You might want to be aware of how the "aolload.exe" can suck up all of the resources of your CPU. This happens to me every time I "exit" from AIM. My processor gets overloaded running at nearly 100%. http://www.techworld.com/security/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=1&entryid=636
Use a third party application like Trillian or Pidgin. No need to use the native AIM client. Personally I use Pidgin. Pidgin is simple, doesn't use resources and supports multiple clients.
Agreed. Personally I use Miranda IM. Not only is it free but it is also open source (not a huge selling point for many people, but it is for me). http://www.miranda-im.org/
I run AIM and Vista and do not have this problem My aolload.exe is running at 1976K of memory, way down the list of processes. My CPU load is usually at a few percent... Try completely uninstalling and reinstalling with the latest AIM
i use an older version of aim (4.8). less taxing on my system. i've had the newer versions try to take over my computer.