AIM 6.5 Remix

Yesterday we released a new version of AIM 6.5, version 6.5.7.13. In this release we cleaned up the install experience, modified the buddy info window so you can view more of the user profile, and added a simple Hot Searches module at the bottom of the buddy list. There were a bunch of bug fixes we made for this release. Check it out, and as always we love the feedback.

NOTE: I have updated the comments in this post with regards to the Vista related bugs in AIM 6.5, including some links to Microsoft message boards as well as AIM’s message boards that may help explain what people are seeing and doing to help the situation.

15 thoughts on “AIM 6.5 Remix

  1. To be honest, “cleaning up the install process” seems more like “finding an easier way to trick people into installing extra software”.

    Hoping the buddy info update notification bug was fixed. I haven’t seen that annoying orange indicator appear on my buddy list yet, so fingers are crossed.

  2. Fair point BangBang on the installer. Next time I will use my “” markup. In fairness, we are making improvements in the installer, some are still not public, others are not obvious to the end user.

    I assume the Vista issue you are referring to is this one: http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=568969&articleId=907&func=6&channel=Community+Member+Forum

    If so then we believe is not AIM related but we are still investigating.

  3. Hello. I’m on Vista also and I have the sound bug described by beanman above. I cant use AIM cause it totally breaks my sound! How can you say this isn’t AIM related? Installing it causes the problem. No matter how you dice it, AIM is the catalyst. I would love to use AIM but this bug is very serious and is holding me back. Can you imagine all the less tech-savvy people out there who have installed AIM 6.5 on Vista and now have broken sound? This is very serious, I really think the 6.5 release should be pulled until this is worked out. Thanks for reading.

  4. Yeah, I’m wondering also if this fixes the vista issues I had when I installed AIM 6.5 previously. I’m currently using trillian but I really want to return back to using AIM. Please do tell us if you would be so kindly if the vista issues have been fixed?

  5. I’m using AIM in Vista and have had no audio problems, what so ever. Have you guys tried turning off the option to allow applications exclusive control over the sound device? Maybe that’s doing something.

  6. This is the Vista problem that I was referring to that we believe is a Microsoft issue. MSFT is working on this issue, as you can see it is not isolated to AIM, in fact people who have installed Yahoo IM also see this. Here is a link to the thread that discusses this:
    http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1185469&SiteID=17

    Now looking through our message boards and Microsoft’s, there seems to be a correlation between the network issue and sounds. It also seems like some people are having success with System Restores, of course that is not acceptable as a solution. As I get more info, I will share it.

  7. Thank you for all of your replies. I’m reading through the thread now, and all I can think is, this has been happening to people since Feb 2007 and still no fix? Its ridiculous.

  8. yea, thats why i ditched vista… multiple, unsolved, random bugs…
    hey greg, feature request…
    since ill prolly never figure cloning out again.is it possible to make linking ‘real time’ ie: no relogging in to enable/disable it ? thats what stops me from using linking… the relog.

  9. This network/sound issue has crept up on 3/3 PCs in our family. I appreciate your efforts on this, but am a bit confused. A different thread on same forum at http://forums.microsoft.com/technet/showpost.aspx?postid=2326150&siteid=17&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=2 seems to state that Msft does NOT think it is their problem, but more related to AIM. And, a posting from Msft administrator at the end as recent as yesterday morning indicates there are no solutions yet. While Msft and AOL are different cos., you could BOTH lose me as a customer if this stays around. I would really appreciate it knowing AOL/AIM was deeply concerned about this, rather than stating “we believe it is a Msft issue.” Please help! I’ve burned 10 hours in the past 24 restoring 1 system…

  10. Yes.. please help and fix this! I’ve found system restore to be the only way around this. BUT… AIM PRO did NOT cause this problem for me! Yes, it’s terrible for anything but business, but it’ll do as a holdover until this problem can be fixed.

  11. The networking sound issue has been floating around for months in Windows Vista, however AIM 6.5 seems to be a huge trigger for it. When it hit me, I spent HOURS researching the problem, and found a fix. I hope it works for you as well. I AM ASSUMING YOU HAVE UAC (USER ACCOUNT CONTROL) TURNED OFF WHEN YOU INSTALLED AIM; IF YOU HAVE UAC ENABLED ALREADY (ON), I CAN’T GUARANTEE THIS WILL WORK.

    UAC: (to check, click start, control panel, user accounts and family safety, user accounts, turn user account control on or off. If it’s off, the box will be unchecked. If it’s on, you will get a popup asking if you want to continue, and then you will see the box is checked)

    STEP 1: Uninstall AIM 6.5; you do not have to remove your preferences when it asks, click no – do not delete them

    STEP 2: System Restore to the first point you can find before AIM 6.5 was installed/you started having problems. Click Start, type “System Restore” into the search box, click System Restore when it appears, then go through the process. NOTE: You do this at your own risk, please research more about System Restore if you do not know what it’s for or what it does.

    STEP 3: Create another user account, make it an administrator, VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!! if you try to enable UAC on the account you have now, you could screw up your computer, only able to logon through safe boot, so make a whole new user account with administrator priveledges.

    STEP 4: Restart the computer and log onto the new account. Make suer UAC is turned ON!! (user account control). To do this, read the blurb about UAC before step 1.

    STEP 5: Install whatever version of AIM 6.5 you would like: http://filehippo.com/download_aim

    STEP 6: Restart the computer and log onto your normal account. AIM 6.5 should be there in C:/Program Files and should work correctly, without any networking issues or sound issues or any other of the multiple symptoms of this problem.

    STEP 7: Delete the other user account that you created.

    That’s it. It worked for me. If the problem persists, do another system restore back to the point you had before. Good luck.

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  13. The post that bangbang023 made about the allowing applications exclusive control over the sound devices is what fixed my problem as far as music (windows media and itunes.) However, the rest of the symptoms like server execution failed, network systems etc…that were caused by this update have not gone away.
    Anyone with advice….

  14. I had the same network and sound problems as well…. each and every time I installed AIM, which was three different times. Each time I got the same problems. I simply uninstalled AIM completely, and did a system restore to a point where AIM was not installed. Problem solved, each and every time. The bottom line is….AIM is DEFINITELY the culprit here! My advice is to NOT install it on Vista until they get the issue fixed. I have NEVER, EVER had these sound and network issues until I installed AIM. When you get rid of it, you MUST do a system restore to get the system back to normal. Make sure you restore to a restore point when AIM was NOT installed, otherwise you’ll still have the audio/network issues when you reboot. So AIM needs to get their act together, or Microsoft needs to come out with a compatibility patch to make Vista and AIM work together in harmony. If you have Vista and you have AIM 6.5, get rid of one or the other!

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