Uninstalling AOL

[Helen Arnoldus]

My husband's son uninstalled AOL a few weeks ago from his computer.
Yesterday, I went into the Add/Remove folder and AOL was still there! Wierd.
Should I try to uninstall it again? My husband's computer is completely up
to date with XP home Sp2.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Helen,

Sure, but you may find that it is just a remnant from the previous
uninstall.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[CowboyJTE]

If you hit ununstall, it may say "this application can no longer be found,
would you like to remove it from the program list? hit yes.

Otherwise, try uninstalling it again to see what happens, it may be that
certain other AOL Applications remain like AOL Explorer or AIM Triton.

 

[?]

Does AOL really ever go away? Only after a full format! LOL

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

My husband's son uninstalled AOL a few weeks ago from his computer.
Yesterday, I went into the Add/Remove folder and AOL was still there!
Wierd. Should I try to uninstall it again? My husband's computer is
completely up to date with XP home Sp2.

AOL is the single most malicious piece of malware ever written. It is an
unfortunate fact that the ony way to get it off of the computer completely
is to format and reinstall.

In the future, do not let AOL, in any form, near any computer you own or
control. AOL should be outlawed.

Bobby

 

[Mike Fields]

AOL is the single most malicious piece of malware ever written. It is an
unfortunate fact that the ony way to get it off of the computer completely
is to format and reinstall.

In the future, do not let AOL, in any form, near any computer you own or
control. AOL should be outlawed.

Bobby

Are you sure?? I was not sure even a low level format of the
disk could get rid of all of it's "hooks" In our house, when the
AOL disks show up, they are not allowed out of the plastic
wrapper for fear some of the bits might escape and contaminate
our computers !!! (but I did like the ad on TV a while back
where they made a fish wall picture with all their AOL
disks).

mikey

 

[no_name]

AOL is the single most malicious piece of malware ever written. It is an
unfortunate fact that the ony way to get it off of the computer completely
is to format and reinstall.

In the future, do not let AOL, in any form, near any computer you own or
control. AOL should be outlawed.

Bobby

OTOH, there are some people out there who like, use and may even need AOL.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

OTOH, there are some people out there who like, use and may even need AOL.

First, no one "needs" AOL. AOL is a crutch, and if you use AOL, you do not
have access to the internet. You have access to what AOL thinks you should
have access to. The AOL interface and browser is designed to limit your
experience to what "they" want you to have access to. AOL makes it almost
impossible to terminate your contract, and also makes it impossible to
uninstall their application. Their "security" is designed to allow their
sponsors and partners have unfettered access to your computer. AOL is the
number one vector for new viruses, keyloggers, trojans and other malware.
You are paying to have a dummied down interface that does not allow you to
experience the internet in an unfettered manner.

AOL is for those who are incapable of making any decision or exercising any
intelligent thought.

If you fall into any of those categories, you have my sympathies...but then
again you would then also deserve the indignity of AOL.

Bobby

 

[Jonny]

There is only one solution. Clean install XP, remove and recreate your
system/boot partition first. If its a restore XP CD you're working with,
and already has AOL built-in. Remove it upon XP installation and any
desktop and menu links, subfolder and files within associated with AOL that
may remain. There may be other ISP try and buy software available as well
that needs the same treatment.

 

[Helen Arnoldus]

I uninstalled aol, but there are still a lot of miscellaneous files all over
the place. Should I delete these too? I also have some aol files on my
computer, but I never installed it. I don't like aol! Should I delete these
also? I've been trying to get my husband to get rid of aol for over 2 years,
but he refused. His son finally persuaded him to get rid of this garbage.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Sadly, the *only* way I have found to eradicate AOL from a computer is to
reformat and re-install. That is another reason I think AOL should be made
illegal.

Bobby

 

[Helen Arnoldus]

But what about my computer? I never even installed it on my computer. There
are a lot of strange files including setup files. I deleted a few files, but
I'm not sure if I should delete them all.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

First, no one "needs" AOL. AOL is a crutch, and if you use AOL, you do not
have access to the internet. You have access to what AOL thinks you should
have access to. The AOL interface and browser is designed to limit your
experience to what "they" want you to have access to. AOL makes it almost
impossible to terminate your contract, and also makes it impossible to
uninstall their application. Their "security" is designed to allow their
sponsors and partners have unfettered access to your computer. AOL is the
number one vector for new viruses, keyloggers, trojans and other malware.
You are paying to have a dummied down interface that does not allow you to
experience the internet in an unfettered manner.

AOL is for those who are incapable of making any decision or exercising any
intelligent thought.

If you fall into any of those categories, you have my sympathies...but then
again you would then also deserve the indignity of AOL.

Bobby

Aw, C'mon, Bobby. Don't sugar-coat it; tell us how you really fell. ;-}


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[no_name]

First, no one "needs" AOL. AOL is a crutch, and if you use AOL, you do not
have access to the internet.

Let me give you a ferinstance ... My mom is 85, her sister is 83. They
email each other every day. Neither is interested in the internet per
se. They just want email. AOL works just fine for them.

 

[no_name]

But what about my computer? I never even installed it on my computer. There
are a lot of strange files including setup files. I deleted a few files, but
I'm not sure if I should delete them all.

Probably came with the preload. Used to be common to bundle AOL, AT&T,
Compuserve, etc and customer/user could activate them if they wanted to.

 

[Alias]

Let me give you a ferinstance ... My mom is 85, her sister is 83. They
email each other every day. Neither is interested in the internet per
se. They just want email. AOL works just fine for them.

And how do you think email goes from one sister to the other, by US
Mail? Western Union?

Alias

 

[Dragunov]

*My husband's son uninstalled AOL a few weeks ago from his computer.
Yesterday, I went into the Add/Remove folder and AOL was still there!
Wierd.
Should I try to uninstall it again? My husband's computer is
completely up
to date with XP home Sp2. *

There is a way. It's easy, but risky if you don't know what you're are
doing. You have to clean it from your registry.
I do this almost on a daily basis with AOL, McAfee and Norton. I don't
like any of them and the only one I use is AOL. And I use AOL only
because my Wife likes it and alot of people I know use it. So I use it
and learned how to fiddle-faddle with it so it works "acceptably" (I
use the term "acceptably" loosely) If I want to surf seriously, I go
online bareback.
At this point, I haven't had much trouble uninstalling AOL *yet*.

Dragunov

 

[Dragunov]

*My husband's son uninstalled AOL a few weeks ago from his computer.
Yesterday, I went into the Add/Remove folder and AOL was still there!
Wierd.
Should I try to uninstall it again? My husband's computer is
completely up
to date with XP home Sp2. *

Do this only if it's the only way to remove it from add/remove
programs

Open regedit,
Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall


Locate the key for the program that has been uninstalled, right click
the key and click

Delete.

Careful!

Dragunov

 

[no_name]

And how do you think email goes from one sister to the other, by US
Mail? Western Union?

In the ferinstance given, AOL.

Does what they want. Why should they have to bother with learning other
stuff they don't want?

 

[Rctfreak]

In the ferinstance given, AOL.

Does what they want. Why should they have to bother with learning other
stuff they don't want?

As long as they dont mind paying around $150 more per year than they
need to...

AOL...$23.95 per month
Many others...$9.95 per month