Windows Live Messenger emoticons backup or copy in Windows XP

Windows Live Messenger emoticons can be found tucked away under layers of folders. But you can trace the emoticons on your hard drive and copy/backup them. You can also use the same procedures shown below to transfer or copy emoticons from one computer to another. MSN 8.0 or higher has been renamed to Windows Live Messenger. But if you have MSN 7.5 or later, you will see the differences given at the bottom of this article, as the emoticon storage location is different.

Remember to enable “display hidden files” as the Windows Live Messenger emoticons folder is hidden.
To enable display hidden files and folders:
Go to Windows Explorer or My Computer, Click Tools > Folder Options on the menu bar.
From there you will see the Folder Options dialog, choose the View tab, then click “Show hidden files and folders” in the Advanced settings list and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types. Click OK.

Now Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and navigate to:
Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\<PC username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\<Live Messenger username>\ObjectStore\CustomEmoticons.

Choose only .dt2 file which is the emoticons. Copy all the DT2 files to any folder on your hard drive or the other type of storage device (or click the Type column header to sort by file type, then select and copy all the DT2 files). Now you may close the folder.

Open the folder where you have copied the emoticon files. Rename the emoticon files and change its extension name to either .gif or .png. For example: ZNCKP7LMEe4fD3O2T72zk5Fheafy=.dt2 to anyname.gif or anyname.png.
Now double click the file and the image/emoticon will be displayed in your default image viewer.
To re-import a saved image into Windows Live Messenger as emoticon:

From the Windows Live Messenger menu, click Tools > Emoticons…
Click the Create… button.
Click Find Image…, then browse to the folder with the PNG or GIF files.
Type a keyboard shortcut and click OK.