[Q] Reloading IE

[Moontanman]

AOL seems to think at least part of the problem is in their server. They say my IE problem is my problem and is keeping them from helping me recover my addresses. It seems odd to me the IE problem only showed up after the AOL problem and not before. I am not very computer savvy, backing up my AOL files it's not something I can do with out some real time help I am sure. I have already reloaded my AOL software, much of the problem got worse after I did that. For the most part I use my computer, I don't fiddle with the programs at all.

[enorbet2]

OK Moontanman

I've setup an XP box with a modem so I can re-familiarize myself to give you specific instructs... should be within a few hours

 

In the meantime a few more questions.

Do you know the exact brand and model of your modem?

How much free hard drive space do you have whether onboard or external?

Do things work normally for awhile and then you get bumped off?

or

Disregarding parts of AOL missing for now, does your connection behave abnormally all the time?

Fo you know if your file system containing AOL is Fat32 or NTFS?

Post any info and we should be narrowing down soon, possibly even retrieving your lost AOL stuff.

[enorbet2]

Moontanman

Note: If you're getting bumped off you may need to disable call waiting. I think the AOL dialer has a checkbox for that. In other dialers simply precede the phone number with the disable code for your area - either *70, 70#, or 1170 followed by a space preceding the desired phone number to be dialed.

 

If the problem is AOL software, and not the server nor the particular connect number (AOL has alternates), then bypass the software by using XP's dialer like this:

 

Open Network & Internet Connections in Cntrl Panel

Select and start "Create new connection"

Enter appropriate connection

finishing should open "Create new connection wizard" if not find in main menu and open

Choose "Dialup" > "Next" > name it eg: "Test"

Add AOL phone number (and "1" and area code if necessary - depends on dialing rules)

Allow users and shortcut on desktop

Finish

 

Dbl-clk new shortcut starting dialer

add password > save > dial

once connected try FireFox

[freeztar]

In the meantime, you might want to get netzero. If it is the AOL software/server messing up then netzero should at least get you online. You can use it for free for up to 10 hours a month (with ads).

[Moontanman]

OK Moontanman

I've setup an XP box with a modem so I can re-familiarize myself to give you specific instructs... should be within a few hours

 

Ok, I'm in a tequila haze but lets see if I can give the necessary information

 

In the meantime a few more questions.

Do you know the exact brand and model of your modem?

 

Lucent Win Modem

 

How much free hard drive space do you have whether onboard or external?

 

13 gigs

 

Do things work normally for awhile and then you get bumped off?

or

Disregarding parts of AOL missing for now, does your connection behave abnormally all the time?

 

All the time.

 

Fo you know if your file system containing AOL is Fat32 or NTFS?

Post any info and we should be narrowing down soon, possibly even retrieving your lost AOL stuff.

 

I don't know how to get that info.

[enorbet2]

Hello again Moontanman (sorry to take so long)

 

Lucent Winmodem - While there are several specific models that can be determined by opening the "modems" section in "Control Panel" I'm going to say that really you'd be best off if you bought a real hardware modem. They can be had for $20 or even free sometimes these days since they no longer in demand (I have an external unit that cost $300 originally I'd be lucky to get 20 bucks for now) and are well worth the investment in time as well as money because winmodems... well...sux. They were a way to make modems cheaper by offloading many jobs to the existing resources in the computer (cpu cycles, ram, code) that are sort of like old air cooled VW's heaters, just shy of useless. You can stick with what you have but your job will be harder and your results likely inferior.

 

With 13 gigs of space I'd recommend that you create a new folder/directory called something like AOLBak and copy your existing AOL folder within "Program Files" to the new one. It would be cooler if you zipped it up or used incremental backup but that's not essential. It might be worthwhile mentioning your entire disk size and whether you have access to any external or additional hard drives on which to store a complete backup image even if only temporarily. Not essential, but safer and good practice.

 

Incidentally I can't recall exactly what but I think AOL keeps a lot of your stuff on their server and may be able to restore your lost stuff once they get it straightened out. Maybe.

 

I still recommend you setup the XP generic dialer as shown in a previous post to sidestep as much of AOL software as possible, if only to narrow down where the problem is, hardware or software, AOL or windows. Once again this is easier with a real hardware modem.

 

more later

[Moontanman]

Well guys, believe it or not it looks like AOL fixed the problem. Nice of them since it started when I called them about something else. It seems the memory in my AOL software was the problem. A memory fix routine fixed the problem and got all my info back. The AOL still hangs up and stutters, and freezes but not often. At least I have access to the INTERNET and IE works again! First time i called than about this I told them it seemed like my memory cache was full but emptying it didn't help, two months 13 phones calls and 10 hours of cell phone time burned up and they figure it was a memory problem in their own soft ware! Thanks for the help guys, I do appreciate the time and energy you put into trying to help me.

[freeztar]

Good to hear Moon!

 

Fwiw, software does not have memory, it uses system memory. Perhaps the AOL software had a bug that was causing it to hog all your RAM?

 

Can you tell me how much RAM you are using with AOL and IE open?

If you don't already have it, Advanced System Care has a great utility called Smart Ram. It will show you how much RAM and Pagefile you are using. This can help you diagnose programs that are using too much RAM. It will also clear your RAM in real-time so you always have the most RAM available at all times. ASC is great all around. You can get it for free here: Free PC Repair, Protection & Clean Up | Advanced SystemCare Free Computer Scan, Optimizer, Maintenance

[Moontanman]

I've got ACS, it works great. i have 512megs of ram. the fix was at "lowmemory.aol.com" I have no idea how it helped but it did. Looks like about 300megs when AOL is open if ASC is to be believed.

[freeztar]

It's not clear what that fix does. It could be doing a number of things. :hihi:

 

Since you are still having stutters etc., you might want to try running Smart RAM in Deep Clean mode to see if that helps. You might also want to consider upgrading your RAM to 768MB or 1GB. That would help with overall performance.