New AIM 5.9.3861 Freezes at Default Messenger Selection

Yes, I am having this exact problem today.
I am no expert, but I believe it has something to do with the firewall.
I don’t want to turn my firewall off though, so I don’t know what to do. I want to UNinstall this, and go back to my older version if I can.

Yep, I did that too, went to oldversion dowloaded an earlier version and it froze too!! boy was I pissed.
I posted in another thread what I did. I am using windows xp.. I used the system restore, I restored to an earlier date a few days before I did the darn upgrade, and now everything is back to normal for me.

Give this a whirl:

Install AIM, then close it down completely. Go to START > RUN and type in regedit and hit enter. Browse your way through these folders in regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAmerica OnlineAOL Instant Messenger (TM)CurrentVersionMisc

Once you’re in there, look to the right portion of the open window and double-click on “CheckAIMasDefault”, then set the number to zero and close out of regedit. Be sure that aim.exe isn’t a listed process in task manager “processes”, or else the registry change won’t stay.

I can’t guarantee this since I can’t recreate the problem, but it’s the only thing I can think of. Let me know how it goes 🙂

EDIT: I just checked a default installation, and the registry key is not yet created. Just download this file and double-click it and say “yes” when it asks you if you want to add it to the registry.
http://jon8rfc.homeip.net/aim/other/aim_default_fix.reg

For your peace-of-mind, I am a BigBlueBall Mentor (see my purple badge) approved by the owner (Jeff) of this site; I am a well-known member of the AIM community; you can right-click on the file itself and click on “edit” and see the EXACT contents of the file, and you will see this:

Which is pretty self-explanatory when you compare it to my previous instructions.

*NOTE*
Be cautious when you are instructed to download files that you aren’t familiar with, or when the person supplying hasn’t been established as trustworthy member around here. That’s not to say anybody is bad, but there is a handful of persons that hop onto various forums trying to cause trouble.

If you’re ever unsure about downloading a file, don’t hesitate to PM or IM myself or any other BBB staff members with the badges for Administrator, Team Leader, Advisor, or Mentor. First, contact the staff members for the AIM forums–Dave, Someguy03, Tigerblade, Jon8RFC–and allow us a couple of days to respond incase we’re busy with other things.

Please don’t feel uncomfortable or embarrassed to ask for advice with very important security-related issues such as downloading files; we’re here to help, and love doing it!