If you are having problems logging on to Skype this morning, fix it now

Many people are having problems logging into their Skype accounts this morning.  Needless to say, this is a big problem for some people in both their business and personal lives.

Something happened to either corrupt the shared.xml file in the Skype library or make it unusable.  To fix it, all you need to do is delete this offending file!

Once you restart Skype, the file will be automatically created anew.  Here are the instructions from Skype so you can get back on line in a flash.  It took me less than a minute, and that’s before I had my morning coffee!

Here are the fixes for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS and Linux from Skype:

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.

Linux

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