Dave-H Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) Has anyone else updated to the latest version of Skype, which is 7.32, and had display problems on XP? They have updated the look of some of the menus, and although it is still supposed to be compatible with XP, it is unusable in my experience. The problem starts if you try and use the right click menu on the system tray icon. The first time I do this it's fine, showing the new white popup menu correctly. After that though, it all falls to pieces, with the conversation pane in the main window showing large blocks of black, which only come good if the cursor is hovered over them, and the system tray icon popup menu likewise black. It's also corrupting the Windows menus on my system, such as the right click menu on the desktop or any of the desktop icons, also the dropdown menus on some programs. Once it's like that, only a reboot will put it right. Going back to Skype version 7.31 fixes it completely. I'm seeing this on two Windows XP machines, with completely different hardware. I've asked on the Skype forums about this, and the only person who has responded cannot see the problem. Can anyone else confirm it? Thanks, Dave. Edited February 18, 2017 by Dave-H Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdfox7 Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 According to the changelog there were "Touch friendly popups which make it easier to interact with". https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA34509/what-s-new-in-skype-for-windows-desktop It's possible that the pop-ups were not tested on XP, or that the Skype client itself was not tested on XP (very likely). Further complicating matters is that XP doesn't natively support touchscreens per se. Using software created by Microsoft could be problematic these days, specifically since they dropped XP support; they have no incentive to make the experience on XP enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) Yes, I noticed that reported change as well, and the look of the Skype menus has indeed changed in 7.32, now having their own white background and font whereas before they followed the system look. Someone else has now posted to my thread about this on the Skype forum saying they're having problems too, apparently on Windows 7! Is anyone else here using Skype 7.32 on XP seeing it as well? Edited February 19, 2017 by Dave-H Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranceBB Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) Same problem here with the UI. I reverted back to the old version. I hope Microsoft will fix these bugs, as it's in their interest too. On the other hand, they might say "developing for XP brings new issues every time, so we are gonna drop the support". I really hope it won't happen, but it might... Edited February 19, 2017 by FranceBB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heinoganda Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 I have times the new Skype version (7.32.32.104 / msi installer) installed in the VM (in my case without native support of DirectX), where I do not have this error. I would be interested in what graphics card is in use and graphic driver (older or newest). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Well I'm glad I'm not the only one! I've gone back to Skype version 7.31 as well. As they still claim to be compatible with Windows XP, I hope the people at Skype address this, because 7.32 is unusable at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heinoganda Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Please give me the exact version of Skype, have the 7.32.32.103 and 7.32.32.104 to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) 6 minutes ago, heinoganda said: I have times the new Skype version (7.32.32.104 / msi installer) installed in the VM (in my case without native support of DirectX), where I do not have this error. I would be interested in what graphics card is in use and graphic driver (older or newest). The guy who responded on the Skype forum said it was probably a graphics driver problem, but I don't think so. As I have two separate cards on my main machine, with completely different drivers, and the fault happens with both of them, and my netbook also shows the problem with totally different hardware, I would be extremely surprised if the graphics drivers and hardware have anything to do with it. I think the fault is happening at OS GUI level. I was using version 7.32.0.104. Edited February 19, 2017 by Dave-H Addition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heinoganda Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) It is not here whether the hardware or driver problems make, but the faulty interface of Skype where this problem caused! For this reason, these questions to recognize certain parallels. The question about the exact version of Skype is unanswered by the Skype version where this problem has. Update: There are two offline installers one for XP (SkypeSetupFullXp.exe) and one for newer versions of Windows (SkypeSetupFull.exe). Now I took the trouble to compare the files "RtmCodecs.dll" (Microsoft Realtime Media Codec Library / for XP 1,94 MB / for newer Windows versions 2,44 MB), "RtmPal.dll" (Microsoft Realtime Media Stack PAL / for XP 261 KB / for newer Windows versions 438 KB), "RtmPltfm.dll" (Microsoft Realtime Media Stack / for XP 7,83 MB / for newer Windows versions 8,14 MB), "ssScreenVVS2 .dll "(Microsoft Real Time Media Screen Scraper / XP 56.1 KB / newer Windows versions 116 KB) which differ from the size. The version I installed (msi version for distribution in companies / no Updater) corresponds to the version for Windows newer versions. Edited February 19, 2017 by heinoganda Addition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranceBB Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Ok, so you installed the version for newer Windows, which is compatible with XP anyway? Perhaps, the XP one has the bug and the newer one doesn't? Since you don't have any bugs running the one which is supposed to be for newer OS, I'm gonna install that one as well and I'll let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 I had looked into why there was a "SkypeSetupFullXp.exe" and a "SkypeSetupFull.exe", and it looks as if the "XP" version includes an additional audio codec that Skype uses, which is not present natively in Windows XP, although it is on later versions of Windows. There is no difference in the graphics. Anyway, I have found a workaround for the problem, which I would be interested to have confirmed. Go to the desktop properties, select "Effects" on the Appearance tab, and switch off "Use the following transition effect for menus and tooltips". This seems to fix it for me, although I obviously lose the sliding menus effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heinoganda Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) Good news, downloaded and tested the new version (7.33.32.104) of Skype (msi version for distribution in companies / no Updater). It has been migrated from Visual Studio 2013 to 2015 (There seems to be still in the process to adapt the code of Skype). In the Installer will not have Visual C ++ 2015 libraries with installed and thus must Visual C ++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 installed so Skype works! The problem can also be provoked to change the setting under "effects" / "Use the following transition effect for menus and tooltips". However, when Skype is restarted, this problem with the black popup is no longer. Not perfect, but no longer resistend these black popups. Edited February 22, 2017 by heinoganda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Thanks, that's good news, I hope it is fixed in the normal version of 7.33! Incidentally, I later found that it's not necessary to switch off the menu effect in Windows XP completely, setting it to "fade effect" instead of "scroll effect" is also fine. Hopefully it's OK now anyway, I'll wait for the 7.32-7.33 automatic update and confirm then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heinoganda Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 (edited) Officially, Skype version 7.33.0.104 is now available for Windows XP. If Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 does not exist, it is also installed with Skype. Unfortunately, with the Windows XP version, I have problems with the sound quality (in comparison between the mid-wave and the ultra-short wave, as if frequencies above 8000 hz are not transmitted) and during the conversation, the green display has no function during the settings for the volume of the loudspeaker. Complete Skype profile I had deleted when changing. Funny? I am back to the msi version for distribution in companies, which works with me so far, until the Skype at the start means that I should download the appropriate version. Edited March 5, 2017 by heinoganda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-H Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Is automatic updating still working for you? It hasn't worked for me for the last few versions. It used to and just did the whole process automatically in the background. Now it doesn't seem to do this, even when there is a new version available. Now if I select Help>Check for Updates I get a notification that a new update is available, but when I select to download it, it apparently downloads, but every time it then says "Download of the Skype update failed" and if I want to update I have to go and download the installer manually. I've watched while this is happening, and the installer gets downloaded to the Windows temporary folder as it should do, but as soon as the download supposedly completes, the file just vanishes and the error message appears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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