Member Avatar for boobookittyfvk

I've just finished my second year of college and have grown unmentionably addicted to AOL IM. I'm now home for the summer and unlike at school, I no longer have the luxury of a LAN connection. Also, I stay at a few different houses which do not particularly care for AIM being installed on their computers.

Anyway, my question is: How would it be possible for me to install AOL Instant Messenger, and my various accessories, onto a CD-RW that would enable me to travel with my AIM (and settings) and not disrupt the hosts?

I've attempted to install straight to the CD-RW, copy the Program Files folder, then all the required .dll's, nothing seems to work. Is this possible? Or are my hopes too high?
Please Help!

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Dani AI

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Short answer: you cannot make the full Windows AIM client truly portable by copying its Program Files to a CD-RW. Windows installers register components, add registry keys, install shared DLLs and services, and scatter per-user data; simply copying files usually misses those pieces, which is why your attempts failed. (howtogeek.com)

A practical, reliable approach is to carry a USB stick with a portable IM client instead of burning AIM to a CD. The PortableApps platform plus a portable multi-protocol client (for example, Pidgin Portable) runs from the drive, keeps all settings on the stick, and is designed not to leave personal data on the host PC — no installation required. Typical workflow: install the PortableApps Platform to the USB root, add Pidgin Portable from the platform app store, import any buddy lists you can export, then launch the app on a host and quit it before ejecting the drive. Use a flash drive rather than a CD because portable apps need to write settings while running. (portableapps.com)

Important historical note for future readers: AOL shut down the AIM service on December 15, 2017, so the official AIM network is no longer available. If the goal today is portable chat, use a portable client to connect to current networks (XMPP/Matrix, Slack, Discord, Signal, etc.) rather than trying to reach AIM servers. (cnbc.com)

Quick tips and cautions: follow the PortableApps guidance to close apps before ejecting to avoid data corruption; consider encryption/OTR for private conversations and avoid storing plaintext passwords on removable media; respect the policies of any host machine (libraries, friends). As noted, browser-based/web versions avoid installs but have feature limits; as pointed out, public terminals are an option but use them within their rules. (portableapps.com)

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Member Avatar for Dani

Unfortunately, this isn't possible. Windows programs such as AIM need to be installed to the operating system, which includes writing registry keys to the system registry, etc.

A viable option is to use the Java version of AOL Instant Messenger, AIM Express, which is a java applet that runs from the webpage.

You can go here to run it:

Because it's just a java applet, it doesn't have many of the features of the regular AIM program. However, you could still talk to your buddies online, and perhaps that's the most important thing. ;)

Member Avatar for samaru

I agree with Dani. Try using the applet version. Depending how new the computer is, it will work (you might have to download a plugin for the Applet or even install a newer version of IE - just do it while they're not looking ;) ). If you're really desperate, you can try going to and see if they have older versions of AIM. What you're trying to do with the CD I think used to work with older versions. Even if it was on CD, AIM used to write temp files to the hard drive. Give it a shot if you're desperate. ;)

If you REALLY need your AIM then you can go to most libraries and use it. Just be prepared to have some web page up with complicated diagrams and text that you can ALT-TAB to when a library person walks by. 8)

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