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Where are MSN backgrounds stored? - Printable Version

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Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by alegator on 01-07-2007 at 01:06 AM

A contact shared a picture as a background and I would like to open it. Thanks.

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by NanaFreak on 01-07-2007 at 01:10 AM

i think this is what you want

[Image: wlmhelp1_thumb.jpg]
Click for large

[Image: wlmhelp2_thumb.jpg]
Click for large

please tell me if i am wrong...

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by Stigmata on 01-07-2007 at 01:25 AM

They are stored here:

quote:
C:\Documents and Settings\Your User\Application Data\Microsoft\Msn Messenger\User ID\Background

Your User is the name of the logged in user and User ID is a 64 bit hash of your .NET Passport

If  you want to work out your user ID you can use one of these:

Once you get to that folder you will notice a bunch of files that end in .bin (they looked liked T34DF.bin), all you need to do is
right click -> Open With -> Paint

and then in paint you will be able to choose save as.
RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by alegator on 01-07-2007 at 02:27 AM

Thanks a lot, I did not find any file in that folder with the .bin extension. Instead, all files were of the .dat type, but I managed to open them with Paint as you suggested and saved it as .jpg. regards.

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by CookieRevised on 01-07-2007 at 04:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Stigmata
...and then in paint you will be able to choose save as.
quote:
Originally posted by alegator
...but I managed to open them with Paint as you suggested and saved it as .jpg. regards.

Don't save them as JPGs... You will loose a lot of quality.
The images are already in JPG or PNG format (but with another extension). So there is no need to open them and save them again (and especially not as JPG). Simply copy the file (background) you want and rename the file from *.dat to either *.jpg or *.png.

Also, a search:
CookieRevised's reply to 'where does MSN store all its stuff?'
CookieRevised's reply to 'where is your custom stuff stored?'

;)
RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by alegator on 01-07-2007 at 09:20 AM

ok thanks, I suspected you could just rename it to .jpg.However, I don't notice any resolution difference compared to "Saving As" with Paint.

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by CookieRevised on 01-07-2007 at 04:40 PM

[OFF TOPIC]

The resolution will stay the same, but the quality will drop.

Artifacts will show up, and the overall sharpness of the image will drop.

[/OFF TOPIC]

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by alegator on 01-07-2007 at 11:49 PM

I zoomed into different picture areas and don't notice any new artifacts. However I stay with the procedure you mentioned (rename extension to jpg)  since it obviously is cleaner (does not involve any processing).

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by CookieRevised on 01-08-2007 at 11:36 PM

[OFF TOPIC - just for info]

Do a bit by bit comparisson of the two files (the one you saved and the one you renamed) and you'll see the difference ;)

You can use the DOS command FC for this

Or arithmetically compare both images in a graphics program

[/OFF TOPIC]

RE: Where are MSN backgrounds stored? by dazzyboy on 06-01-2007 at 02:36 PM

ok ive tried this and i cant find the picture i want.

back in feb my msn broke cuz a riched.dll file went missing so i uninstalled and have only recently reinstalled it.

someone sent me a pic as a background today and i went to the folder u have all said,

in this folder is all the old backgrounds from before it stopped working, nowhere are any of the new ones ive been sharing?

can anyone shed any light on where it would be??

or if i have to share it with one u guys so u can save it, and then send me as a jpeg?