New: Aim 6 freezing bugs with McAfee Software
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 12:09 am. 26 comments
Posted in AIM Problems, AOL, WTF.
A recent update to Mcafee triggered a software glitch in Aim 6.1 through Aim 6.5. Around Monday, AIM 6 users have been reported freezing and disappearing windows. All graphical smileys show up with a red X sifgnifying a missing image. This symptoms occur when all IM sounds suddenly change to the&Windows default beep or a “ding” sound. The advertisements will then show up blank and everything goes completely haywire. One common thread reported by users whom experienced this problem is that they all have McAfee software installed. You can read two threads about it here and here. This affects all versions of AIM 6.x.
How to Fix this Problem
McAfee SiteAdvisor is the root of this problem. Follow the instructions.
Uninstall Site Advisor
- Click Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove
- Select Mcafee Site Advisor, OR Mcafee (Remove) OR Mcafee Security Center.
- Checkmark or Continue the Uninstallation of McAfee Site Advisor.
If Site Advisor became bundled with your purchase of McAfee Security Center, please visit here if you want to reinstall it.
It’s a real shame when this kind of thing happens. Bugs and glitches are annoying in general, but when there is no male function like when your electronic device freezes, ouch!
I have also started experiening this problem with Aim and I have McAfee virus software, but uninstalling the software is more of a pain than dealing with the problem
All you really need to do is uninstall site advisor.
so if u uninstall it.. and reinstall it . would aim still have the problem going on?
Well according to my test, reinstalling siteadvisor causes the problem. Although, some say using the program remover and reinstalling everything fixes the problem.
I have had the same problem. I use McAfee as well. Usually I’ll just log off AIM, let it sit a minute, then log back in. It’s ok for a while after that, but will eventually wind up freezing and not displaying windows, expressions, etc. Uninstalling my virus software is out of the question. I’ll just wait for a fix.
Michelle, do you have site advisor installed?
Yes. (And I actually use it a lot.) When I looked into uninstalling it, as it instructs us to do above, I found I’d have to uninstall the whole package. I don’t think I feel comfortable doing that…
Site Advisor should show up in a list of What you want to Uninstall in the Mcafee Security Center Uninstallation program. Check Mark that and it will uninstall SiteAdvisor Only. The rest of the Anti-Virus program will remain.
Is it likely that AIM or McAfee will develop a fix/patch for this eventually? What does SiteAdvisor do exactly? just tell me when I’m about to log onto a harmful webpage or tell me this page was “very spammy?”
Well I don’t expect McAfee to make a patch, but AOL Beta staff said that they are going to fix it somehow, I just don’t know when.
SiteAdvisor is a program that shows a rating for each website to tell you if its dangerous to go to it or not, based on a combination of several factors: Spam, Malware, Outgoing Links, and Customer Experiences. Only SiteAdvisor for IE causes glitches with AIM 6, but if you have SiteAdvisor for Mozilla Firefox, you will not see the glitches stated above.
I uninstalled the site advisor a couple days ago. And things were going well. Until just recently (yesterday) my imsend.wav turned into the default beep. No signs of freezing. It doesn’t cause any problems other than annoy me since i’ve become accustomed to my AIM noises. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem.
I’ve been having an issue with my AIM since last week and I thought it was my computer until I searched and found out about the AIM/McAfee problem. I uninstalled the only item on my add/remove list that said strictly uninstall and my AIM ended up working for about 1 1/2 hours and then did the same thing as it had before. So i just restored everything and I am forced to use AIM 5.9. I even downloaded the Beta version and it still didn’t work!
I wish they would solve the problem soon because it’s rather annoying.
Well, the thing is, what was the mcafee product that you uninstalled, because in this scenario, if it wasn’t Site Advisor, then you have a totally different problem unrelated to McAfee. The Symptoms of Mcafee are most notably the default windows beep, freezing windows, the window borders not showing up, and the ads showing up blank.
So uninstalling Mcaffee site advisor would fix my aim freezing problem.Im sory for asking this, but there is no real answer on these blogs.
Its not that there are no real answer…NO ONE KNOWS. I noticed that AIM launched AIM 6.5 today or recently. I upgraded and so far its working but I have only been using it 20 minutes. I’ve also noticed the bug appears more rapidly in peak times. I can use it for hours when I’m working late night without a problem. Hopefully 6.5 fixes it.
Well it looks like it works. Today I downloaded AIM’s new 6.5 update which was the previous Beta download. I’ve been using it for hours now without any problems. This bug was somehow attributed to a recent McAfee update. Again the symptoms include:
*AIM sounds switching to the Windows default beep
*Ads in dialog boxes disapper
*New Incoming and Outdoing IM windows appear but will not let you type
*AIM chat window frame disappears as if frozen.
If you’ve had any or all of these symptoms I suggest you try the new AIM 6.5 download.
@dude1 I’m not sure how it can get any more clearer from when it says “HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM” If you don’t have McAfee Site Advisor installed then this problem doesn’t apply to you.
I also agree with Skee, this bug only affects those who have Site Advisor installed. I’ve seen plenty of people who have freezing problems that are unrelated to this bug, and Its pretty hard to find a fix for it when there are so many variables thrown out there. It could be related to hardware issues or maybe another software conflict. Nobody knows the real answer as to why it does this, but for now try this out, if it doesn’t work check back later if other people are having similar problems.
If feel you WB…I have McAfee Site Advisor. Its not the most functional thing but it does serve a purpose and quite frankly I paid for it so I should have it running.
great fix….just go into IE and disable the Add-in for site advisor….I use firefox anyway so i still have it enabled on the Firefox and my aim is not freezing up so far and the borders are disappearing
arent disappearing***
I have had all of these probmlems exactly as you described, and I am using McAfee SiteAdvisor. If I turn it off, rather than uninstalling it, will my problems be solved?
I haven’t tried turning it off but you can try if you want to.
aolsoftware.exe
anybody having problems with high CPU usage on this? because i am. and it makes it freeze up entirely. >:|
so please let me know
I’ve been having the same problems and deleted mcafee but the problem persists….
Anything else I can try?
I’ve got AIM 5.9 and McAfee… whenever I leave an away message and come back some time later, AIM has signed me off or has signed me off then on again, but unlike some other people, it doesn’t keep my away message on. Any ideas?