Here is a complicated but great advanced tip for windows. If you are someone who has to regularly re-install your computer and you find you loose important things such as Windows Live Messenger Emoticons (like i do) then this should help keep them in place if you do loose the rest of the system. Hardlink Shell Extension is a graphical add-on to an already well established Windows Function called Symbolic Links. You can essentially move the MSN emoticons cache system to a protected area on the disk, in this case a hidden partition. What i have done on my laptop is created a new hidden partition and then moved the emoticons cache to that and then using hardlink shell extension i have created a symbolic link back to the original location – this allows any updates, changes or added icons to be put in the correct location but that “actual” files are stored elsewhere.
Illustration 1 is the original place for the msn messenger cache files (the purple means its a symbolic link)
Illustration 2 is the new location and yet windows see’s this as transparent and therefore the above picture is what windows uses to store its files.
What does all this mean. Well if you accidently mess windows up – your files are still there upon re-install and just need the paths altered to the new place once again using hardlinks and then all your updated emoticons are all in place and ready to use 
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