Not being able to send a message to the room sounds like you had the room in moderated mode, +m. I have no idea what could be causing their problems with mirc. Does java load for them? Try updating their browsers or the virtual machine if there are java issues.

I was having that same problem and I tried everything I could think of to get it to work. This is what I ended up doing and it worked fine for me. I discovered that Microsoft has a security patch available for a certain problem that some of you may be having such as I was. Basically what happens is until you download the security patch a hacker can somehow get into your computer and do something with your java applet. I am not a hacker and am not going to try to explain that but I will tell you what might work for you. Click on “Start” and then “Windows Update”. When you do that just keep waiting even when you think you have waited too long because it takes this a few minutes to work. Your computer will connect ot Microsoft Windows update page. Then Microsoft will automatically scan your computer and see what you have and what you need. They will then make recommendations of different things for you to download. You will probably see several security patches available. Read the descriptions and look for one that talks about Virtual Machine and it will have the work VM in the discription. When you are satisfied that is what you need then downlaod that into your computer and then you will need to re-start windows for it to take effect. While you are on the Microsoft page you will probable see other things you want to download. You can download more than one thing at a time. You can also go back as often as you want and download something else that you want. I hope this helps most of you if not all of you because we need to get everyone chatting soon.