. Quit Skype.
2. Go to the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Skype/
3. Delete the file shared.xml (it will be recreated once you open Skype again, this is fine).
4. Start Skype.

Please note that the ~ sign means your home folder. You can find your home folder by opening Finder and selecting Go > Home from the menu bar or pressing Command (Apple), Shift and H keys at the same time.

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9 Comments

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  • http://twitter.com/fR00s FARES

    that’s because microsoft bought skype :@ microsoft always make every thing BAD.

    • Anonymous

      That’s funny, but Microsoft doesn’t have anything to do with Skype yet from what I know.  At this point they have just agreed to buy Skype, but nothing has changed as far as day to day operations and especially with the skype code.

      • Anonymous

        I think he means, the mere fact that Microsoft bought Skype would have a negative karma-type effect; like bad Feng Shui!

  • Anonymous

    Skype never stopped working for me.  I’m running version 5.0.0.152 on Windows 7.

  • Dr.8820

    All is well now, it’s been fixed.

  • Royalan

    12 step fix for windows….4 step fix for mac! love it!

    • N@N

      It’s actually 3, but I don’t expect a mac lover to see the details. ;)

  • Mklry17

    Apparently so is BGR there hasn’t been a new story since this one at 9:45 this morning. ;)

  • Maria80205

    I’m not very computer savvy so maybe one of you can help me?   My husband is the computer person but he is half way around the world right now and I can’t skype him to ask him!!!
    Anyway, I have Windows XP and I’ve made it as far as 2c and now I’m a bit confused.

    2.c  Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.

    3.    Locate the shared.xml file.

    I’ve selected the View tab but I am unclear as to exactly what the “revelent entry” is.  Is that the “Show hidden files and folders” part?  And then I did a search for the “shared.xml” file and came up with nothing. 

    Can someone help a newbie out?

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