Skype question

Legacy_user

My son recently installed skype on my laptop but other than himself, I don't know anyone else that has it. We've used it once and compared with windows live, it is better. But, I am of the opinion that skype slows the laptop down, is this so?.

If it does, given the infrequency that it would be used, if I remove it, will it retain my user name/password should I wish to reinstall it later?

UncleZen

I think Skype does slow the startup of a computer down as the OS has to load another program. Whether you would notice this is debatable and might depend on the spec of your computer.
Not sure if you uninstall whether your PW and UN will be retained, probably not, to be safe write them down and save them in a file called skype.txt

John_Gray

You don't need to 'remove it', you probably just need to prevent Skype starting up automatically when your son logs on. This was an option when you installed Skype which you probably left ticked. There are many ways of changing the startup option, which you may well be aware of... Ask again if you aren't!

tvaughan

It depends on how fast your computer is. If you bought your computer in the last few years, it will have no problem running Skype in the background and won't slow it down noticeably.

The other question is how much you use Skype. If you want to use it to talk to people, it may be worth leaving running so that people know you're online. If you don't use it much then you're probably better off uninstalling it completely and sticking to the phone!

RussJK

There's a few reasons installing Skype might slow down the computer:
1/ It installs a toolbar into Firefox and Internet Explorer (unnecessary for most people)
2/ It runs all the time by default whether you are using it or not (as mentioned by others)
3/ It comes with other software that you need to opt out of e.g. recently came with 'Easybits Go', dodgy program

I don't know exactly what software is bundled with it at the moment, as it's been awhile since I last installed it (been using the portable version under a sandbox).

You can correct each of the three above.

Kernel_Sanders

islandman wrote: »

..... if I remove it, will it retain my user name/password should I wish to reinstall it later?

This question indicates to me that you do not realise that you can log in to your Skype account at any PC. I only discovered this when I noticed Skype was installed on a PC at my local library.

GaryS

To stop Skype starting with windows, just go to "Options, General Settings" and untick the box that says "Start Skype when I start Windows".

You can still start the application as normal when required.

You username and password can be used on any pc that has Skype installed, and all of your contacts etc will be visible.

Skype is fairly popular, I am logged in and at the minute there are 24,814,755 people logged on throughout the world.

The recent tie-in with Facebook will probably make it even more popular, but that may not be a good thing.
At the minute the service seems to be very reliable, add another 20m Facebook users and it might slow down a bit.