AOL Browser Woes

[ftballtw]

I have been trying to fix a computer for my pastor. He is an avid AOL fan. In my opinion, he is better off to get rid of it! The AOL Browser shows only html on the page and tries to debug itself but never does. I have been through all the settings and turning off compression, all the one click fixes. reinstalling the adapter between IE and AOL. All of this happened when he got a virus that killed his computer. I took it back to factory because he had no backup and built up from there. Turns out the viruses were returning so after cleaning again, I ran eraser and cleaned all the unused disk space and that got it. I guess it was hiding there somewhere. I got all of his programs back on and working, IE and Firefox but AOL will not work at all. I have uninstalled and reinstalled AOL and the same thing happens. The only thing I can think of to do is take it to factory again, run a virus scan and eraser first and build back up from there. He does not really want to do that, so I was thinking maybe someone here has an idea, some tweak or something. I would appreciate any help.

[NinjaRicer]

Try using Your Uninstaller! 2008. It uninstalls AOL, removes registry keys, and files. I think a problem lies in the registry, so try that or a registry cleaner. However, Your Uninstaller! 2008 is not a freeware.

[Raymond]

Your pastor's computer doesn't have an antivirus program installed?

[ftballtw]

I have used Revo Uninstaller and that did'nt work. Maybe this program would work better. Yes, Raymond, he has an antivirus, the same I use, "Avira" which I am pretty happy with. He admitted to clicking a link in an e-mail and that is when he lost everything and could not boot up. Thanks for the response. I am thinking it is something I need to delete in the registry. (very carefully!)

[ftballtw]

I found the answer and thought I would share it in case anyone has the same problem. The answer was "Winsock" Here is the link: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Network-Tweak/WinSockFix.shtml

I had a similar problem with firefox and Internet Explorer after removing some malware. I ran this and restarted and the problem was solved. I ran it on my Pastor's computer and was he ever happy! It fixed him up also on his AOL Browser. Ahhhh! Life is good!

[brayden]

Did you recommend to change to Firefox or something like that because AOL browser sounds horrible.

[prashanthpai]

Thanks for sharing the solution.

Here's what WinSockFix does. Many things could be done manually but this easy.
· Detect your current Operating System
· Release the IP address, taking you "Offline"
· Reset the TCP stack using Netsh.exe (Windows XP only)
· Delete the current Registry TCP and Winsock Values
· Import new "Working" Registry Values
· Backup any Current "Hosts" file
· Replace the "Hosts" file with a default one
· Reboot the Computer

[ftballtw]

Yes, I recommend Firefox to everyone. I use it soley myself. If it were me, I would do away with AOL altogether, but some people are diehard AOL fans. And thanks for the post on what Winsock does. I learned something new today! And, by the way, I got the idea for Winsock from Raymonds newsletter. Thanks again Raymond!