Removing AOL

Factual Questions
1

A friend of mine got a computer with XP and, contrary to my advice, decided to install AOL. Now she is asking me how to remove AOL and I have no idea since I have never had it and since I am not familiar with WinXP. Still, I am supposed to be the expert and when you’re the expert you have to be the expert at all things at once. So she is looking to me for advice.

Can someone tell me in general terms what AOL has done that needs to be undone? What steps need to be done to return the computer to the original state so it can be used with a real ISP? I know AOL messes the browser. Is there a “remove” or “uninstall” button?

BTW, she has told me that when she called AOL to cancel, she was on hold forever and finally had to hang up. I told her to just write them an email telling them she was cancelling and reject any further charges to the credit card. Any advice on this aspect also welcome

2

You should be able to uninstall the program from the control panel. I did that once and had no problems.

The changes it makes to the browser are minor–the logo in the upper right corner is changed, and the title goes to “Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by America Online”. You can change the title back by finding the right registry key, but I don’t remember what it is.

3

I somehow was under the impression that it changed the internet settings (proxy, etc). Also that removing it still left things a mess. I am encouraged by your response though. It may not be as bad as I thought.

4

Background - When my cable modem ISP changed hands I was offline for three days. Needing constant email access, I used a spare laptop, installed a barebones Windows 2000 O/S, then installed AOL.

I had my cable modem ISP access back online after those three days and was happy as a lark. Since I had 45 days to try out the AOL service for free, I played with it for about two weeks, doing nothing other than surf the web. Of course, every time I signed off, AOL spent several minutes downloading so-called updates to their software to my laptop.

I finally called AOL to cancel my account. I was polite, direct and firm. If they tried to steer me to maintain the account I told them no thanks; I found a better, faster, more reliable and cheaper (this part I lied) service than AOL.

They cancelled my account immediately with no fuss. The phone call lasted about 15 minutes, including waiting time. I received several phone calls in the ensuing weeks from AOL asking to reinstate their service. Again, I was polite, direct and firm. If they tried to steer me to maintain the account I told them no thanks; I found a better, faster, more reliable and cheaper (this part I lied) service than AOL. (Repeat as above, as needed.)

I never received a bill from AOL due to any credit card screwups during my free period.

As for the AOL-infected laptop, …

I ran several diagnostic tests on the Windows O/S and even compared before and after file images. The only way I was able to restore the laptop back to a stable machine was wipe the hard drive (FDisk), reformat and reinstall the Windows O/S. Some might argue a simple reformat should have been good enough. Starting with FDisk was no additional effort, but it ensured I wouldn’t miss any steps to rid AOL from the machine.

My advice?

Call AOL and politely, but firmly request a cancellation. Stay online for as long as it takes. Request a snail mail hard copy confirmation the account was properly cancelled and closed. Do not rely on email at all for any part of the cancellation process.

At the very least, reformat and reinstall Windows XP. At the very least you will then be sure there are no hidden AOL files on the machine, nor any corrupted O/S files.