After retrieving the old ICQ installers from an archive of the OldApps file download server (it’s dead now), I’ve compiled a list of the legacy ICQ clients that I could get my hands on. This archive ranges from 2000a all the way to 8.x, so everyone has a slice of their own cake to savour and enjoy.
Anyways, enjoy yourself:
Notes:
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If you download and install ICQ versions 2000a - 2003b, follow Step 6 of this thread.
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ICQ 2000a expects your account to be freshly made and doesn’t synchrounize the contact list with the server, so existing contacts won’t appear unless you copy the CLB file in versions that do synchrounize the contact list or if you hand-make it from scratch.
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ICQ 2002a will tell you after a successful login that it couldn’t connect to the server and asks you if you want to put it on standby mode. Click on “Work Offline”, and ICQ will connect regardless.
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ICQ 2003b and 5.x have an issue where any ad in an ICQ window (chat or contact list) freezes the whole application. This will be looked into later.
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When successfully logging in with ICQ 5.0, you’ll be greeted with an auto-update error message. However, the application still logs in regardless. Click on the OK button on the error dialog, locate the ICQ flower icon in the system tray, and double-click on it. You’ll be able to use ICQ 5.0 afterwards.
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ICQ 6.0 installed vanilla displays a required auto-update message the server pushes to those clients. Luckily, a program named “ICQ Update Patcher” solves that problem, which is listed below:
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ICQ 5.1 has been excluded from the list, as with the patch “ICQ Update Patcher” supplies, it now freezes upon successful sign-in.
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ICQ 7.x notifies you of an update in progress by the time you log in, but it almost instantly fails afterwards. This does mean you can continue using 7.x.