Desperately seeking help after AOL corrupted my registry settings
Henry Shillet
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If there are any techies out there who are familiar with AOL, please
help!
A few months ago, I decided to try out AOL for a month. Ultimately, I
thought my ISP was better, so I called AOL, announced my intention to
cancel the service and was walked through the UNINSTALL of its software
from my machine.
However, ever since then, when I am connected to the Internet, my
machine inexplicably freezes. There's no blue screen of death - the
screen just seizes up and I have no control of the mouse. It's as if my
PC has died in the water. This problem has been cured by turning my
computer off, turning it back on and watching as the obligatory scan
takes place when Windows has detected an abnormal shutdown.
I decided that the time has come for me to have error-free sessions on
the Net, so I contacted both the IT department at my company as well as
Dell, the manufacturer of my PC. They both recommended reinstalling
Dial Up Networking, but to no avail. Without warning, my machine would
still sporadically freeze up when it's connected to the Net, and only
when it's connected to the Net. It can happen 2 minutes into a session;
it can happen 20 minutes into a session; sometimes (but very rarely), it
may not happen at all.
Now it's been recommended that the only way I can resume normal
operation is to reformat my hard drive, and reinstall all my software.
That would be a tremendous pain, and frankly, I'm not sure whether it's
worth it.
This is where AOL comes in: both my IT department and Dell (and several
other sources) inform me that installing AOL results not only in the
addition of software to a machine; it also results in changes to the
Registry of that machine. Subsequent UNINSTALLs of the AOL software do
not necessarily remove those alterations to the Registry settings.
Is there anyone out there who knows of an alternative to reformatting in
an effort to UNDO the changes to my Registry that were wrought by the
installation of AOL? Does anyone know of a source that could be
helpful? If you're out there, please contact me!!!
Thanks in advance,
Henry Shillet
Batman
wrote:
>Desperately seeking help after AOL corrupted my registry settings
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>If there are any techies out there who are familiar with AOL, please
>help!
>
<snipped for brevity>
Sorry. The best way to be rid of the aol virus is to do a complete
reformat and reinstall. Not to worry It's a fairly quick and easy
process as far as the windows portion is concerned. The real headache
is replacing the programs that you downloaded and would like very much
to keep intact...It does take awhile to get things back to where you
want them from a clean windows install.
btw aol software isn't exacly a virus...but I would rather have one on
my box than any aol software...Thats just Fact
Good Luck
HTH HAND
Henry Shillet
<dacap...@daBatcave.edu> writes
>
>Sorry. The best way to be rid of the aol virus is to do a complete
>reformat and reinstall. Not to worry It's a fairly quick and easy
>process as far as the windows portion is concerned. The real headache
>is replacing the programs that you downloaded and would like very much
>to keep intact...It does take awhile to get things back to where you
>want them from a clean windows install.
>
>btw aol software isn't exacly a virus...but I would rather have one on
>my box than any aol software...Thats just Fact
>
Thanx for the advice. Is it possible that someone in Tech Support at
AOL could walk me through the changes that an INSTALL of their software
provokes, and thus save me the heartache of reinstalling?
Regards,
Henry
ad
dacap...@daBatcave.edu says...
>
> btw aol software isn't exacly a virus...but I would rather have one on
> my box than any aol software...Thats just Fact
>
> Good Luck
>
> HTH HAND
>
>
Henry I think you're being spun some tales here.
There were problems with some versions of AoL software but I wouldn't
automatically blame your current problems on them. The registry can get
corrupted for all manner of reasons.
I could suggest a number of things to do and a Reformat is the last
option.
To keep things simple.
First of all go to http://superwin.com and download Winrescue for your
operating system.
The program is shareware ( worth the money if you decide to keep it )
and may be able to rebuild your registry for you during the trial period.
If that doesn't work run Win95/98/me etc setup over your existing
installation.
If that doesn't work , look at what other programs are running when the
system crashes and then try reinstalling them.
Then think about the possibility of reformatting the hard drive.
Simile
Henry Shillet wrote in message ...
Henry, the probable cause is not in your registry. Installing AOL software
results in your graphics acceleration being bumped up higher than is
necessary...resulting in freeze-ups and GPFs. To fix this, open
Start>Settings>Control Panel>System?Performance>Graphics. After you click
Graphics open, you'll see a virtual slidebar marked Hardware Acceleration.
If this slidebar is set on full acceleration, simply move it back to the
left several notches. Then, close control panel back up and restart
windows. This should solve the problem.
--
~Simile~
root@localhost
admin@localhost
postmaster@localhost
ro...@mailloop.com
! Spammers eat this !
Bunk
said than done, simply try reinstallng AOL (and then just let it be). This
might restore the lost files. People who suggest things like "wiping" the
disk are simply seeking revenge for the same advice given to them. People
who DON'T know what they're doing always suggest reinstalling the operating
system because it spares them the labor of figuring out a better solution.
Henry Shillet
<sim...@bellsouth.net> writes
>
>
>Henry Shillet wrote in message ...
>>Desperately seeking help after AOL corrupted my registry settings
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>>an effort to UNDO the changes to my Registry that were wrought by the
>>installation of AOL? Does anyone know of a source that could be
>>helpful? If you're out there, please contact me!!!
>>
>>Thanks in advance,
>>Henry Shillet
>>
>Henry, the probable cause is not in your registry. Installing AOL software
>results in your graphics acceleration being bumped up higher than is
>necessary...resulting in freeze-ups and GPFs. To fix this, open
>Start>Settings>Control Panel>System?Performance>Graphics. After you click
>Graphics open, you'll see a virtual slidebar marked Hardware Acceleration.
>If this slidebar is set on full acceleration, simply move it back to the
>left several notches. Then, close control panel back up and restart
>windows. This should solve the problem.
Simile,
Thank you very much for taking the time to suggest a solution to my AOL-
induced woes. However, after moving the hardare acceleration slidebar
to the lowest position, I still experienced the freeze when I connected
to the Net.
Now I may try WinRescue or RegClean before deciding whether it's worth
the hassle of reformatting my hard drive.
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for caring enough to offer your advice.
Regards,
Henry Shillet
Batman
Your the dim-witted one.What you fail to realize is the vast amount of
corruption that aol software accomplishes when it is installed to
begin with. Oh yes..It's quite possible to fix the problems caused by
editing the registry ad nauseum. But it's a helluva lot easier just to
start over with a clean copy of windows and never put that aol crap on
the box to begin with..Personally I wouldn't ever suggest wiping a
drive clean just to install aol back on it...geeez Thats a total waste
of time.
the best solution here is to be rid of aol on a permanent basis.It's
awfully funny that a windows box works alot better without aol
software on it. especially if it was never on it to begin with.
HTH HAND
Bunk
system.
AOL doesn't cause a vast amount of corruption when installed. That's a dumb
thing to say (even though you may be very intelligent - I savor the irony).
And Windows boxes don't work a lot better without AOL on it.
I didn't suggest to clean the hard drive and reinstall AOL. That would be
nonsense. I suggested to simply reinstall AOL, which is easier than
cleaning the hard drive, because reinstalling 1 thing is easier than
reinstalling the million things required after cleaning the hard drive.
Cleaning the hard drive and starting from scratch is the absolute LAST thing
anyone should do.
My suggestion was in fact the simplest of all that had been suggested, and
the simpler route is usually the best. It would probably work. AOL is
used on millions of computers without causing problems. Almost all apps are
capable of causing problems, why single out AOL?
"Batman" <br...@thebatcave.edu> wrote in message
news:saa2ltoj9ucflj1c7...@4ax.com...
Wayne
I've installed it on at least three different hard drives/computers so far.
All since January.
No big problem with that part of it.
However, it is a bit slow and not the easiest interface for some of us.
Nice for the person who doesn't have the time and/or knowledge to configure
things like IE/OE or Netscape, etc....
I've done all those along the line, and vastly prefer even the old Netscape
or IE to AOL's software.
I only got involved with it recently because I wanted the satellite
Internet, and theirs is about the best deal on the one way satellite
Internet.
More like the person who did the install messed up, or tried changing
things best left alone. this is my opinion, yours may vary.
--
Wayne. <|:^)>
http://www.wayneleake.net
"Bunk" <NB2...@onebox.com> wrote in message
news:tl94pm6...@news.supernews.com...
Shice Beoney
> When done right, AOL does not corrupt your hard drive.
> I've installed it on at least three different hard drives/computers so far.
> All since January.
> No big problem with that part of it.
> However, it is a bit slow and not the easiest interface for some of us.
> Nice for the person who doesn't have the time and/or knowledge to configure
> things like IE/OE or Netscape, etc....
> I've done all those along the line, and vastly prefer even the old Netscape
> or IE to AOL's software.
> I only got involved with it recently because I wanted the satellite
> Internet, and theirs is about the best deal on the one way satellite
> Internet.
> More like the person who did the install messed up, or tried changing
> things best left alone. this is my opinion, yours may vary.
Try installing it in Win2k. My sister installed it, and it now IE/My Network
Places can't connect to FTP sites.
--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no
account be allowed to do the job." -Douglas Adams
Wayne
And I have AOL Plus 6.0 installed on it.
There may be some combination of things behind the actual problem, and I'm
not duplicating whatever that is.
Present computers as follows.
Tyan S1846SLA MB with a P III 600. Intel 440BX chipset.
Intel T440BX server MB with a P II 350, presently trying a P III 500 that
will go into the next item under test.
Intel N440BX Server MB running the P II 350 that belongs in the T440BX..
Tyan is running Win 98SE
T440BX is running Win 2k
N440 presently booting DOS and Win 3.1 on a 540 meg drive(actual 512meg
formatted). It will be running Win 98, Win 2k And I'll be trying Linux, BSD
and Win XP on it.
I have AOL on both Win 98 and Win 2k.
--
Wayne. <|:^)>
http://www.wayneleake.net
"Shice Beoney" <sbe...@flashmail.com> wrote in message
news:tlb5amn...@news.supernews.com...