DescentBB

I discovered this little trick by doing about 2 minutes of packet capturing and looking for what goes on when someone signs in. There's quite a bit of crap that flies by, in any case, do this to stop the ads from showing up:

Note: I don't guarantee that this will work all the time, or if it will work at all. It worked on my computer and another one I tested it on.

On Windows 2000 / XP:

1. Locate and open the "hosts" file with notepad. You can find it in:
On Windows 2000 / XP - C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc On Windows 98 / 98SE / ME - C:\Windows

2. The contents of the file should look something like this:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost

3. After the last line, 127.0.0.1 localhost, add the following line: 127.0.0.1 ar.atwola.com

4. Save the file and close notepad.

5. Now to test your IM client. Completely exit the program and sign on again, if you did everything correctly you shouldn't see any ads. Instead you will this box:

Which is certainly better from ads that talk to you or play movie trailers.

Let me know if this works for you.

Arch

Wow, that is awesome Xciter!!

Now, does anyone know a way to remove that damn "image broken" place holder that shows up now that all the ad servers can't be found?
Or maybe a way to add a few BR tags to the "Page not found" page so most adds show up as white space?

Or you can use an IM program that doesn't yell at you. I'm thinking of things like Trillian or Deadaim or Miranda.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Tetrad:
Or you can use an IM program that doesn't yell at you. I'm thinking of things like Trillian or Deadaim or Miranda.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Also included is the lesser-known MyIM. It's been around since before deadaim and does everything deadaim does.

http://home.rochester.rr.com/artcfox/MyIM/

Trillian rocks my socks... got tonnes of contacts

Easy to use, attractive, and plenty of plugins...

Miranda IM

Supports damn near every IM protocol out there, unlike Trillian. Also, unlike Trillian, Miranda IM is 100% FREE and is open source!

I sense rivalling..

A while ago I figured out it was "ads.web.aol.com"-- but maybe that's because I still use 4.7?

I got this instant messenger called Xfire, it's the gamers IM! It says what games you buddies are playing and you can join them in the server, it's much fun.
www.xfire.com

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Robo:
I sense rivalling..</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just friendly rivalry.