The loss of important messages is an extremely unpleasant situation that any user can face. In the case of instant messengers, it’s easy to accidentally delete a particular chat. Then the person will have a desire to return it. Therefore, many are interested how to restore correspondence in ICQ and is it possible to do this in principle? Let's deal with this topic.
Return messages
The situation here is quite ambiguous. The fact is that manually erased chats cannot be restored. But if they were removed in the mode “Delete from yourself”, then the other participant(s) in the conversation will have copies. And here it’s enough to ask to forward them. There is no other way. But to restore messages in ICQ that were removed through "Delete for everyone" It’s no longer possible.
Previously, users of the program were faced with a situation where correspondence disappeared just like that. But this applied to its old version, which was intended mainly for the computer. There, the problem could be solved using special software for returning files. Now it won't work. 
People are accustomed to communicating via the Internet through a variety of social networks and programs. They are designed to transmit not only text and voice messages, but even video calls. In this way, a person can talk “live” with friends who are in another city or country. Sometimes it happens that the message history is deleted, but it contained such important information...
You will need
- - computer;
- - Easy Recovery program;
- - icq2html program.
Instructions
Instructions
Read what files ICQ data is stored in and how to create a backup copy of it. How to recover chats and ICQ files after reinstalling Windows. ICQ was previously a very popular messenger for exchanging messages and files, and in recent versions it has the function of making audio and video calls.
Recently, ICQ's position has been somewhat shaken due to the growing popularity of instant messengers such as Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp, as well as Skype and the VKontakte social networking application. But nevertheless, ICQ has a huge army of users who will be interested in this material.
Content:ICQ files and data
Over the many years of its existence, the program has undergone many changes and improvements, as a result of which today a version of ICQ 10 is available, which is compatible with Windows 10 and has an interface similar to the operating system.
Along with the version of the messenger, the location of the message history and files of the ICQ user account itself also changed. So, in the latest version of the application this is the default folder:
C:\Users\ Username\AppData\Roaming\ICQ
Please note that by default in Windows 8/8.1/10 the \AppData folder is hidden. To be able to go to it, you must enable the system to display hidden files and folders.
Having examined the contents of this folder (see screenshot above), you can see its structure, which is similar to the structures of data folders of other messengers. Here are folders with themes, settings and ICQ logs, as well as folders containing data for specific user accounts.
In our case, the user account folder is named “0001”. Even from the folder names themselves it is not difficult to determine their purpose and contents. These are folders with files of stickers, keys, dialogues, contacts and avatars, as well as an archive.
In folder /archive there are folders named UIN (Universal Identification Number) users with whom correspondence was carried out from this account. The files for each chat are encrypted and are located in the following files: _db2, _idx2, _img2, _ste2.
Data backup
The entire history of ICQ correspondence is saved on the user’s computer, and is not stored on the messenger servers (as is the case with Skype, for example). That is, if the hard drive on which ICQ is installed is formatted and the application is reinstalled, the entire correspondence history will be lost.
There is also no function for creating a backup copy of a user account or a specific correspondence in ICQ 10.
Therefore, there is only one way to backup and restore ICQ data: manually create a copy of the user account folder (in our case /0001 ) and save it in a convenient place (preferably on another storage medium).
To restore your ICQ account data after reinstalling Windows or formatting your hard drive, just copy the previously created backup copy of your account folder to the folder with your messenger data:
C:\Users\ Username\AppData\Roaming\ICQ
Recovering ICQ data after reinstalling Windows
If the user has not created a backup copy of the ICQ account, and after reinstalling Windows or formatting the hard drive there is a need to restore earlier chats, they can be restored using data recovery programs.
To do this, run Hetman Partition Recovery and use the program to scan the disk on which the user account data was saved (by default: C:\Users\ Username\AppData\Roaming\ICQ).
Using the program, find the account folder that needs to be restored (by navigating to it through the directory tree or using the search function) and restore it.
To restore your ICQ account data after reinstalling Windows or formatting your hard drive, just copy the recovered folder of your account to the folder with your messenger data using the method described in the previous section.
Note. To avoid overwriting drive C files that need to be recovered, it is advisable to download and install a hard drive data recovery program, and also save the recovered data to another drive (for example, drive D).
Internet communication is an integral part of human life in modern society. Global network users communicate using specially developed programs. They allow you to send text or voice messages, as well as video conferences. This ensures constant communication with close relatives or friends, regardless of their location. Sometimes messages disappear, and the data placed in them was of great importance, so the Internet client often faces the problem of requiring the restoration of correspondence history.Instructions for restoring correspondence in ICQ
To do this, it is recommended to use applications that were specifically designed for these purposes. It is worth noting that SMS history is a system of separate text files. Their name indicates the name of the contact with whom part of the correspondence was carried out.
To carry out the information recovery procedure, you should scan the disk using the “EasyRecovery” application. It can be downloaded from the official resource, then unzipped and installed. You need to scan the disk where the application is installed.
There are other options for achieving results. Very often, the loss occurs due to a change in the name under which the user logs into the application. “ICQ” saves all messages on the hard drive, so you can easily go to the folder called “History”, where the full version of correspondence with all contact subscribers is located.
The “Icq 2html” program will help you recover lost correspondence. She is able to find all SMS messages, regardless of how they were deleted.
Ways to search for history in ICQ
It can be viewed using Windows tools. The easiest way is to use standard tools. To do this, you need to find correspondence with the contact you are interested in, then find and click the “history” button. This will allow you to recall the entire chronological history of SMS.
The history of correspondence with an individual contact is saved in a file with the extension “.text”. Its title indicates the name of the respondent. All data can be found in the catalog, so using a local search you can find the required correspondence.
Currently, a person conducts a large amount of both personal and business correspondence. It often contains valuable data, so the system participant values it very much. Sometimes, due to a computer malfunction, these statements may be lost. There is no need to be upset here; today’s technologies allow you to quickly find and restore your SMS history.
Modern social networks and instant messengers have long contained all user correspondence on their servers. ICQ cannot boast of this. So, in order to find the history of correspondence with someone, you will need to delve into the computer’s memory.
ICQ and related instant messengers still store correspondence history on the user's computer. At the moment, a similar approach is already considered obsolete due to the fact that the user will not be able to access correspondence with interlocutors using a device other than the one on which this conversation was originally conducted.
At the same time, it is believed that such a system also has its advantages. For example, in this way information is more protected from outside access, which makes the messenger more closed from outside penetration into the secrecy of correspondence. Moreover, now the developers of all clients are working not only to hide the correspondence history deeper into the depths of the computer, but also to encrypt the files so that it is difficult not only to read, but even to find them among other technical files.
As a result, the history is stored in the computer. Depending on the program that works with the ICQ service, the location of the required folder may be different.
History in ICQ
Things are quite difficult with the official ICQ client, since here the developers have done their best to ensure that personal correspondence files are safe.
It is impossible to find out the location of the history file in the program itself. Here you can only set the folder for storing downloaded files.
But the carriers of the history of correspondence are buried much deeper and more complex. Typically, the location of these files changes with each version.
The latest version of the messenger in which the message history can be retrieved without any problems is 7.2. The required folder is located at:
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\ICQ\\Messages.qdb
In the newest version, ICQ 8, the location has changed again. According to comments from the developers, this is done to protect information and user correspondence. Now the correspondence is stored here:
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\ICQ\[User number]\archive\
Here you can see a huge number of folders, the names of which are the UIN numbers of the interlocutors in the ICQ client. Of course, each user has their own folder. Each one stores 4 files. File "_db2" and contains the correspondence history. This can all be opened using any text editor.
Any communication here is encrypted. It is possible to extract individual phrases from here, but it will not be easy.
It is best to use this file to paste it along the same path onto another device, or use it as a backup copy in case you delete your program.
Conclusion
It is strongly recommended to have backup copies of dialogs from the program if they contain important information. In case of loss, you just need to insert the file with the correspondence where it should be, and all messages will be back in the program. It's not as convenient as reading conversations from the server, as is done on social networks, but at least it's something.