Instant Messenger Programs Disconnecting

[Master Chief]

Ever since I got my laptop (ACER Aspire 1410) about ten months ago, I've always had trouble with IM programs staying connected. AIM, MSN, YIM, Trillian, GAIM, blah blah blah. Anyone have any idea what the hell's wrong? I've tried searching Google for people with similar problems but no luck, and I recall the last thread I made when I first got the laptop had no real help so I figured I'd give it another go.

Is it my connection, my laptop, or what? I have a wireless connection which kicks in and out once in a while, but even with Wireless disabled and running through a LAN I get disconnected. Things like BitLord never stop and keep downloading, it just seems to be messengers. Any suggestions or ideas as to what's happening?

 

[Drakon]

I had that problem a while ago with AIM. With me, though, it was a problem with the internet connection itself. See if you can stay online at a friends house without disconnecting for a while. If you can, then you might wanna get in touch with your phone company. Failing that, save your buddy list and your preferences, and uninstall the software. Then, install and run CCleaner, which should pick up quite a bit of...well, crap. Then install the newest version of whatever messenger you uninstalled.

 

[Master Chief]

Yeah, I have no problems staying connected on other computers. I might call up the techs tomorrow... but I hate dealing with techs as much as they hate dealing with people. And thanks for CCleaner, kickass prog.

 

[jaguarr]

Your ISP might be doing bandwidth shaping and causing hiccups with the IM protocols. Also, third-party IM clients like Trillian tend to have occassional issues because the IM companies like AOL and Yahoo like to periodically muck with their protocols so that the third-party clients won't function properly off of their free services so people will be forced to use the official IM client (at least until the third-party developers provide a fix).

jag