ICQ Inc. - A Guided Tour to ICQ

Add Users Add users to your Contact List	ICQ Power Search ICQ Site Web
The ICQ Status Menu (Simple Mode Only)	ICQ Power Search ICQ Site Web
The ICQ Event Menu (Simple Mode Only)		ICQ Quick Help All you need to know in 3 simple steps!
Advanced Features Mode Get More of ICQ!		ICQ Quick Help All you need to know in 3 simple steps!

	What is ICQ ?

ICQ ("I Seek You") is a program that lets you find your friends and associates online in real time. You can create a Contact List containing only people you want to have there, you can send them messages, chat with them, send files, configure ICQ to work with external applications and more. For more information read this.

About this Guide
The goal of this Guided Tour is to provide new ICQ users (or future ICQ users) with a simple, easy to follow tutorial to quickly become familiar with the basic features of ICQ 99b. The tutorial contains screen shots to help you follow the step by step instructions.

Note: During your tour you may encounter references or features not fully described in these tutorials. These references and features are more fully described under Advanced Features Mode only. We suggest you familiarize yourself with the Simple Mode Features first, and then switch to Advanced mode.

	Getting Started

Downloading ICQ

To begin working with ICQ, you'll need to download the installation file.
To download ICQ, go to http://www.icq.com/download/, and follow these steps:

Select your Operating System (this guide is for Windows 95/98/NT 4.0)

Click the download link

When the file begins to download, save it to a temporary folder on your computer.

Wait until the download is complete.

Installing ICQ

To install ICQ, follow these steps:

Browse your computer to the location you saved the installation file, ICQ 99b.

Double click on the file (icq99b.exe).

Read the Installation Wizard instructions on your screen.

Wait for the installation to complete.

* First time ICQ users:

When installation process is complete, ICQ will prompt you to make sure your database is in the ICQ 99a format. Click the OK button to continue.

* Veteran ICQ users:

After you click the OK button, ICQ will launch the ICQ Database Converter. Select which owner (ICQ#) to convert, and continue. When done, ICQ will launch and you will be able to use it as before.

Registering ICQ

When the installation process is complete, ICQ will automatically launch the Registration Wizard.
If this is the first time you're installing ICQ on your computer, select "New User".
If you already have ICQ installed and are a registered user, select "Existing User".

Follow the online registration instructions. If you need any assistance, please refer to the ICQ technical support page, or view and follow the Registration Troubleshooting page.

When you first open the ICQ program after installation, the program appears in Simple Mode (by default).
As you can see in figure 1, the ICQ client shows the following:

Your ICQ# - On the title bar of the ICQ window there is a number. This is your ICQ#

Instructions Button - brings you to this page.

To Advanced Mode - prompts you to switch to Advanced Features Mode, for which we have created a different guide.

Find Random Chat Partner - enables you to look for a random chat partner on a subject by choice.

Add Users - enables you to search for users on the ICQ Networks.

System Menu - contains sections we will talk about in the next few pages.

Availability (Online/Offline)- also known as the Status Menu, enables you to connect or disconnect to and from the ICQ servers.

To learn more, continue to Adding Users.

See Also:
A Guided Tour to ICQ	Advanced Features Tour	Security Tour	ICQ Features

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