Do you still remember about the article that I’ve written a few days ago about Tiny Watcher? Basically Tiny Watcher starts by taking a snapshot of important parts of your Windows system; then it tracks changes (every time you log in, or whenever you want to). When a change is detected, you are notified. I’ve been faithfully using Tiny Watcher ever since it has helped me locate the source of spyware auto startup.

I installed it on my desktop computer yesterday and today after booting in to Windows, Tiny Watcher notified me that there are hidden files with the extension of SQM being modified.

To be able to see the SQM files, you’ll need to enable “Show hidden files and folders” in Folder Options. All of the SQM files are located in the root of my C:\ drive and it goes by the file name of sqmdata00.sqm up to sqmdata19.sqm and sqmnoopt00.sqm up to sqmnoopt19.sqm. I have a total of 40 sqm files and I remembered seeing even more on some of the computers that I’ve repaired. The question on my mind is what created the SQM files, is it safe to remove them and how to disable SQM files from being modified or created.

Jonathan Kay, a Microsoft MVP explains that SQM is Software Quality Metrics, aka the Microsoft Customer Experience Program which is part of Messenger. When you install and run Windows Live Messenger for the first time, you might have noticed that there is a blue colored link accompanied with a small info balloon icon that says “Learn more about Customer Experience Improvement Program”. When Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is enabled, sqmdata.sqm and sqmnoopt.sqm files will start generating at the root of your C drive.

From Microsoft’s website, they mentioned that they collect information about error messages that you might encounter as you use their product, about the operating system, and about the performance of your Messenger program. They also determine what type of Internet connection you use-dial up, LAN, corporate, etc.

Then there is another similar “data collecting” feature in Windows Live Messenger which is “Quality Improvement” and it can be found in Options. Microsoft did not say what kind of data they collect but it can answer some of the questions below.

What percent of people are unable to sign in to MSN Messenger?

What is the average time it takes someone to sign in?

What number of sent messages never reach the recipient?

What percent of people get disconnected when using MSN Messenger?

What percent of people are unable to establish an audio conversation?

I’ve tried deleting those SQM files and everything is still working as normal. To disable sqmdataXX.sqm and sqmnooptXX.sqm files from being generated in C drive, it’s best to disable both CEIP and Quality Improvement.

To disable Quality Improvement, run Windows Live Messenger, sign in, go to Tools > Options.. > General > Quality Improvement and uncheck “Allow Microsoft to collect anonymous information about how I use Windows Live Messenger”. Make sure that you’re signed in or else the options will be grayed out.

To disable Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), run Windows Live Messenger, sign in, go to Help > Customer Experience Improvement Program. Select “I don’t want to participate right now” and click OK. You must also sign in to disable this option or else it will be blurred out.

There you go, no more sqmdata.sqm and sqmnoopt.sqm files will be generated at C drive in future. Also, your computer will stop sending “Quality Improvements” data to Microsoft.

[tags]sqmdata, sqmnoopt, CEIP, msn, SQM[/tags]