Just another reason you should stick with version 98a, before they added so much fluff. It still works fine for me, but if you give them a chance they'll break it so you have to upgrade. I had to install it with my internet connection unplugged, then in the registry:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Mirabilis\ICQ\DefaultPrefs
Change 'AutoUpdate' to 'No'
Doing this before it could update anything conveniently stopped all the problems I ever had with 98a. Just reinstalling, and reformatting and reinstalling didn't work.