Yahoo! Messenger Archive Location in Vista
Update: This tip also applies if you want to find Yahoo! Messenger’s archive location in Windows 7.
Backing up Yahoo! Messenger's message archive is a task I do every so often. Since I switched to Vista, I've been unable to figure out where the log files have gone. Surely, It's no longer under Y!M's installation directory.
In Windows XP, the location of the log files (.dat) is typically as follows, unless the installation directory was changed:
C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\<yahoo_username>
In Windows Vista, the new location of the log files have been moved to the user's AppData directory:
C:\Users\<windows_usrnme>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\<yahoo_username>
C:\Users\<windows_usrnme>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\<yahoo_username> (for x86 version of Windows)
Accessing this folder is another story, however. From my experience, navigating to the directory crashes Windows Explorer. To access the directory, just copy and paste the Profiles folder path shown above into Windows Explorer's address bar. Change <windows_usrnme> and <yahoo_username> as necessary.
Tags: Archive, Backup, IM, Logs, Messenger, Vista, Windows, Windows 7, Yahoo!
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Comments
I'm not aware of any way to do that.
Thank, It really helped me
Jun 19, 2008 6:28 AM
Wow!!!! thanks a lot!!!this information is really helpful! :D
I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for visiting.
Jun 30, 2008 10:44 AM
Thanks so much.. that helped..
No problem :)
Aug 11, 2008 11:49 PM
wow you saved my life
That's great. :)
Aug 21, 2008 5:43 AM
Thanks!
Aug 26, 2008 4:16 PM
Why the size of dat files only 4.86Kb (in Vista)? I have a lot of conversation in archive.
Sep 4, 2008 2:13 AM
Thanks a lot. That above mentioned path is really hidden and works perfectly in my case.. Thanks for disclosing this stupid path, and saving a lots of my precious conversation with nears n dears. Cheerz
Sep 5, 2008 7:44 PM
thanks! really helpful
Sep 11, 2008 5:46 AM
hey, for me it dind`t work , i do`t know why exactly, but i couldn`t follow that path:( what should i do?
Dec 1, 2008 9:34 PM
it's not working. why is my virtual store folder empty?
Jan 19, 2009 10:25 AM
Ussually, the AppData folder is hidden. Maybe, that's why you cannot access the above path...
Jan 19, 2009 11:44 AM
Thanks for saving my life. I couldnt backup my Archive for almost 1yr but now, am back in it. You are a saviour!
Jan 25, 2009 8:57 PM
hi, just wanted to ask if you know if the call history is saved locally on our computers? if yes, where?i just need to print or at least be able to export to a txt file the pc-to-pc call history of ym..
thanks in advance.. your help will be much appreciated.
Jan 29, 2009 6:10 AM
Hey!Thanks a lot for the great post. Im so thankful to you for saving my life. When i came to know that there is no archive folder in Program Files - Yahoo! i was so worried but thanks to you.
Mar 23, 2009 5:37 AM
Thank you!!!!I'm on Vista, when i update my yahoo messenger i got so pissed from yahoo! 2 years of messages archive (used 100% for work) was gone!
Then while searching with my last hopes on recovering these files i found that the folder you mention was no longer in use!
C:\Users\
So my full archive before the update was there intact in perfect condition and i was SO HAPPY xD !
I know i suck for not having a backup for that so important to me files! Will not happen again ^_^
May 18, 2009 8:17 AM
hi i can view the files of my archive but they are dat files and only around 200 bytes. And i cant see the chat because the default program to be opened is windows media player. How can I open them as text.
May 26, 2009 5:17 PM
thanks a lot.. I know it's been months but you know what they say, better late than never... ;)
Jun 1, 2009 5:18 PM
no problem accessing the location...thanx a lot :D
Jul 1, 2009 6:00 AM
You are a lifesaver! I was having such a hard time searching for my archive since I moved to Vista. So, thank you, thank you!! Godsend.
Jul 12, 2009 7:28 PM
THANKS A TON... I knew where it was in XP and had hard time locating it on Vista...
Sep 11, 2009 2:25 PM
Dude! I've been tryin' to find this one.
Thanks a lot! ;)
Dec 6, 2009 2:18 PM
Thanks a ton....Bhaskar
Dec 14, 2009 5:48 PM
Thanks soooo much. I thought I'd lost all my message history... followed your directions & there it was. So thank you so much.
Mar 30, 2010 1:32 PM
THANKS SO MUCH..u saved my life lol xD..
actually already found it where the folder is but i forgot xDD..
so thanks a lot again^____^
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Jan 18, 2008 9:56 PM