A Working Version of Skype for Windows 8

[devBrian]

http://www.oldapps.com/skype.php?old_skype=94

There we go, using Skype 5.0, there are no crashes, no 30% CPU usage, etc. You're welcome :p

[Darrian]

I'm using the latest version of Skype and it works great. However, there's a trick to it; it wouldn't let me log in and would just hang on the login screen indefinitely, so I had to play around with the compatibility settings, and I found it only works well if you run it as administrator.

[devBrian]

  On 01/06/2012 at 04:53, Darrian said:

I'm using the latest version of Skype and it works great. However, there's a trick to it; it wouldn't let me log in and would just hang on the login screen indefinitely, so I had to play around with the compatibility settings, and I found it only works well if you run it as administrator.

Mine appeared to work just fine as well, however, the CPU usage was off the charts - anywhere from 20-45%. That made it a no-go for me. Any Skype version from 5.2 to 5.5 has that CPU problem for me (i5 processor).

[Darrian]

My CPU usage hasn't gone over 16.8%, but I'm running an AMD CPU.

[devBrian]

  On 01/06/2012 at 05:05, Darrian said:

My CPU usage hasn't gone over 16.8%, but I'm running an AMD CPU.

Yeah, that's still abnormal. Mine hasn't gone above 3% on this version.

[Darrian]

Well, it doesn't seem to be slowing my system down noticeably either, but yeah, hopefully there'll be an update coming soon to fix it.

[articuno1au]

I'm running the latest version of Skype and I have had no issues with my i7 930.

Something funky at your end I think >.<

[Sszecret Veteran]

I'm using Skype 5.9 and I haven't had any problems with it. No freezing, no excessive CPU usage, nothing.

[x.iso]

I had some problems on 5.8 (just checked for newer version and upgrading). and the problem is, if I have a call and then hang up on my side, it would freeze and refuse to restart normally. it would also affect Opera for some reason as it freezes too and won't start up normally. if this occurs, only a reboot helps.

[Keyboard Cowboy]

Same problems here... Also I left my PC on last night and when I came back to it later it appeared that Skype had crashed and now Skype won't even log in anymore...

[BajiRav]

Yeah, I had to move down to 5.1.0.112 (suggested on skype forums)

[Dot Matrix]

I had to run 5.9 in XP SP3 compatibility mode. Not something I would consider a great fix. I find it odd Microsoft and Skype have been silent about these issues.

[Keyboard Cowboy]

Yeah I was really surprised that out of the programs I use and games I play Skype was the one that has had the most problems... Really the only one having problems... :/

[The_Observer]

using lastest and my is sitting @ 27% Intel i5 760.

[Emon]

Here's how I worked-around the issues ..

Fix login issue:

• Stop Skype (it doesn't stop all the way in Win8 RP so kill it using Task Manager/Process Explorer)
  
• Go to C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Skype
  
• Delete the following folders and files
  
  • shared_dynco
    
  • shared_httpfe
    
  • shared.lck
    
  • shared.xml
    

Fix high CPU usage:

• Run Process Explorer
  
• Find Skype from the running processes
  
• Double click the Skype.exe process
  
• Go to Threads tab (click ok on the warring, it only shows up once)
  
• Sort the running threads by CPU usage and kill the one that is consuming highest CPU resource
  
• Skype will be still running but it will consume less CPU resource than before
  

[articuno1au]

I wonder why mine has been having no issues D:

DAMN YOU SATAN COMPUTER!

[waylay]

  On 01/06/2012 at 04:44, devBrian said:

http://www.oldapps.c...hp?old_skype=94

There we go, using Skype 5.0, there are no crashes, no 30% CPU usage, etc. You're welcome :p

It's amazing how much faster and lighter this old version is. Skype has become a POS bloatware. I really hope they're going to clean up the code for the "Win 8 version".

[theyarecomingforyou]

  On 05/06/2012 at 09:52, Drossel said:

It's amazing how much faster and lighter this old version is. Skype has become a POS bloatware. I really hope they're going to clean up the code for the "Win 8 version".

Exactly. It's ridiculous that such a basic app could ever take up 30% of the CPU. They really need to code it from scratch, though it's likely they will do that if they're going to be creating a Metro version.

[funkydude]

  On 05/06/2012 at 19:48, theyarecomingforyou said:

Exactly. It's ridiculous that such a basic app could ever take up 30% of the CPU. They really need to code it from scratch, though it's likely they will do that if they're going to be creating a Metro version.

Any app could easily take up "30% CPU" (It's actually 100% of one of your 4 cores), a simple coding mistake can easily create a CPU consuming loop.

[UncleSpellbinder]

The current Skype works just fine. Follow this

[rfirth]

  On 05/06/2012 at 20:04, funkydude said:

Any app could easily take up "30% CPU" (It's actually 100% of one of your 4 cores), a simple coding mistake can easily create a CPU consuming loop.

Yep. It seems that's exactly what has happened. In my case, it takes up almost 50%, so 100% of one of my 2 cores.

  On 06/06/2012 at 00:22, UncleSpellbinder said:

The current Skype works just fine. Follow this

That doesn't work for me. It works until I sign in. Then it recreates that folder and the problem happens again.

On one of my computers, the computer freezes within a couple minutes. It doesn't happen when I don't run Skype. I'm thinking it has something to do with it forcing my computer to overheat maybe. Or maybe the lockups are due to drivers.

Just installed it on an old netbook with Windows 8... no problem. Works fine. No fix required. Interesting. Only 0-0.9% CPU. Unfortunately, with a screen resolution of only 1024x600, I can't run any WinRT apps on it.

[UncleSpellbinder]

  On 06/06/2012 at 00:34, rfirth said:

That doesn't work for me. It works until I sign in. Then it recreates that folder and the problem happens again

Odd. It re-created a Skype folder for me too, and Skype now works fine. Well, Windows 8 is pre-release OS, after all. Perhaps this will all get sorted out by final release.

[remixedcat]

  On 05/06/2012 at 09:52, Drossel said:

It's amazing how much faster and lighter this old version is. Skype has become a POS bloatware. I really hope they're going to clean up the code for the "Win 8 version".

this...

[theyarecomingforyou]

  On 05/06/2012 at 20:04, funkydude said:

Any app could easily take up "30% CPU" (It's actually 100% of one of your 4 cores), a simple coding mistake can easily create a CPU consuming loop.

You say that yet none of my other applications have the same problem and Skype is a part of Microsoft, the company that has the best access to - and knowledge of - Windows. If Skype is incompatible with Windows 8 then it should be flagged as such, just like Microsoft does with their own LifeCam software. In fact Microsoft seems to be pretty poor at supporting its own operating systems, especially when virtually everything else works fine.

[devBrian]

They're really dropping the ball on Skype. Ever since they took over, it's been going downhill. :| Having to revert to a version two years old just to get it to not eat my CPU is a bit ludicrous, especially if you're releasing Windows 8 as a "Release" preview, you need to have Skype updated for it, or flagged as incompatible at least.