APC is the Alternative PHP Cache, which is a free, open, and robust framework for caching and optimizing PHP intermediate code. What this means is that APC reads your PHP files, parses them into a more efficient binary format and then caches them in memory so that each request for your PHP files and PHP library files can be fed from the parsed cache. This will generally lead to a speed increase when serving a PHP site, especially one with a lot of library files. This post looks at how to install APC for PHP on Linux. The Linux distribution I used was CentOS 5, but it should be fairly similar for most distros.
.SQM files are created by a number of Microsoft applications, most commonly Windows Live Messenger (previously known as MSN).
According to Microsoft, SQM files (standing for Software Quality Metrics) are used as part of their “Microsoft Customer Experience Program” and help improve their products by anonymously monitoring usage habits and reporting software errors/bugs.
To stop these files being created, you will need to disable the option in Windows Live Messenger. You can do this through the options menu:
1. Click HELP.
2. Select ‘Customer Experience Improvement Program’.
3. Tick on ‘I don’t want to participate right now’ box.
4. Click OK.
Please take note, that .SQM files are NOT viruses and do not contain spyware/malware and do not contain any personal information.
SQM files have a naming convention such as “sqmnoopt00.sqm”. They are normally found in the root folder of your hard-drive (C:) and more recently, the “Documents and settings/Application Data/Microsoft/MSN Messenger/” folder.
Dot What!? visitors have found that deleting SQM files is safe. Although probably true, we advise you to backup the files first.
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By default, you participate in a data-gathering program. Open Live Messenger, click on Help, then on Customer Experience Improvement Program, then de-check the radio button which says you want to participate. Try that. It will almost certainly work, and it’s not dangerous.
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