AIM 6.5 and Vista

[Zac Toliver]

I recently downloaded AIM 6.5 which is the latest version of AIM. It seems
like every 5 minutes, AIM stops responding after I open the main AIM window.
Also, after minimizing a chat window, I try to restore the window but it
doesn't come up and AIM stops responding. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[priji]

I began the day with a Vista laptop that wouldn't connect to my LAN or the Internet. What was odd is the network icon in the system tray wouldn't respond when I attempted to check the network status. And the Windows Security Center reported my firewall wasn't on, and I had no anti-virus software. A further check showed the firewall was off, but anti-virus was working. Something was seriously wrong.

My first inclination was to ask myself what changed. Well, last night I did download and install the new VMware Server 2. And it was Microsoft Tuesday yesterday and two patches would have been applied over night. So I uninstalled VMware Server, but no change.

A quick check to the Windows system logs showed that the Network List Service was failing to start, and manually restarting it got the same failed result. The log message was "The Network List Service terminated with an error: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested services". Interestingly though, I could tether my Windows Mobile 6 phone and connect to the Internet via EVDO, so some networking stuff was working. I at least had enough to get online and start digging around.

Turns out, I'm not the only one. Microsoft TechNet has a thread full of users and IT support people reporting the same symptoms, beginning October 26, and they were getting mighty testy that Microsoft hadn't even been able to reproduce the problem or find the cause. Some users were even thinking the problem might be related to a thread going back as far as February but I didn't chase that lead. One other common report though, many users reported installing or using AIM 6.5. Some thought installing AIM 6.5 with Vista's User Account Control turned off might be part of the scenario.

Two of the three remedies suggested by users weren't palpable to me reinstall Vista, or add "NT Authority/Local Service" to the Administrators group permissions (a big security risk). Fortunately for me, the third option of uninstalling AIM worked. The network is back, wireless is working, and Network List Service starts fine. Security Center still thinks there's no anti-virus software running but it's fine. Others on the list weren't so lucky and are still struggling to find a solution. The version of AIM I was running was AIM 6.5.5.2, btw.

If you run into the same problem, try the above and/or check the forum link above in case more progress has been made. Hopefully this blog post has been downloaded to your blog reader beforehand, making this easier to diagnose without a network connection.

 

[waweech]

I have had very similar problems after installing AIM 6.5 : the network icon
in the system tray stopped working, I received bogus Windows Security Center
alerts, the Windows Experience ratings went blank, and standard user accounts
no longer work, among other issues. Unfortunately, uninstalling AIM 6.5 did
not solve the problems for me, and System Restore did not work, either. Now I
have a Vista system that is severely crippled. I'll appreciate any help
anyone can offer.

"priji" wrote:

>
> I began the day with a Vista laptop that wouldn't connect to my LAN or
> the Internet. What was odd is the network icon in the system tray
> wouldn't respond when I attempted to check the network status. And the
> Windows Security Center reported my firewall wasn't on, and I had no
> anti-virus software. A further check showed the firewall was off, but
> anti-virus was working. Something was seriously wrong.
>
> My first inclination was to ask myself what changed. Well, last night I
> did download and install the new VMware Server 2. And it was Microsoft
> Tuesday yesterday and two patches would have been applied over night. So
> I uninstalled VMware Server, but no change.
>
> A quick check to the Windows system logs showed that the Network List
> Service was failing to start, and manually restarting it got the same
> failed result. The log message was "The Network List Service terminated
> with an error: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the
> requested services". Interestingly though, I could tether my Windows
> Mobile 6 phone and connect to the Internet via EVDO, so some networking
> stuff was working. I at least had enough to get online and start digging
> around.
>
> Turns out, I'm not the only one. Microsoft TechNet has a thread full of
> users and IT support people reporting the same symptoms, beginning
> October 26, and they were getting mighty testy that Microsoft hadn't
> even been able to reproduce the problem or find the cause. Some users
> were even thinking the problem might be related to a thread going back
> as far as February but I didn't chase that lead. One other common report
> though, many users reported installing or using AIM 6.5. Some thought
> installing AIM 6.5 with Vista's User Account Control turned off might be
> part of the scenario.
>
> Two of the three remedies suggested by users weren't palpable to me
> reinstall Vista, or add "NT Authority/Local Service" to the
> Administrators group permissions (a big security risk). Fortunately for
> me, the third option of uninstalling AIM worked. The network is back,
> wireless is working, and Network List Service starts fine. Security
> Center still thinks there's no anti-virus software running but it's
> fine. Others on the list weren't so lucky and are still struggling to
> find a solution. The version of AIM I was running was AIM 6.5.5.2, btw.
>
> If you run into the same problem, try the above and/or check the forum
> link above in case more progress has been made. Hopefully this blog post
> has been downloaded to your blog reader beforehand, making this easier
> to diagnose without a network connection.
>
>
> --
> priji
> Posted via http://windowsbb.com Forum to Usenet gateway
>
>

 

[Paul Knudsen]

On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 20:44:00 -0800, waweech
<waweech@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I have had very similar problems after installing AIM 6.5 : the network icon
>in the system tray stopped working, I received bogus Windows Security Center
>alerts, the Windows Experience ratings went blank, and standard user accounts
>no longer work, among other issues. Unfortunately, uninstalling AIM 6.5 did
>not solve the problems for me, and System Restore did not work, either. Now I
>have a Vista system that is severely crippled. I'll appreciate any help
>anyone can offer.

No problem with AIM here. Maybe it is your hardware.

 

[whizkid355@gmail.com]

This actualy started with AIM 6 & has continued with AIM 6.5 The only
way to get your Vista working corectly again is to do a System Restore
(may have to do this in safe mode as I had to) Restore Vista back to
when it last worked for you. Now you have to boot back into Safe Mode
once again and Uninstall AIM 6 in Safe Mode. Once it's uninstalled,
boot Vista normaly, all should work just fine. Havent tried installing
AIM 6.5 in Safe Mode to see if it keeps Vista in tact & I dont plan on
it, but the Safe Mode uninstall worked for me. Hope this helps others.
AOL needs to fix this MAJOR bug. BTW, im running Vista Ulimate 32 bit
with UAC turned off.

 

[WHIZKID355]

This actualy started with AIM 6 & has continued with AIM 6.5 The only way to
get your Vista working corectly again is to do a System Restore (may have to
do this in safe mode as I had to) Restore Vista back to when it last worked
for you. Now you have to boot back into Safe Mode once again and Uninstall
AIM 6 in Safe Mode. Once it's uninstalled, boot Vista normaly, all should
work just fine. Havent tried installing AIM 6.5 in Safe Mode to see if it
keeps Vista in tact & I dont plan on it, but the Safe Mode uninstall worked
for me. Hope this helps others. AOL needs to fix this MAJOR bug. BTW, im
running Vista Ulimate 32 bit with UAC turned off.

 

[Lindsayyy]

No, it really is a problem with AIM. Every time I try to download AIM the
tray icon will say that I'm not connected to the internet, even when I am.
Also, all of my mpeg files can't run. This is only after I install aim. My
father actually went through and corrected the problem and all of my files
were working with my tray icon working and he told me to try installing aim
again, but it has has the same result: no mpeg files working and no try icon
connecting. This is really ridiculous and i think that something needs to be
done because I didn't get the computer to not be able to load things I want
to use.

"Paul Knudsen" wrote:

> On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 20:44:00 -0800, waweech
> <waweech@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >I have had very similar problems after installing AIM 6.5 : the network icon
> >in the system tray stopped working, I received bogus Windows Security Center
> >alerts, the Windows Experience ratings went blank, and standard user accounts
> >no longer work, among other issues. Unfortunately, uninstalling AIM 6.5 did
> >not solve the problems for me, and System Restore did not work, either. Now I
> >have a Vista system that is severely crippled. I'll appreciate any help
> >anyone can offer.
>
> No problem with AIM here. Maybe it is your hardware.
>