Common Yahoo! Chat Problems & their solutions!

Problems

I cannot join chat since 15 September 2011?
I can receive Instant Messages, but not send them
When I try and voice chat, I get "You are not Authorized to Join the Conference"
When I try and view a webcam, I get an "You are currently unable to use the service" error
I get an error when I try and login, "Your account is locked for security reasons"
I can't access adult or user rooms in Yahoo! Messenger
People always boot me from chat
I get the error "999 - Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time" on Yahoo!.
Ypager has caused an error in SWFLASH.OCX
Ypager crashes or performs an illegal operation on startup or right click

Mac Messenger

I cannot see the list of users in Mac Messenger Chat

Other Questions

How do I boot?
What is Y!Tunnel or YTK? How can I get it for free
What is an IMVironment
How can I get someone's IP address
How do I automatically reply to an Instant Message
How do I contact somebody at Yahoo!

I cannot join chat since 15 September 2011
If you cannot join chat since 15 September 2011, count the number of characters in your ID.
If your ID has 16 or more characters, e.g. helpbytes.longid, you will be unable to enter chat currently. Instead, make a new, smaller ID.

I can receive Instant Messages, but not send them
This is a Yahoo! Server problem. Potential solutions are:
Use an alternative ID.
Add the user you wish to IM to your buddy list.
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When I try and voice chat, I get "You are not Authorized to Join the Conference"
When you enter a room, you receive a "token" to enter voice chat, this expires if you don't join within a certain amount of time. To resolve this problem, leave the chat room, re-join, and immediately try voice chat again.

If you get the error when you first join the room, make sure you do not log into Yahoo! Messenger with capitals. For example, login as helpbytes, NOT HelpBytes or HELPBYTES.
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When I try and view a webcam, I get an "You are currently unable to use the service" error
To use the Yahoo! webcam service you must 18 years of age or older. If you are under this age, you are permitted to view webcams of people who are on your buddy list only.
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I get an error when I try and login, "Your account is locked for security reasons"
This happens because somebody, perhaps you, or perhaps an automated bot, made many requests with a wrong password in a short period of time to gain access to your account. Most times, the person had no interest in gaining access, but knew this action would forbid you from gaining access yourself. To fix this, login at http://login.yahoo.com/config/login, you might have to do this twice, then try your account; It could take upto 48hrs to work again. More info...
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I can't access adult or user rooms in Yahoo! Messenger
If you are in the UK, and use the UK Yahoo! Instant Messenger, you will not be able to see the adult roomnames, or user roomnames. This is in order to protect people, and children against obseen activities that may go on in these rooms.
You can download the US messenger to view these roomnames, Yahoo! Messenger US
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Ypager has caused an error in SWFLASH.OCX
You have an incompattible, or corrupted version of Macromedia Flash player, a free Internet Explorer plugin for playing enhanced multimedia content. Yahoo! uses this for audibles inside Instant Messages, you can upgrade it here for free: Macromedia.
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Ypager crashes or performs an illegal operation on startup or right click
This error occurs because you are using a third party skinning application that modifies the Windows Look/Interface.
You need to either remove the program, or open the settings, and disable the skinning of Yahoo! Messenger / YPager.
Two known programs to cause this are Window Blinds and AlienGUIse. Window Blinds has a "per application" setting to override this.
Thanks to Savage_Charms & WackyB forums
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I cannot see the list of users in Mac Messenger Chat
Move your mouse cursor over to the left of the screen until it turns into a double headed cursor. Then double click. The user list should appear. Unfortunately this is required each and every time you enter chat.
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People always boot me from chat
Some people gain pleasure in booting others from chat rooms. Yahoo! Messenger is very vulnerable to certain type of errors, which force it to crash. Chat2.0 and Java chat (http://chat.yahoo.com) are less bootable than Yahoo! Messenger, but many feel that using a 3rd party chat client offers much more reliable protetion. A review of those can be seen here, Chat Clients.
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I get the error "999 - Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time" on Yahoo!.
This happens if your IP address has performed too many operations on the Yahoo! Server in a short amount of time, such as if you continually refresh a webpage. The error lasts around 30 minutes to 2 hours, but up to 48hrs has been reported.

This can also happen when you use a proxy server. This is either because you have specifically chosen to use one, or you allow Internet Exporer to automatically detect one.
To Disable:
Dial Up: Tools, Internet Options, Connections. Click your connection in the list. Click Settings. Untick the box to use a proxy server.
Broadband: Tools, Internet Options, Connections. Click "Lan Settings...". Untick the box automatically detect settings, and untick the box to use a proxy if its ticked.
If after doing either of the above you can no longer view any webpages, simply put the ticks back. Contact your ISP regarding the problem.
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How do I boot?
You can't! You do not have this type of authority even if you created the Room. The best thing to do is to protect yourself.
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What is Y!Tunnel or YTK. How can I get it for free
Y!Tunnel and YTK are like a proxy that runs on your PC, all Yahoo! packets go through it first, so it can find, and strip inappropriate content, such as spam.
They may also add new functionality to the messenger interface its self, instead of requiring the use of a third party chat client (often free).
The authors of thes products choose to charge, and therefore there is no legal way of obtaining these for free.
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What is an IMVironment
These are interactive environments that run in the IM. They may alter the way your messages appear, they may add new smileys, or allow you and your buddy to play a game. They are free, and may contain advertisements to the company who provided it.
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How can I get someone's IP address
If you are IMing with a buddy, the PM may go into Peer2Peer mode, meaning the whole connection is performed direct between you and your buddy, it does NOT go through Yahoo!. This means that one of you will be running in server mode, and both need the IP of the other user. By running netstat from a command prompt, you may see the IP. More Info...
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How do I automatically reply to an Instant Message
You may have IMd someone and got a rejection notice, or another message back automatically. This functionality is provided by Y!Tunnel, and 3rd Party Clients.
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How do I contact somebody at Yahoo!
Yahoo! do not employ moderators in the chat rooms. When you send off feedback requests, it's first handled by a bot, and you may be able to reply to a member of staff, but you would wait weeks, and probably receive a standard form of reply. The E-Mail address for custom care is cc-advoc@yahoo-inc.com
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