Vista - WLM 2009 History Corrupt For Only One Contact

I use Vista Basic, and I have previously had an older version of Messenger
installed, and then subsequently uninstalled. Then, recently, I downloaded
WLM 2009.

I had no issues with WLM 2009 for a few months, until I noticed the other
day that the history for one contact was not accessible anymore. I can open
and read other contact history, even from previous versions of Messenger,
that go back 2 years, which were generated using the older version of
messenger, and some from WLM 2009, so I know that my ability to open and view
XML files is functional.

The history for the one contact in question, states "The XML page cannot be
displayed. Cannot view XML input using XSL style sheet. Please correct the
error and then click the refresh button, or try again later."

Next, it states "Only one top level element is allowed in an XML document.
Error processing resource file ......." with the file name of where my
received files folder is located.

I can open the file using a text application such as Notepad, but the
formatting is lost, and the ability to read it easily, along with it. So, the
file isn't gone, or empty. The original text is intact. I just can't get past
this error for either looking at the present history, by clicking on the
"History" button, or trying to open one saved file I have on my hard drive,
also from that same contact.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Greetings,

One of the problems with Messenger's XML format is that it can break quite easily when people
send things to you which weren't anticipated. For instance, for a long time logs were broke
using the special Messenger Plus characters, although this was finally fixed.

That said, the real issue is something in the file. You'll have to go through and figure out
exactly what's causing this to happen. If you want I'll take a look at it for you, just
e-mail me a copy of the file (I promise not to read it).

--
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2009 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--


"beagle49" <beagle49@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BCDCCBFF-8320-4E7B-9E93-D4ACCE440D6D@xxxxxx

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
However, now, when I click on the "History" button for the contact in
question, it states "Access denied", and adds the same error statement as it
did previously.

This would seem to indicate that the problem I had was two separate
problems; the first was a corrupt saved file, and the second is a still
corrupt history on the MSN server. Does that sound plausible?

I have been having conversations with other people regarding the ability of
chat log files to be stored on the servers. I have no reason to believe that
they are not stored on the servers, but others disagree. What do you say?

Regardless of whether the chat log data is stored online, or on my hard
drive, my history button for that same contact still produces an error.

Interestingly, I downloaded and installed the add-on program that you have
suggested on several forums; "Messenger Plus". I like it so far, and it
appears to have saved the very last little snippet of a chat I had closed the
other day. It does not go back any further than that, however, and has no
positive affect on the existing contact history access feature.

Is there anything else I could tell you that might help you to figure out
where all of this took a wrong turn?