Ever since the dawn of AOL, I have never been entirely pleased with their software. As a youngster, I like the interface and added features, compared to the typical browser, but AOL’s quality of product has always been (forgive the French) sh*t. CONSTANT disconnects and crashes have always been associated with every version of AOL I’ve ever used. I gave up on AOL a long time, but my new Dell pc came with a 6mo free trial of the newest version of AOL, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Boy am I sorry now.. I have to say I have had far fewer crashing problems with AOL 9.0 SE (although the problem still exists, to a small degree), however, I have far greater concerns with this first version. First of all, along with the normal AOL software, the installation program installed a ton of unwanted/unneeded crap on my machine. This includes, a piece of third party software installation WITHOUT MY CONCENT! There were no options at all for what I did and did not want to install. I have a large problem with this. I feel like I installed program full of spyware, and now I have to track all over my machine to get rid of it. I’m sure the extras with AOL are not spyware, but they installed in the same fashion as some other nasties. I would expect more from AOL. My second problem, is the seeming lack of customization regarding AOL at startup and running in the background. After searching all over without any luck, I finally decided to try to disable AOL via msconfig. Some features, I was able to disable. However, there re 4 running AOL processes which refuse to terminate under any demands. The first three are the two associated with aol top speed, and shellmon.exe. Upon the termination of any of them, they simply restart themselves into my system. Using the uninstall manager contained within the top speed folder doesn’t actually uninstall top speed, but it does ruin AOL for any/all future uses. I had to do a clean install after that one. waol.exe is the third that refuses to terminate. This I site separately because it has an even more fun hold on my system. There is an option in msconfig to disable his item at startup (unlike the other three processes). However, this process overrides my system settings and boots at startup anyway! A second trip to msconfig, confirms it has reinstated its startup settings automatically. Does anyone else find this EXTREMELY troubling? AOL has decided to come out with a piece of software that not only installs third party software without explicit consent, but seems to have an absolute grip on my system, allowing it to do whatever the hell it pleases. eta: I should also add that AOL automatically reconfigured my firewall settings without my consent.. I guess there's just no telling with this software has done to my machine. :s
@callistra Get....rid....of....AOL! It blows, it was only good for when online start to become popular. I am sure there HAS to more alternatives than them. What else do you have or can you get? -------------------------------------------- From Pop_Smith There's a nice catch phrase for ya! And this is interesting: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/170153
America Off Line went to far when it came into exsistance. And that BS move they made when they upped dial up to $23. Even when the others went down to $10 AOL stayed at $23. What IDIOT would fall for such crap. You would just have to be stupid. Ignaramose is more like it. -Del
True true...very true... AOL just needs to like GO AWAY! Now is the reign of the CABLE AND TELEPHONE PROVIDERS! No more dial up!
Dang Neph beat me to that vid, anyone else notice the guy from TSS, the new/old co-host right around the time it became worthless to watch? AOL is garbage though, always had problems with 'em before I made the jump to cable.
Only used them, cause nothing else was around...but then I discovered the wonders of cable, and it CHANGED my life! Feel alot happier and calmer...I think it is doing wonders for my anger issues! LOL! j/k
You dont actually need to use the aol software to use their dialup. Use the windows dialup wizard to set it up. you need the phone number, a your username and pass, and then you can connect w/o their software. Although, you are much better off going for broadband...
Very true...some third party dial up services are like that. We have one here, where clients can use the dial up wizard and just connect to them without the software. To be honest, it is a better connection than loading down your system with unecessary software.
True you dont have to use the software but you will still need to pay that rip off price for service. Its the same internet no matter who you use. And don't install the software they send you. Most places are now $5 to $10 for dial-up. -Del
Yeah, this one guys pc I fixed got a third party dial-up company and he pays like $10 a month, but it is really cheap, and he connects really fast.
I actually have 6mbps cable through a local company. I was using Broadband AOL as a glorified e-mail I guess LOL.. anyway, it was free on my computer so I thought I'd give it a shot.. All gone now Turns out it reconfigured my linksys wireless settings. At first it just sort of disrupted the connection at startup, and I kept having to "fix" it. Then after a while it just stopped working altogether.. hour and a half of tech support determined .. aol *gasp* Uninstalled it and now everything works just fine..