Where does icq store history? ICQ Messenger: recovering user account data

Internet communication is an integral part of human life in modern society. Users global network communicate using specially developed programs. They allow you to send text or voice messages, as well as video conferences. This ensures availability constant communication with close relatives or friends, regardless of their location. Sometimes messages disappear, but the data contained in them has been great value, therefore, an Internet client often faces a problem related to the requirement to restore correspondence history.
Instructions for restoring correspondence in ICQ
To do this, it is recommended to use applications that have been specially designed for these purposes. It is worth noting that the history of SMS is a system of individual text files. Their name indicates the name of the contact with whom part of the correspondence was carried out.
To carry out the information recovery procedure, you should scan the disk using the “EasyRecovery” application. It can be downloaded from the official resource, then unzipped and installed. You need to scan the disk where the application is installed.
There are other options for achieving results. Very often, the loss occurs due to a change in the name under which the user logs into the application. "ICQ" saves all messages on your hard drive, so you can easily go to the folder called "History" where full version correspondence with all contact subscribers.
The “Icq 2html” program will help you recover lost correspondence. She is able to find all SMS messages, regardless of how they were deleted.
Ways to search for history in ICQ
It can be viewed using Windows tools. The most in a simple way is the application standard means. To do this, you need to find correspondence with the contact you are interested in, then find and click the “history” button. This will allow you to recall the entire chronological history of SMS.
The history of correspondence with an individual contact is saved in a file with the “.text” extension. Its title indicates the name of the respondent. All data can be found in the catalog, so using a local search you can find the required correspondence.
Currently, a person conducts a large amount of both personal and business correspondence. It often contains valuable data, so the system participant values it very much. Sometimes, due to a computer malfunction, these statements may be lost. There's no need to get upset here today's technology allow you to quickly find and restore your SMS history.

Modern social networks and instant messengers have long contained all user correspondence on their servers. he can’t boast about it. So, in order to find the history of correspondence with someone, you will need to delve into the computer’s memory.

ICQ and related instant messengers still store correspondence history on the user's computer. On current moment a similar approach is already considered obsolete due to the fact that the user will not be able to access correspondence with interlocutors using a device other than the one on which this conversation was originally conducted.

At the same time, it is believed that such a system also has its advantages. For example, in this way information is more protected from outside access, which makes the messenger more closed from outside penetration into the secrecy of correspondence. Moreover, now the developers of all clients are working not only to hide the correspondence history deeper into the depths of the computer, but also to encrypt the files so that it is difficult not only to read, but even to find them among other technical files.

As a result, the history is stored in the computer. Depending on the program that works with the ICQ service, the location desired folder may be different.

History in ICQ

WITH official client ICQ matters are very difficult, since here the developers have done their best to ensure that personal correspondence files are safe.

It is impossible to find out the location of the history file in the program itself. Here you can only set the folder for storing downloaded files.

But the carriers of the history of correspondence are buried much deeper and more complex. Typically, the location of these files changes with each version.

The latest version of the messenger in which the message history can be retrieved without any problems is 7.2. The required folder is located at:

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\ICQ\\Messages.qdb

In the most new version, ICQ 8, location has changed again. According to comments from the developers, this is done to protect information and user correspondence. Now the correspondence is stored here:

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\ICQ\[User number]\archive\

Here you can see a huge number of folders, the names of which are the UIN numbers of the interlocutors in ICQ client. Of course, each user has their own folder. Each one stores 4 files. File "_db2" and contains the correspondence history. This can all be opened using any text editor.

Any communication here is encrypted. It is possible to extract individual phrases from here, but it will not be easy.

Best to use this file in order to insert it along the same path onto another device, or use it as a backup copy in case your program is deleted.

Conclusion

It is strongly recommended to have backup copies of dialogs from the program if they contain important information. In case of loss, you just need to insert the file with the correspondence where it should be, and all messages will be back in the program. This is not as convenient as reading dialogs from the server, as is done in social networks, but at least it's something.

ICQ is a very popular previously IM (Instant messaging - instant exchange messages) messenger used by millions of people around the world. It gained its popularity in the CIS countries back in the 2000s. Its feature, which sets it apart from other instant messengers, is that it stores the correspondence history only on local computer and it is the history of correspondence that is the topic of today’s article.

So let's get started. In this article I will tell you all about the history ICQ correspondence, and I will also show you the place where it is stored. After all, there are times when you need to reinstall Windows or problems may simply arise with work hard disk and you will no longer be able to get your correspondence back. To prevent this from happening, it will be very useful for you to know where the correspondence history is stored and make temporary backups for the further possibility of restoring data using them.

The first thing you should know about the history of ICQ correspondence is that the history is not stored on ICQ servers. Yes, all the messages you write go through the ICQ web server, but they don’t stay there for long. The message remains there until it reaches the recipient’s device. This means that if your hard drive will be formatted, all messages and files will be deleted.

Storing correspondence on a local computer

Let's get straight to the point and look at the place where the entire history of ICQ correspondence is saved. It will be very easy for you to find your correspondence history, because for each computer user it is stored in a folder that has the same name as your ICQ account and is located at: C:/Users//AppData/Roaming/ICQ//archive/:

It is in the folder called Archive that all your correspondence is located. They are sorted into folders whose names match the UIN (universal identification number) of people with whom you corresponded from this ICQ account. If you go to any of these user number folders, you will see several files there with strange names. These are database files in which your correspondence is encrypted. Encryption is performed for security purposes:

All examples and settings were made and shown on version ICQ 10. Also in the tenth version, if you go to the application settings, you will not see settings there for the ability to create any backups or backup copies. Therefore, you will have to do the backup manually.

Creating a Backup

To perform this operation, all you need is the “copy-paste” skill. That is, you will need to copy your folder (the folder of your ICQ user), this is the one we talked about in the example above, it is located along the path: C:/Users//AppData/Roaming/ICQ/. Copy the folder with your profile name somewhere else. A flash drive or any other reliable storage device is ideal for these purposes.

Now, even if your hard drive fails, either Windows more will not want to start and will have to reinstall it, you don’t have to worry about your correspondence on ICQ. After Windows installations install ICQ messenger again, and copy the folder that you copied to the flash drive back to the program folder:

After completing these steps, your correspondence history will return to its place, as well as all your received files, audio recordings and everything else. In the image above, I have moved my user 0001 folder back. After which, my correspondence returned to its place:

ICQ History FAQ

FAQ on ICQ message history

Question. Where is ICQ message history stored?

Answer: Depending on versions:

Icq 2003b: C :\Program Files\ICQ\2003b\ \

Icq Lite: WITH :\Documents and Settings\ \Application Data\ICQLite\HistoryDB\ \

QIP: C:\Program Files\QIP\Users\ \History\

Question: What programs exist for viewing Icq history

Answer:

ICQ2HTML - Converter of ICQ message history to html or text file. Combining several history files into one. View REMOTE messages. Only for ICQ 2003b. (The program is SUPER - my recommendations.)

Program for viewing ICQ2003b History.(Reads the history only if the history has been saved.)

exp2003b - Program for exporting ICQ2003b history to html

History converter - Utility for converting message history from old messages ICQ versions(from 2000b and above) in ICQ5 format. Converted history files are written to the %AppData%\ICQLite\HistoryDB folder. The files are in XML format and can be read without problems in IE.

ICQ Lite History Reader 1.0 Release by NetMan[K22 TeaM] & Lev

The program reads out ICQ information stored in ICQ database (DAT) files Extracts password & user info. (> =99db) Works with: 98/99/2000/2001/2002 databases.

Answer: This is not possible, the message history is stored on the local computer and is not saved on any servers.

Question: Even with the help of programs - I don’t see the message history?

Answer: Message history is saved only if in the settings Icq the “Save message history” checkbox is checked + see the next question

Question: When using the ICQ2HTML program, incoming messages are converted, but outgoing messages are not

Lately I have often been asked the question - why incoming messages are converted, but outgoing messages are not. After some checks, it turns out that the person’s history saving mode is disabled in ICQ. A reasonable question - why then are there inboxes? That’s what I’ll try to answer here.
If you do not have the history saving mode enabled in AS, then here is the logic of AS's operation as follows. When a message is received, it is always recorded in the history database, regardless of whether the “Save history” checkbox is checked or not. And this logic is not without meaning. For one simple reason - messages may arrive and be unread. For example, you are distracted, but messages keep coming and coming. Should they be accumulated somewhere to be shown later? The easiest way is to write them down in the same ICQ history. Even if the save history mode is not enabled. It’s just that in this case, the message is deleted immediately after viewing. And everything seems to be legal - such a message can no longer be viewed using ICQ, that is, it seems to be nowhere. But in fact there is, in history, only it was deleted immediately after viewing.
For outgoing messages the logic is slightly different. To put it in very simple terms, the message is stored in the message window itself, and immediately after clicking the “send” button, it goes directly to the recipient, without any saving in the same history.
The icq2html program can restore deleted messages, it doesn’t matter how they were deleted - either the user himself simply deleted part of the history, or it was incoming message at a time when the history saving mode was not turned on. And, accordingly, they are all restored with equal success.
That is why the part of the history that was accumulated during the period of time when the save mode was disabled is restored by half. Those. only incoming and no outgoing. Inboxes are restored as deleted and are displayed in crossed font. Well, there simply aren’t and can’t be outgoing ones there.

Today there is huge amount messengers for computer users, for example, Skype, Viber, but, without a doubt, ICQ is still an old-timer. This program is several decades old, but, as before, it continues to function successfully on many PCs. Of course, it is quite possible that it is simply a matter of habit, but at the same time, one cannot ignore the convenience of working on a given client.

Any application, even the most simple and understandable one, invariably raises certain questions among many users. Most of them are easy to solve, others sometimes require you to rack your brains. Often, users cannot find the history of their correspondence, but it can contain a lot important information! Well, if you are also interested in where the icq history is stored, I suggest you find out with me.

General information

If you dig a little deeper, it turns out that on the servers ICQ history correspondence is not stored, only a specific user on his computer has access to it. That is, once you delete it or , you will no longer be able to restore it. There are, of course, folk craftsmen who claim that this fact is controversial and can be circumvented, but this is not what this article is about.

I would also like to note that if you regularly communicate via this messenger, and your correspondence history is very important to you, do not forget to save it from time to time. The fact is that if suddenly the computer “flies” operating system, naturally, the file with the history will also be deleted, because it is located on drive C. That’s why don’t be lazy, save your correspondence to another drive, because no one is immune from problems with the OS and you will lose all the information.

How to find your chat history

First of all, make sure that the history of ICQ messages in your case is saved at all. To do this, go to the program settings, select “History” there, there should be a checkmark next to the item about saving history. By the way, you can remove it at any time if you know that the correspondence will not be of any value to you and will only clog up your computer’s memory.

The path to the correspondence history is as follows: drive C – Documents and Settings – username – Application Date – ICQLite – HistoryDB. Accordingly, in the last folder you can find the story itself. I think you can't go wrong with the file, its format is xml.

In general, as you can see, there is nothing complicated; the history of user correspondence on ICQ can be found literally in a matter of minutes. Of course, if you know where to look. But this is not a problem for you now, is it?