-be sure you got mIRC from an approved site at
www.mirc.com-when you install, make sure nothing else is running in the background
-its alt o (the letter o, not the number and not control o)
-do you have anything that may be resource draining running when you try to access options? (dont forget to check background processes)
-once you get to options, be sure the "popup connect dialog on startup" in file/options/connect/options is checked
-wouldnt hurt to run a couple good virus scans just for general principles, including one of the free inline ones like at trendmirco.com
