HOW TO USE AOL INSTANT MESSENGER (AIM) IN 2023

HOW TO USE AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) IN 2023!

1) Download and install Oracle VirtualBox.
(This is needed because it may not work for everyone on Win10 or Win11, atleast it froze my PC but you are allowed to try lol, this is the better option to make it more nostalgic and ensure that it'll work smoothly).

2) Download the image file for WinXP.
-- ISO
-- TORRENT (download the file and open it with your torrent client)
(Idk if you can use an original copy or not, but probably most of you don't have one so just get it from archive.org, it's alright :P)

3) Open VirtualBox and select "New". Give your VM a name you'd like, I usually give it the name of the OS (WinXP in this case), and make sure that it's set to the correct type and version.

4) Choose how much RAM you want to use from your actual PC to power the VM, you shouldn't go further than 512 MB since WinXP doesn't need much, you can even go as low as 128 MB and it'll probably still work fine but if you have lots of RAM then you can choose more if you'd like.

5) Make sure the option "Create a virtual hard disk now" is the one selected. Click Create and a window will pop up, this is where you can set how much space you want to leave for your VM's hard drive, again you won't need much since the system takes up ~1.2 GB, so just choose as much as you want and can easily store on your actual hard drive.
I would recommend something between 5-10 GB because you really won't need more.

6) Before installing the OS, there are two important settings to make. Right click on your freshly created VM and click on Settings. First stay in General and click on the Advanced tab. Choose "Bidirectional" on the two options visible so you can copy and paste text material. Then go click on Network > Advanced > Adapter Type and choose the option "PCnet-FAST III" and click OK. This way, the VM will be able to connect to the Internet.

7) Now you can start your VM and it should ask for a start-up disk. This is where you should navigate to the OS (.iso file) you downloaded in Step 2 by clicking the little folder icon and clicking the "Add" option. Make sure the .iso file selected and click Choose.

8) Click Start and go through the installation process (pretty self-explanatory but you will have to press Enter, then F8, then Enter twice and you're good to go).

9) Once the computer rebooted, it'll continue the process but from here everything will be obvious and just basic information you may need to give, you can type in random stuff for names etc.
The one thing you have to give is the serial number, use this one:
MRX3F-47B9T-2487J-KWKMF-RPWBY
Anything else is not mandatory, you can just click Next etc.

10) When it finished installing, it'll reboot and set your screen resolution which you can change later if it's too small for you. Go through the registration wizard, first choose "Not right now" since there are no more updates for WinXP. Then choose No on the Network section. Choose No again. Give any name you'd like and here we go, WinXP is up and running! :D

11) Now open up Internet Explorer and paste in the following link: http://iwarg.ddns.net
(if pasting doesn't work, just type it in :P)

12) Click on register in the top right corner and enter credentials. Make sure you remember your username and password since this is what you will have to use to login to your account in AIM.

13) Now click on Downloads and you can choose from a variety of versions, but as they said themselves 5.1 works the best with their server so I would recommend that aswell since it worked for me with that version.

14) Click Run (no need to save) and install the program.

15) Before logging in, you will have to click on Setup > Connection and change the Host URL to this: https://phoenixim.ddns.net
Click OK twice and enter your credentials. Once you are done, you should be logged in successfully and enjoy AIM!

Extra) If you want to save chat logs and get rid of advertisements then go to Downloads and download DeadAIM and of course install it!

Shout out to Wildman Productions for making this happen with their own server!

If you don't understand a step or just have questions in general, then feel free to contact me here on SpaceHey or
reddot55 on Discord! :D