Back up your MSN

You know how awful can it be when you must format your PC or when you want to use your old MSN emotions on a new PC. Here is how you can back up your MSN emotions and your MSN messenger files (note, this doesn't backups the archive i.e. history conversations you've had. The history of your conversations (if such selected to be recorded in the MSN settings) can be found in %SYSTEM ROOT%/Documents and Settings/%USER/%USER's Documents%/My Received files/History. For e.g., if your windows user name is Alan, and you have the windows files installed on C:. then the path should be:
C:\Documents and Settings\Alan\My Documents (or Alan's documents if your are entering from another windows user name) \My received files\history

Here is how to backup your other MSN settings:
For making a back up, and finding the .dat files (the emotions) just follow the steps accordingly.
How to back up Messenger content:
To save a copy of the content that is associated with a member ID, follow these steps.
Note: You can re-download the purchased content from the partner Web site, so you do not have to back up this content.
1. Sign out of Windows Live Messenger (or Windows Messenger 7.5).
2. Start Windows Explorer:
a. By pressing the windows button +E
b. Click – “Start”, click on “Run” and type “explorer”
Or
c. Click "Start," point to "All Programs," point to "Accessories," and then click "Windows Explorer."
3. Create a folder where you will save the image:
a. In Windows Explorer, click the folder in which you want to create the new folder.
b. On the "File" menu, click "New," and then click "Folder."
c. Type a name for the folder.
4. In Windows Explorer, click "Folder Options" on the "Tools" menu, and then click the "View" tab. In the "Advanced Settings" box, select the "Show hidden files and folders" check box.
5. Clear the "Hide extensions for known file types" check box, and then click "OK".
6. Use Windows Explorer to access the Windows Live Messenger (or the Windows MSN 7.5) folder.
a. Locate the Application Data folder: Click "Start", click "Run", type "%appdata%", and then click "OK". The Application Data folder will be opened in Windows Explorer.
b. From the %appdata% folder, use the following path to locate the MSN Messenger folder:
%appdata%\Microsoft\MSN Messenger
Note: %appdata% represents the location of the Application Data folder.
7. To back up the data associated with yourname@hotmail.com go to the folder with MSN ID number inside the MSN Messenger folder (since the MSN user names i.e. email addresses are coded into numbers (MSN ID numbers), you have to find your own number. If you are using your PC all by yourself, this will be easy to find. But if you want to copy your MSN emotions and other content from an internet cafe or multi-user computer, I advice either writing to MSN support center or try finding out your own folder by luck).
The folder with the ID number has sub folders that store the user tile (display picture, custom emoticons, backgrounds). Select the folder whose data you wish to back up.
8. Open each .dat file in Microsoft Internet Explorer to view each picture.
9. Follow these steps for each picture that you want to copy:
a. Click to select the picture, right-click the picture, and then click "Copy."
b. In Windows Explorer, click the folder that you created to store the image.
c. Right-click the folder, and then click "Paste."
d. Click to select the picture, right-click the picture, and then click "Rename" to rename the picture.
Note: Replace the .dat extension with .gif when you rename the picture.

Here’s how to transfer content from one computer to another computer

Note: Purchased content must be re-downloaded on the new computer. This content cannot be copied to the new computer.
1. Locate the content that you want to transfer to the other computer.
a. Use Windows Explorer to view the Windows Live Messenger (or Windows MSN 7.5) folder.
i. Locate the Application Data folder: Click "Start", click "Run", type "%appdata%", and then click "OK". The Application Data folder will open in Windows Explorer.
ii. From the %appdata% folder, use the following path to locate the MSN Messenger folder:
%appdata%\Microsoft\MSN Messenger
Note: %appdata% represents the location of the Application Data folder.
b. To back up the data associated with your_name@hotmail.com go to your_MSN_ID_number inside the MSN Messenger folder. The MSN_ID_number folder has sub folders that store the user tile (display picture, custom emoticons, backgrounds). Select the folder whose data you wish to back up.
2. Copy each file from the desired folder onto a disk or onto a CD.
3. Sign in to Messenger on the destination computer. Add the content from the disk or CD to Messenger on the destination computer by following the steps in the section "How to Add Messenger content." *(actually replace the files from the CD or the disk with the files that are currently in your “%appdata%” folder).

Hope this information was useful to you all.
Any questions, remarks - complaints, add them as a comment ;)

CYa