Common Yahoo! Chat Problems & their solutions!

Problems

I can receive Instant Messages, but not send them
I can send Instant Messages, but not receive them
When I try to view a profile, open E-mail, or click a link, I get a "create an association" error, or nothing happens
When I try and view a webcam, I get invalid Token
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 "Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time" on Yahoo!. When I try to login to chat, games or email.
Ypager has caused an error in SWFLASH.OCX
Profile Pics: "this doesnt appear to be one of your identities"
Ypager crashes or performs an illegal operation on startup or right click

Other Questions

How do I boot?
What is Y!Tunnel? 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 can receive Instant Messages, but not send them
If you are using Java Chat or Chat2.0 with the SUN Java Runtimes, your Instant messages will not leave the input line when you press "send" or enter. To fix this problem, go to start, settings, control panel, internet options, click the "advanced" tab and scroll down to "Java (SUN)". Remove the check from "Use Sun Java". More info...
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I can send Instant Messages, but not receive them
If you are using the chat2.0 software, the Instant Messages do not work as expected. Only if both you and the recipient are using Chat2.0 will you receive each others replies. If the recipient is using another form of chat, you will not be able to receive any replues.
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When I try to view a profile, open E-mail, or click a link, I get a "create an association" error, or nothing happens
Sometimes a windows setting for holding information about which browser to launch when you want to open a link from within a program gets corrupt. This can happen by a 3rd party piece of software. To fix this, make Internet Explorer default, or reset your web settings. These options are both available in start, settings, control panel, internet options, and then the programs tab. For other methods, and other browsers: More info...
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When I try and view a webcam, I get invalid Token
This is quite a common error, and the actual error is unknown. I know from experience that to start the webcam viewer, Yahoo! needs to receive a token from the client which it sends when you enter a chat room, sometimes this token is rejected. This can be sometimes fixed be closing chat, and going back in again.
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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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Profile Pics: this doesnt appear to be one of your identities
This is a poor error, it actually means the image is the wrong format, your image MUST be JPEG format (.jpg). This means you export or save as a JPEG, not just change the extensions.
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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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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 "Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time" on Yahoo!. When I try to login to chat, games or email.
This happens 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> How can I get it for free
Y!Tunnel is a proxy that runs on your PC, all Yahoo! packets go through it first, so it can find, and strip inappropriate contents. It can only work on codes it knows though, and so is not as affective as a 3rd party client.
There are two versions, the Pro which you must purchase a license to use, and Basic, which is free. Both are available at http://ytunnel.digitalcitrus.com
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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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