AOL problems?

[Jackie]

Anyone else having problems with AOL? Weird fault this. When going to sites stored in Favoris I find that some load up quickly as normal and others take forever if at all. If the same sites are accessed through Internet Explorer rather than AOL, no problems. There seems no reason for this in terms of the type of site, eg some Meteo sites are ok and others don't load using AOL but both lots are OK on IE. Even if a site loads up normally going through a link on that site to an item sometimes works and sometimes not. In posting this message, for example, I entered the heading and then waited ages for the cursor to flash in the message panel having clicked in it. Trying to edit this message proved very difficult. I clicked on edit and waited a long time for the edit panel to come up. The text took even longer to appear. Inserting a sudoku puzzle into an email from the Daily Mail site took ages but copying something else from a different site gave no problem. Earlier today I could not get into LF using the URL stored in Favoris but now I can  though getting into Total France is not a problem.

I have scanned the machine with AVG, Spybot, Adaware and Kapersky on-line, no nasties found. I have downloaded a new version of AOL 9 VR and deleted the old version, no better. The Disk has been defragged recently. The computer, a Dell Inspiron 531, connects to broadband via an AOL Box. Windows and other software are kept up to date so I am at a loss to know what to do next! Any suggestions of the helpful kind would be very well received here!...........J

 

 

[Kitty]

I've been having problems of a related but different nature with AOL, so much so that I'm going to swap over to another provider after a few years with them.  Someone told me that they were going away from the domestic market and more into advertising.  I wonder if this correct and whether it has any bearing on their service?

 

[Gardian]

Generally speaking, I don't have any problems with AOL - I use their dial-up, because no ADSL here. Almost all sites work acceptably fast (for steam-age stuff).

Just recently, I had some particular difficulties with one site and got in to several email conversations with their administrators. "It's your AOL", they said.  "Use Explorer".  So I did - no change.

They then told me that they'd furtled around and it should now be better and it was.

Conclusion - AOL is probably a long way from the best, but it isn't always them.

[BJSLIV]

I've been having problems of a related but different nature with AOL, so much so that I'm going to swap over to another provider after a few years with them.  Someone told me that they were going away from the domestic market and more into advertising.  I wonder if this correct and whether it has any bearing on their service?

 

The American parent company are indeed moving away from Internet provision. They sold their French service to Neuf last year, and the UK branch to Carphone Warehouse.

Things are changing fast and it now seems certain that Neuf will be taken over by SFR (Vodaphone) , who already own Tele2........ 

[Vindolanda]

I have been having exactly the same problems for the last few days. Your second paragraph precisely describes my situation ( except for the make of computer). I was unable to type up a reply to your post on Aol. Going through IE has at least enabled me to frame a reply. I hope I can actually send it.

 

So no answers I am afraid but perhaps sympathy from a fellow suffere helps. Maybe it is time I bit the bullet and changed from AOL. I wonder if getting a Neuf Box might help? at least that way I could keep my existing  e mail address?

Good luck.

[Tim]

[quote user="Vindolanda"]

. I wonder if getting a Neuf Box might help? at least that way I could keep my existing  e mail address?

 

[/quote]

In most cases, in my experience, you can normally keep e-mail addresses - I've still got my BTinternet address that I used in the UK. May be worth checking this out as it may help with your decision.

Tim

[AnOther]

The title words "AOL" and "Trouble" are pretty synonomous and their software is the spawn of [6]. Once installed, short of a complete clean re-install of Windows, you will NEVER EVER be completely rid of it.

Like a lot of people when the Internet really started to take off in UK AOL blitzed the country with free CD's and a great many signed up in all innocence not realising how hard it would be to escape later. I admit I was amongst them but fortunately quickly savvied up and bailed out at the first opportunity.

As I see it there are 3 fundamental reasons why people still stick with AOL (I'm very hard pressed to think of a single one why anybody would sign up with them today) [blink]

1. Inertia coupled with fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar.

2. Potential loss of their AOL email address and emails.

3. Loss of worldwide dialup access.

Of these only the last is mildly compelling. For some people who travel a lot the ability to access email via dialup from most major countries is almost unique to AOL and the killer that keeps them hooked. I know a couple who have homes in America, France and Dubai and who stick with AOL for this reason alone.

The other 2 reasons are able to be overcome.

To preserve existing emails you can import them into Outlook Express or better still, install Thunderbird and import to that.

A word of caution with Thunderbird though:

Post install it's default action when importing mail from other services is to NOT leave a copy on the server so if you go back to your original email afterwards you may well find that it's empty !

You may decide that this is what you want of course but it seems a bad idea to me to have this as the default so if you do decide to try it out before you do an import go into the options and tell it to leave the mail on the server.

Changing your email address is tedious but straightforward enough and if you signed up with say Yahoo or Gmail you need never be held ransom to any individual ISP ever again.

EDIT:

I read this on another forum:

When you leave AOL. You don't need to pay to retain the email account. All you need do is log in to each account you want to keep after your AOL account has ended. You will then be asked to confirm you password and that you want to retain the free AOL email address.

which perhaps ties into THIS AOL site 

 

[Kitty]

Ernie

I have been holding off changing from AOL because of losing my addresses (I have some very good ones with AOL) but made the decision that I have to bite the bullet in the New Year.  However, if I can keep them for free in any case, that's brilliant.

 

[AnOther]

Make it a New Year resolution.........[I]

The hardest part of breaking a bad habit is admiting you have it in the first place [:D]

[Jackie]

Looks as though I should do nothing and wait to see if the problem goes away if others are having the same problems.

So no answers I am afraid but perhaps sympathy from a fellow suffere helps. Maybe it is time I bit the bullet and changed from AOL. I wonder if getting a Neuf Box might help? at least that way I could keep my existing  e mail address.

A friend who has installed a neuf box has had real problems in getting it all up and running. She has an unlimited telephone option included and has had to poke the reset button on the box almost every morning to restore the telephone to a working state. I gather others have had similar problems. She does have access to her AOL mailbox but there seems to be much confusion in the way that Neuf/AOL interact with each other with parallel options on some things.

Returning to my own problems, I am getting a message on starting the computer that when clicked gives me a panel that is headed: Le jeu de couleurs a été changé. It then implies that a program which is running, I think Roxio Creator, has a problem with the jeu de couleurs, whatever that is! I tried running Roxio Creator and it caused AOL to crash and the whole system locked up so I had to do a restart.

I also get a message on clicking the IE icon that AOL toolbar cannot be found which is repeated when the IE panel opens. The AOL toolbar is there under the IE toolbar and I have tried deleting it and reloading it but this has had no effect on the message which still appears each time I start IE. Having searched on the net for AOL Problems I see that others have had this as well.

This site

http://www.lachainemeteo.com/index_detail.php?langue=fr&meteomail_actif=0&ville=Saint-Georges-De-Noisne&num_ville=37242 

 loads very slowly if at all whereas this one

http://www.meteofrance.com/FR/mameteo/prevVille.jsp?LIEUID=FR79253

loads with no delay at all. It would be interesting to know if other AOL users have the same problem and would point the finger at AOL and not my machine. Both sites load quickly through Internet Explorer.

This machine runs a French version of Vista Home Premium I think and after a few months of use I have come to the conclusion that I don't like it very much. Slow to start up and has problems with software that I have tried to transfer from the web and my other Millenium based computer. I spend ages tinkering but I must have better things to do!...............................J

 

 

[Just Chris]

We signed up with AOL back in May, found them to be a disaster and kicked them into touch a month or two later.  Despite various suggestions that it would be almost impossible to cancel the account, we managed it without any problems.  Also removed all traces from the computer, before signing up with Orange - which is much better.  We have a hybrid system of dial-up uplink, and satellite down because we can't get "real" broadband.

The Lachainmeteo site is slow for us, too, so I wouldn't necessarily blame that one on AOL !

 

Chris

[AnOther]

[quote user="ChrisnJulie"]Also removed all traces from the computer[/quote]Congratulations on seeing the light however I'm afraid you're deluding yourself if you believe that AOL is completely gone. Sure the visible traces maybe gone but it burrows into a computer so invasively that without some expert editing of the registry you will never be shot of it totally and there will always be vestiges lurking in dark corners.

EDIT:

The apostrophy in your user name makes it impossible to quote you, I had to take it out [;-)]

[Kitty]

Can I highjack this thread for a minute to ask: how do you copy an extract of someone else's thread and place it in your reply?

 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Cathy"]

Can I highjack this thread for a minute to ask: how do you copy an extract of someone else's thread and place it in your reply?

[/quote]

Use the quote button, edit as required but do not mess with the [quotes]. Then write your bit underneath.

[Kitty]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Cathy"]

Can I highjack this thread for a minute to ask: how do you copy an extract of someone else's thread and place it in your reply?

[/quote]

Use the quote button, edit as required but do not mess with the [quotes]. Then write your bit underneath.

[/quote]

Oh BB, I see now.  I had been trying to work it out for myself without success.  Thanks.  [:D]  Back to AOL, which I am readng with interest.

 

[Jackie]

OK folks all fixed for the time being. Restored the box to three weeks ago and this did not help, in fact AOL did not run at all but then I had deleted the original copy after  had done the previous download.  I then re-downloaded AOL 9 VR and problems fixed. I noted that it would not Mise a jour as there was now no previous copy in the machine. Maybe this is why the problems were fixed. Favourites and emails had been saved prior to the first copy being deleted and were automatically reinstalled I think.

The restore did create another problem in that Uinblue Registry Scanner sprung back into life, I had deleted this trial version 3 weeks ago. I see from the web that others have had problems getting rid of this and I also found that it was impossible to delete but managed to turn it off but that is another story. Both the URLs I gave earlier now load quickly. Thanks again for your inputs. Merry Christmas to all.....................J

[AnOther]

Glad you're sorted - sort of !

Out of curiosity I did a bit of research on Uniblue Registry Scanner and seems it's earned itself a bit of a reputation for causing problems and being a pig to get rid of. Some comments HERE where one contributor claims to have found that answer:

Go to regedit and delete the registry key:
Click start/ run/ type> regedit
Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Uniblue
Right click the Uniblue reg folder and delete.

To just stop it from loading at startup, Click start/ run/ type> msconfig
Under the Startup tab, uncheck Uniblue or Registry Booster.

No idea if it works but seems reasonable. Backup your registry first of course [;-)]

[Jackie]

Thanks for that and yes it does seem to work. Did the above and restarted the box and no sign of Uniblue..........J

[Vindolanda]

Everything working as normal here too. After my initial reinstall of AOL VR , which did not improve anything, I put it all into the too difficult box, did nothing and used IE instead. Then AOL self righted. Perhaps last week was too cold for it?!

So AOL reprieved for a while at least.