Skype problems: program freezing

Operating system overload

One of the most common issues for Skype to freeze is the computer's operating system overload. This leads to the fact that Skype is unresponsive when performing relatively resource-intensive actions, for example crashing while making a call. Sometimes the sound disappears during a conversation. The root of the problem can be one of two things: either your computer or operating system does not meet the minimum requirements for Skype to work, or a large number of RAM consuming processes are running.

In the former case, only the use of a newer technique or operating system can be recommended. If they can't work with Skype, it means they are significantly out of date. All more or less modern computers, if configured correctly, work with Skype without problems.

But the second problem is not that difficult to solve. To find out if the "heavy" processes are "consuming" the RAM, we start the Task Manager. This can be done by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination.

Go to the “Processes” tab and see which processes load the processor CPU the most and consume RAM of the computer. If these are not system processes, and at the moment you are not using programs associated with them, just select the unnecessary item and click the "End Process" button.

But, here it is very important to understand which process you are disconnecting and what it is responsible for. And mindless actions can only hurt.

Better yet, remove unnecessary processes from the autorun. In this case, you don't need to use Task Manager every time you disable the processes for working with Skype. The fact is that during installation, many programs are registered in automatic execution and are loaded in the background along with the startup of the operating system. This way, they work in the background even when you don't need them. If there are one or two such programs, that is fine, but if their number is close to ten, this is already a serious problem.

The most convenient way is to kill processes from autorun using special utilities. One of the best of them is CCleaner. We launch this program and go to the "Service" section.

Then in the "Home" subsection.

The window contains programs that have been added to startup. We select those applications that we do not want to load together with the launch of the operating system. After that, we press the button «Shutdown».

After that, the process will be removed from the start. But, just like with Task Manager, it is also very important to understand what specifically disables.

Crashes when starting the program

Quite often, you may encounter a situation where Skype freezes at startup, preventing you from performing actions on it. This problem is caused by problems in the Shared.xml configuration file. Therefore, you must delete this file. Don't worry, after removing this item and then starting Skype, the program will re-generate the file. But, this time, there is a great chance that the app will start working without any annoying crashes.

You must close Skype completely before proceeding to delete the Shared.xml file. To avoid the continuation of the application in the background, it is best to end its processes through the Task Manager.

Next, we call the window "Run". This can be done by pressing the key combination Win + R. We enter the command% appdata% skype. Click on the "OK" button.

We move to the data folder of the Skype program. We are looking for the Shared.xml file. Click on it with the right mouse button and from the list of actions that appears, select the item "Delete".

After deleting this configuration file, start the Skype program. If the application starts, the problem was in the Shared.xml file.

Full factory reset

If deleting the Shared.xml file doesn't help, you can perform a hard reset of your Skype settings.

Close Skype again and call the Run window. There we enter the command% appdata%. Click on the "OK" button to go to the desired directory.

We found a folder called "Skype". We give it any other name (for example, old_Skype), or we move it to another directory on the hard disk.

After that, start Skype and watch. If the program is no longer delayed, resetting the settings helped. But, the fact is, when you reset the settings, all the messages and other important data are deleted. In order to restore all this, we simply do not delete the "Skype" folder, we simply rename or move it. Then you have to move the data you think is necessary from the old folder to the new one. It is especially important to move the main.db file as it stores the correspondence.

If the attempt to reset settings failed and Skype continues to freeze, in this case, you can always return the old folder to its old name or move it there.

Virus attack

A fairly common reason for freezing programs is the presence of viruses in the system. This applies not only to Skype, but also to other applications. Therefore, if you notice that Skype freezes, it will not be superfluous to check your computer for viruses. If freezing is observed in other applications, it is simply necessary to do this. It is recommended to search for malicious code from another computer or from a usb drive, since the antivirus on an infected PC will most likely not show a threat.

Reinstalling Skype

Reinstalling Skype can also help fix the freezing issue. Also, if you have an outdated version installed, it would be rational to update it to the latest. If you already have the latest version, perhaps the output is to "roll back" the program to previous versions, when the problem has not yet been observed. Naturally, the last option is temporary, until the developers of the new version fix the compatibility bugs.

As you can see, there are many reasons why Skype freezes. Of course, it is better to immediately establish the cause of the problem and only then, based on this, build a solution to the problem. But, as practice shows, it is quite difficult to immediately establish the cause. Therefore, you have to act by trial and error. The main thing is to understand what exactly you are doing, so that later you can return everything to its previous state.