AOL Software Help

[octop]

I have AOL crap dialup when I am i n my house which is rarely
Last week my 8.0 froze up so I uninstalled 8 and installed 9 which worked for a day. Then that froze and since then I cannot get any version of AOL to work- they all freeze in 2 seconds or less. No other software in my computer is behaving like this except aol. I have called aol and dell as well as ran spyware and virus prgrams and have gotten rid of whatever these programs found and aol still wont work. I really dont know much about computers so I appreciate any help anybody can give me

[GrannyMae]

if your version you are using is absolutely a new install, then it is not an AOL problem. however, if you ever get a corrupted version, this can happen and you have to do a complete removal then reinstall. if it happens after the reinstall, you have ISP or virus issues

[octop]

Granny I have installed several versions from severla different cds
It is on my end i really dont know much about viruses but woulo it make sense that this is the only corrupted software?
If so are there any good free virus scans you can recomend ( I ran norton)
Thanks a lot

[GrannyMae]

here's the deal. there is no way that this is an AOL issue because you have been putting new versions on there. there is no way that the new versions would result in this problem you have. therefore, it has to be something else. i would imagine that the something else that causes this freeze could be many things, but i am not even sure where your freezes are happening. do you mean that when you get online that the AOL software locks up? if it is locking up, how are you able to post here?

my guess is that you have a worm if your software is shutting down, but you said you did a recent virus scan. my next guess would be a hardware issue and there really is not enough posted here to diagnose that. if you can post more about the problem, the nerdy boys will help cuz this is a microsoft issue, not the AOL software issue.

just curious, what did AOL say?

[GrannyMae]

btw

If so are there any good free virus scans you can recomend


there is a version 9 security edition. it has a built in virus scan and spyware scan that are free. if you can get online withoout AOL, go to aol.com from another way online and install that edition. before you do that, you should remove every single instance of AOL that you have so that you are truly getting a fresh install.

gl

[octop]

AOL had me install and uninstall older editions and the checked to see how many processes were running and I hit control alt delete ( about 20)
so they said they have no clue but would fild a report
I asked the guy what the report would do and he said basically nothing
I told him no thanks and he asked me to old so he can transfer me to someone selling video professor cds and i threw my phone into the wall

[Russ McGinley]

Your first problem came when thinking you were going to get help from AOL. Nothing will make it their problem, it is always going to be your problem.

Installing a hundred versions wasn't a good idea. Now you've got AOL all over your computer and you will never get rid of all of it.

How much memory do you have, and do you have a bunch of icons in the lower right-hand corner of the screen? If so, those are all programs running and taking up memory.

[octop]

Like I said Im not to great with computers
I have 256 memory
I have like 3 icons in the taskbar ( i went to msconfig and made sure a bunch of [censored] didnt start up when I turned my computer on)

[Russ McGinley]

In msconfig, uncheck EVERYTHING. There is nothing in there you need to be starting up. The only thing you might want to have checked in there is any anti-virus software but since you don't have any that's not an issue.

AOL9.0 is a memory hog. 256MB is kind of on the low end. You may want to invest in some more memory.

Are you running Windows XP? If so, you definitely need to get more memory.

[octop]

yes I have xp I guess I will get more memory- wheres a good place to get it
I take it both memory chips are 128 so basically if I get more memory those become useless to me?

I actually left a few things checked by mistake and I have now unchecked everything excpet for my wireless card software since Im not sure if the card would still pick up the wireless signal in my friends house if I unchecked this?

[Russ McGinley]

Are you on a laptop?

You can leave the wireless software, its not going to do anything.

[octop]

yes a dell laptop

[Russ McGinley]

What is the model number?

[octop]

inspiron 1100

[Russ McGinley]

Okay good. You can put as much as 1GB of memory in there. Its always good to max out the memory when possible but 1GB of notebook memory will run you about $200. It is possible that your notebook has 1 256MB chip and 1 empty slot. There's two things you can do: you can go to your nearest Best Buy or CompUSA and buy either a 256MB or 512MB laptop memory chip (or two 512's if you are so inclined), and they will install it for you for free, or you can purchase them on the 'net from newegg.com or crucial.com. Buying them online will be cheaper but you'll either have to install them yourself (probably not a wise idea) or have a friend do it. Installing memory is the easiest hardware install in a computer system but you can still fu<font color="black"></font>ck things up if you're a novice.

If you have 2 128 sticks then you'd be better off replacing them both with 2 256's or 2 512's.

[octop]

Actually I know that they are 2 128 sticks

A while back I got a system memory dumb error on a blue screen and dells tech support had me running the computer with each memory separeatly and is was easy to reinstall.
So is there anything I can do with the 128 sticks?

back to my orginal aol problem do you have any solutions?
I swear i will never download born again!!!!!!

[octop]

I dled the security edition and don't even see the mcafee edition
No more porn for me

[Russ McGinley]

[ QUOTE ]
So is there anything I can do with the 128 sticks?

[/ QUOTE ]

Other than giving them to someone, no.

[ QUOTE ]
back to my orginal aol problem do you have any solutions?

[/ QUOTE ]

More memory should be the solution. If THAT doesn't work then you may need to do a restore.

[GrannyMae]

[ QUOTE ]
I dled the security edition and don't even see the mcafee edition
No more porn for me

[/ QUOTE ]

if the version you are using is the security edition, you will have this on your toolbar.

right-click will give you these options.

http://www.picturehost.co.uk/free.one/aolviruspro.JPG

btw, you HAVE to remove any other virus program. if you have 2 virus programs running with this security edition, it will not operate properly.

gl

[MicroBob]

Yeah....I would think a system-restore to a point before he started screwing around with it too much might be helpful.

p.s. - This is about all the computer knowledge I know.
Something gets too screwy....do a system-restore....kind of my equivelent of kicking the TV if the vertical-hold is bad.