Steffen Köhlers Online- Bastelbuch

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Howto make a Skype USB Phone

Howto make a Skype USB Phone

Installation on a USB Stick

The manual way

To install Skype on a USB stick (or any other memory device), you need (best the latest) Skype.exe from any other PC on which Skype is already installed.

Plug in the USB- stick
change into the stick- root drive (e.g. g:\)
create a new directory „Skype“
change into that new „Skype“- directory
create a new directory „Data“
copy the available skype.exe program from where it is into that „Skype“- directory (normally is stored on a PC under „C:\Documents and Settings\<Your_username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe“)

* in case you want to copy your already existing Skype settings onto your stick, copy the content of your „C:\Documents and Settings\<Your_username>\Application Data\Skype\“- folder into the new created „Data“- folder To start Skype with the correct start parameters:

open your notepad
enter the following text:

@echo off start skype.exe /datapath:„Data“ /removable

save that text as StartSkype.bat into the „Skype“ folder of the USB stick

Done: To start Skype correctly, don't start Skype directly, but start StartSkype.bat instead

The automatic way

Save the following HTA- Script as Skype2Stick.hta on your PC and start the file with a doubleclick. It will do the steps descriped above automatically:

Skype2Stick.hta

<HTML>
  <HEAD>
    <TITLE>Skype- Stick- Installer by S. Koehler :-)</TITLE>
    <HTA:APPLICATION ID="SkypeStickInst"
       APPLICATIONNAME="SkypeStickInst"
       border="thin" borderstyle="static"
       caption="yes" contextmenu="yes"
       icon="car.ico" innerborder="no"
       maximizebutton="no" minimizebutton="no"
       navigable="yes" scroll="auto"
       scrollflat="yes" selection="yes"
       showintaskbar="no" singleinstance="yes"
       sysmenu="yes" version="1.0"
       windowState="normal" />
 
<SCRIPT Language="VBScript">
option explicit
dim SkypePath
dim ScriptPath
dim strPrograms
dim strSystem
dim CodemeterPath
dim DestDir
Dim wshShell, fso, WshEnv
dim arrFiles, skdsfiles, sysfiles 
 
' onClick-Routine für den "Installdir"-Button
sub Browse
	Dim aShell, shFld
	Set aShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
	' Den Standard-Ordner-Dialog anzeigen
	set shFld = aShell.BrowseForFolder(0, "Select Rootdirectory for Installation", 65)
	if not (shFld Is nothing) then ' Abbrechen gedrückt?
		installDir.innerText = shFld.Self.Path
	end if
	DeEnableUI
end sub
 
function copyf(filename, destdir)
	If fso.FileExists(filename) Then
		fso.CopyFile filename, DestDir
		If Err <> 0 Then
			MsgBox "Unable to copy file " & filename & ":" & Err.Description
			Err.Clear
			copyf=false
		else
			copyf=true
		End If
	End If
end function
 
function makedir(dirname)
	If Not fso.FolderExists(dirname) Then
		fso.CreateFolder(dirname)
		If Err <> 0 Then
			MsgBox "Failed to generate  Directory"  & dirname & ":" & Err.Description
			makedir=false
		else
			makedir=true
		End If
	else
		makedir=true
	End If
 
end function
 
 
' onClick-Routine für den "Install"-Button
sub Install
	dim strFile, FileOut
	DestDir=installDir.Value &"\SkypeOnStick\"
	if not makedir(DestDir) then
		exit sub
	end if
	Set FileOut = fso.OpenTextFile( DestDir&"StartSkypeHere.bat" , 8, true)
	'     	FileOut.WriteLine (vbCRLF & Now() )
	'Copy files.
	if makedir(DestDir&"SKYPEDATA") then
		copyf Skypepath, DestDir
		FileOut.WriteLine ("start skype.exe /datapath:""SKYPEDATA"" /removable")
	end if
 
	FileOut.Close
	Set FileOut = Nothing
	MsgBox("Done")
end sub
 
 
' onChange-Routine für das Eingabefeld
sub DeEnableUI
	if installDir.Value = "" then
 		btnInstall.disabled = True
	else
		btnInstall.disabled = False
	end if
end sub
 
 
' Zur Initialisierung die onSize-Behandlungsroutine des Fensters
' einklinken.
sub initApp
	window.resizeTo 600,300
	Set wshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
	Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
	Set WshEnv = WshShell.Environment("PROCESS")
	on error resume next
	SkypePath = WshShell.RegRead("HKCU\Software\Skype\Phone\SkypePath")
	on error goto 0
	if SkypePath= "" or not fso.FileExists(SkypePath) then 
		MsgBox("No Skype found - Terminating Installer")
		Window.close
	end if
end sub
 
 
 
</SCRIPT>
 
</HEAD>
<BODY onLoad="initApp">
<SPAN ID="kopf">
<!-- <PRE ID="preDebug">
</PRE> -->
	<center>
	<TABLE border=0>
		<TR valign="top">
			<TD>
				<b>Installation- Directory:</b><br><small>Please choose your destination directory (or memory stick device)<p></small>  
			</TD>
			<TD>
 
			</TD>
		</TR>
		<TR valign="top">
			<TD colspan=2>
				<INPUT type="text" ID="InstallDir" size="40" maxlength="254"
				onChange="DeEnableUI" value="C:\" />
				<BUTTON onClick="Browse">Select...</BUTTON>
			</TD>
		</TR>
		<TR><TD colspan="2"><HR></TD><TR>
      </TABLE>
      <P>
        <BUTTON ID="btnInstall" onclick="Install">Create Installation</BUTTON>&nbsp;
 
       </P>
 	</center>
	</SPAN>
  </BODY>
</HTML>

Setup Skype

If you going to use Skype inside a company intranet, you might need to set up the network properties correctly to pass the company firewall.

To do so, go to „Tools/Options/“ in the Skype- menu and select „Connection“.

Here are some proven settings:

see ...

Tips & Troubleshooting

Q: Skype worked well for a while, but then it start to not connect anymore?

A: Do you use a Windows passwort authentification system for your proxy configuration ? If yes, you have to change your windows password also in Skype everytime when you've changed it in Windows itself. Otherways your Proxy won't let you though anymore into the Internet.