My &#$# friend deleted my aim list, is there any way to restore it to
its' original state (a week ago)?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 09 May 2003 17:08 PDT

Hey there,

What version of AIM and Windows are you using?

answerguru-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by tisme-ga on 09 May 2003 18:25 PDT

There are two ways your friend could have deleted this file: 

A) Deleted the actual file on the hard drive that stores the buddy
list.
B) Deleted each name, one by one.

If your friend deleted the aim list using A, it might be possible to
recover your AIM list, but the method is not 100% guarunteed. Another
possibility would be that your friend formated/erased the computer or
uninstalled AIM and reinstalled it. Please let me know if any of these
is the case.

If your friend deleted the aim list using B, while it might be
possible to recover, I would not be able to help you do this.

If you want an answer from me, please let me know. Please understand
that the method is not 100% guarunteed, but there is a good chance of
recovering it if it happened recently and you have not installed many
programs on your computer since it happened. I would also need to know
what operating system you are running.

tisme-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 09 May 2003 19:17 PDT

gllen...

I've located a program (freeware) whose creators say it will recover
the AIM buddy list from your registry. Does this interest you?

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Clarification of Question by gllen-ga on 10 May 2003 10:40 PDT

I am using version 5.1.3036, Windows 2000 Pro.

I think he deleted it when he was trying to add someone to the list
and accidentally hit delete when the buddies folder was selected. It
was deleted on May 3rd, one week ago.

I run the same AIM account on two computers if that helps (same
version and os on both).

I would definitely be interested in a program that would restore it.

The only possible way to recover your buddy list would require a
specific circumstance.

If you have ever logged into AIM from another computer via the Windows
client (not AIM Express for Java) then you list is recoverable from
that point. So if you have ever logged on from a friend's computer or
at a librayy, or anything, what you are trying to do is possible.

If this is not the case, then what you are trying to do is not
possible by any means other than social-engineering an AOL technition
into helping you.

* This information is provided off of my expertice and not information
on the internet.

Just to let you guys know, the buddy list for the AOL IM client,
AIM,Aim express, quick buddy, Netscape messenger, Compuserve messenger
and the Compuserve client  are all held on AOL's servers. They are not
stored on your local machine.
If your buddy list is missing, it is most likely due to someone
logging on to one of these services using your screen name and
password, and then deleting your buddy list. There is no way to
recover it once the list has been erased from AOL servers.
To the best of my knowledge, Aim recover, and any other programs that
claim to "restore your buddy list" are usually tools used for cracking
AIM passwords, and therefore probably not a good idea to try and use.
chellphill-ga