Have you tried GAIM?
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
With IE being so exploited over the past month, can you afford to use that all the time?
Read http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6142-0.html?forumID=5&threadID=27584&messageID=310764
Bob
As of about a day ago I've found it impossible to run AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and/or IE at the same time. If I try to run any two of them together, the 2nd one to start will load up, freeze and I get the good old Windows error message and it shuts down. Sometimes the program seems like it is going to work and then closes automatically without an error message. I've run Spybot, Adaware, an internet virus scan on symantec.com because Norton AV 04 didn't seem to want to run. It found a virus called ksuser.exe I believe it was called in the windows system files. But that was deleted. I've tried reinstalling each program, IE won't even reinstall, the program brings up an error saying it is not a Windows Logo certified program so it won't install. So I am at a loss for what to do, I'm running Win XP Pro.

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