Shoutbox

The other day I was once again thinking of useful add-ons adding functions in Messenger. I went around and played with the “Import/export preferences” option inside the Messenger Plus! preferences. From what I saw, the option is creating a binary *.pld file containing your settings. You would have to export it, copy it via some storage device to the target location, and re-import it.

Then I remembered a feature in the script Music Now Playing, which had impressed me some time ago when I saw it: Online backup, automatic. After that, I played around further with PHP and some JScript, and the result is PrefsBackup, a new Messenger Plus! script (still in beta).

With this script, backing up your Messenger Plus! settings is as easy as nothing. Follow these simple steps:

1. Download and import PrefsBackup.
   
2. Choose for which Windows Live IDs (Messenger accounts) you want to enable the script.
   
3. Read the changelog, and confirm that you understand that the script is still beta.
   
4. Now open the scripts menu, and choose “PrefsBackup > Backup preferences…”.
   
5. The first time you do this, you will be asked for a new password and an alternate e-mail address in case you forget it. The password is used to protect your preferences from theft.
   
6. Oh, and since this is a beta, you will need an invite code once for each Windows Live ID. In the next time, you will see several websites offering a bunch of invite codes, but in case you didn’t catch one: e-mail mynetx Creations at to apply for an invite code, or send me a PM here. Remember: First-come, first-served.
   
7. You might also try if one of the following invites still work:
         733da5d3, d26fdbae, d8bd91f8, 57e5c6b1, 828060c0, 53efc6c2, e95e5f75, ba349d68, 85e3e08b, 9f337066

Free download: PrefsBackup 1.0.4 Beta (47 KB)

Any questions, ideas, suggestions or problems: just reply here!

Just one thingy: when I first prompted it to back my preferences up, nothing happened...

works fine here.....nice little script there

i've been after something like this for ages....on account of running Plus! on about 4 computers!

EDIT: Little bug: it messes up chat log viewer...when it puts the chat log file path back in, it has double slashes instead of single

Great, but it would only work once I manually typed in the invite code into the script it's self

quote:

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Originally posted by Spunky
Great, but it would only work once I manually typed in the invite code into the script it's self

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Would you mind explaining further?

I tried the preferences password menu option first and it asked me for a password to set. When entered it would say invite code was needed, but not give me the option to enter it. I tried to backup settings and a similar thing happened. I had to stop the script and change the default value of strInvite to a string containing my invite code. When restarted it said it was successful. Talk to me on WLM if you need more explaination

In my case, I've only received the "BETA alert", then nothing happened at all... Setting a password, for example, just results in simple nothing =/

OK guys. Please try the following and tell me what happens at what step:

1. Import the script. Should be pretty straightforward.
   
2. For each Windows Live ID that you are currently signed in with, a prompt should appear asking: "Would you like to enable PrefsBackup for the Windows Live ID abc@xyz.com? [Yes] [No]".
   
   
   
3. After you chose Yes, a dialog should come up telling you about the risks and responsibilities of running a beta. At the same time, a Changelog window should open in a notepad.
   
   
   
4. Now, nothing more happens automatically. To start a first backup, open your Messenger contact list.
   
5. There, click the Scripts icon to bring the menu up.
   
6. Choose PrefsBackup > Backup preferences...
   
7. If this is the first time you do this for this Live ID, a window should come up asking you to enter the following:
   • A new password
     
   • Its confirmation
     
   • An e-mail address of yours in case you forget your fresh password
     
   • Its confirmation
     
   • And one of those invite codes.
   You will not be able to click on the [Save] button unless all confirmations are correct and the invite code is syntactically correct.
   
   
   
8. Now click on the [Save] button and wait.
   
9. If everything went fine, you will get a notification like "Signed in. Now choose Backup or Restore.", and the window will close. If not, you will get a notification like "The invite code is invalid.", and the window will stay open so you can enter a different code.
   
10. However, if it was NOT the first time you used that Windows Live ID with PrefsBackup, you get a different window, which asks you only for your current password (and provides you a link in case you actually forgot it).
    
    
    
11. Now that you are signed in, retry to open the Scripts menu and choose again PrefsBackup > Backup preferences...
    
12. If everything goes fine, you will get a notification some seconds later, saying like "Backup successful.", and you're done for now.
    

To perform a restore of your backed-up preferences, try the following:

1. Open the Messenger contact list.
   
2. Click the Scripts icon, and choose PrefsBackup > Restore preferences...
   
3. If you are not signed in yet, enter your password as described above.
   
4. If you didn't perform any backup for this Windows Live ID yet, you can't restore anything and you will get a notification about that.
   
   
   
5. Else, you will see a prompt informing you about the need to restart Messenger after the preferences have been restored. Choose [Yes] to continue.
   
   
   
6. Now the preferences will be written back into your current Messenger Plus! settings profile. This should take less than a second.
   
7. Finally, confirm to restart Messenger to complete the restore process.
   

The bug about paths getting restored with double backslashes is confirmed. Paths shouldn't be restored at all, as mostly the different PCs have different paths. I will remove paths in the next version.

Hmm... Messenger just crashed after clicking "Import", but had time enough to accept this:

Then, the changelog and beta notice would appear, and PrefsBackup > Backup your preferences wouldn't work at all...

Why are you defining the different registry options... why not enumerate them... make your code A LOT smaller.