My Skype keeps on crashing when I run Skype and try to login

Question

Skype will crash after I run it for a few seconds. This problem causes me to be unable to login to Skype. I am running Windows 7. The following is the problem signature.

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   APPCRASH
  Application Name: Skype.exe
  Application Version:  5.3.0.113
  Application Timestamp:    4dd67601
  Fault Module Name:    Skype.exe
  Fault Module Version: 5.3.0.113
  Fault Module Timestamp:   4dd67601
  Exception Code:   c0000005
  Exception Offset: 006ebe12
  OS Version:   6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
  Locale ID:    17417
  Additional Information 1: 0a9e
  Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Additional Information 3: 0a9e
  Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Answer 1

This appears to be a bug and poorly tested Skype Upgrade.

I am not aware of the exact issue, but Nick Craver just posted on Twitter about this and a solution.

"#Skype Delete or rename C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Skype\shared.xml to make it run again"

In response to something I wrote to him, he wrote "the deleting works...looks like a (poorly tested) infrastructure change that the client can't handle at all, bad node data saved"

So, not tested myself, but I trust what he wrote! Do the above, or to make it simpler, copy the following in to either a run box, or explorer address bar:

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Skype\

and delete the file named:

shared.xml

Answer 2

This is a bug, which affected Skype on Windows, Linux and MacOS X.

Solution is to delete shared.xml from your settings directory. Skype has provided detailed instructions:

Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. Close Skype.
   • Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at

     the bottom right of the screen)

   Choose Quit.
2. Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.
   • Click Start, type run and press Enter.
   • Type control folders and click OK.
   • Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.
3. Locate the shared.xml file.
   • Click Start, type run and press Enter.
   • Type

     %appdata%\skype and click OK.

   Delete the shared.xml file.
4. Restart Skype. The shared.xml file will be recreated.

Windows XP

1. Close Skype.
   • Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at the bottom right of the screen)
   • Choose Quit.
2. Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.
   • Click Start and then Run…
   • Type control folders and click OK.
   • Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.

3. Locate the shared.xml file.

   Click Start and then Run…
   • Type %appdata%\skype and click OK.
   • 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.

I'm using Linux, so for me it was:

1. quit Skype
2. rm ~/.Skype/shared.xml
3. start Skype

Answer 3

I had a similar problem with the latest version. Try, as I will, to see if Wil's post offers some success; but if not, download an older version from OldApps - I've been running 5.1 (reputedly one of the most stable recent versions) for several weeks now.