The Future of VMK Pal (and Your Pictures)

With the closing of VMK on May 21, 2008, many people have asked me about the future of VMK Pal. When VMK closes, all VMK Pal features which rely on VMK will cease to work. These include:

  • The ability to log into and play VMK
  • Help Chat
  • VMK Calendar

But since VMK Pal is software which is installed on your computer, all non-VMK features will continue to work as long as it is installed on your computer. These include:

  • Links
  • Magnifer
  • Photo Album (and all pictures already taken)

Saving Your Pictures

VMK Pal stores all of your pictures on your computer, not on the internet. So even when VMK closes, your pictures will remain on your computer. VMK Pal keeps these pictures in a special folder. Although you can leave them in the folder, you may want to move them into a more accessible folder on your computer.

On Windows 2000 and XP, the pictures are stored in: 

C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Windows Username]\Application Data\VMK Pal\Pictures

On Windows Vista, the pictures are stored in: 

C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\Application Data\VMK Pal\Pictures

The pictures are saved as PNG (Portable Network Graphic) files, which are editable by most graphic programs, including Windows Paint. They are saved with a filename which includes the date and time the picture was taken. For example: "VMK-2008-04-13-16-30-343.png" was taken on April 13, 2008 at 16:30:343. For each ".png" file, there is also a ".thumb" file which is a smaller, thumbnail version which is displayed in the photo album. The ".thumb" files are only used by the VMK Pal photo album and do not need to be saved.

One you find the VMK Pal pictures folder, you may copy all of the .png files to a folder of your choosing.

Uninstalling VMK Pal

Although you are certainly welcome to keep VMK Pal installed on your computer once VMK closes, if you decide you want to free up a few extra MB of hard drive space, you can uninstall it. First, find the Windows program list.

On Windows 2000 and XP:

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

On Windows Vista:

Control Panel > Programs

From the list of programs, find VMK Pal. Then click on the "Remove" button. Follow the instructions to uninstall VMK Pal.