iChat wont open.. help?

[ET557]

iChat has stopped working on my laptop. When it tries to open I get the error message: "iChat could not connect to iChatAgent". I've tried to replace it with one from a few months ago on time machine, but it still won't work. Any ideas?

 

[Macmaniac]

Try repairing permissions, or trashing the iChat preferences in your user folder.