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Solution for iChat error: “You have attempted to login too often…”

Solution for iChat error: \

Users of Apple’s iChat instant messaging software might come across a problem that won’t allow them to sign into their AIM accounts.

“You have attempted to login too often in a short period of time. Wait a few minutes before trying to login again” is the full error message iChat provides before signing the user off. The cause of the issue most likely roots from using your Mac at multiple locations (such as home, school, or work), which could lead to the preference files somehow getting corrupted. It sounds serious, but really shouldn’t take more than a minute or so to resolve. Follow these steps for detailed instructions:

1.) Quit iChat if it is already open, and then open Finder.

2.) Browse to your user folder (can be found by clicking on your main hard drive, then going to Users > Your Username.

3.) Open the Library folder and go to the Preferences directory.

4.) You’ll see a long list of files with a .plist extension. The one we’re looking for is com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist. When you find it, delete it by dragging the file to the trash.

5.) Launch iChat and this time you should be able to sign in to your AIM account successfully. iChat will automatically rebuild the preference file you deleted.

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5 Comments Have Been Posted (Leave Your Response)

Hi,
i have tried doing that above and it didnt work. I need more help. can anyone help me?

i tried doing the above mentioned steps and it didnt work. Can anyone help me to resolve the issue ?

Yeah, this didn’t work at all for me either. I’ve had this problem happen to me multiple times too. When will they get this thing fixed?? Does somebody have any better information?

Weird its not working for some people. It worked for me! Thanks a lot, this was really giving me a headache!

Try deleting some buddies from your Buddy List.. if I’m not mistaken, iChat has a buddy limit and will tweak out if you exceed it.
Good luck!