AOL browser and secure pages

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OK, the thread title should suggest straight away some of the woes I'm having on this one.

Got a call to go look at a PC that has slowed down to a crawl. Typical affair - family PC, branded, XP Home, 3 user accounts, every bundled app plus tons more installed, and AV not set up properly.

And then there's AOL !!!

So, I run a disk cleanup, defrag, Adaware, remove temp internet files (took AGES !!) and cookies and tell them to run Norton AV when all the rest have completed, and they should see a difference until such times as I come back to do a clean install and memory upgrade. This is fine - and off I go.

Until the next night ! I get a phone call - all is well, except some pages on AOL browser now show "Page cannot be displayed" - only since I did the work previously. I visit again, to narrow it down to the fact that since I did the above (note Adaware found and removed 86 malware) AOL browser can view the web fine with the exception of secure pages. Tried sites that they had never used to eliminate cookies, and even those secure pages gave server errors.

At this stage I am unsure if it is anything that I did when I was there to start with (like what ? I honestly cant say that any of the above would cause this ?) I left the client to uninstall and reinstall the AOL software (if he must - it blocks FireFox from running ) This wan't to hand at the time, so he will call me back when he has it reinstalled. I'm just really curious about why this has occured, so anyone encountered anything along these lines ?

Thanks in advance.

 

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Is there any firewall software blocking such sites?

Also (not sure about this just a thought) was there any certificates setup that could have been deleted to stop access to secure sites?

 

XP firewall is on (although AOL says it cant see it ???) I did wonder about certificates..... dont know enough about them though. Would they have been deleted as part of temp files and cookies ? I wouldn't have thought so, but stranger things .....

 

No I wouldn’t have thought so either but just wondering if deleting everything could have had a ‘reset’ knock on affect within IE?

Plus it is AOL so anything could happen!

You could also check the IE security settings to see if the SSL options are selected? And the security level within IE.

 

Am I right in assuming that AOL installs "over the top", or maybe superimposes itself on IE ? I dropped the IE security settings to their lowest on this basis, and allowed all sites, but still to no avail. Didn't check the SSL status in fairness.

<rant>Damn. I cant wait till the client gives me the machine to set it up the way it should be. That AOL set up is worse than the devils own hands could create. Tell me - I am right that I can just set up the connection manually to use AOL ADSL (which is otherwise fantastic, and I have heard many really good reports about the actual service) ? There is no way I am going to reinstall that crippling bullsh1t on an otherwise first class and secure machine !!!! </rant>

 

Gav,

I had almost an identical problem recently on someones machine. All i can say is the ISP/Browser packages are a monsterous piece of litter

 

I have no personal experience of AOL. From what I have read in many places I have *no wish* to have personal experience of it!

All the mentions I have seen suggest that all too often it subverts the standard networking setup in Windows. For some odd reason they all suggest that removing it and dropping it down a deep hole is too good for it.

Harry. (The anti-AOL revolutionary)

 

I am hoping so!

My friend has just given me his parents machine which uses AOL and I am going to try and set it up so that the connection does not use the actual AOL interface software.

Before this I personally have never used or wished to use the software so I couldn’t comment on whether or not it imposes itself on IE.

When I asked his parents why on earth they chose AOL they replied “We got a CD in the post”. Reminds me of CompuServe who always sent floppies through the mail!

I rebuilt the machine anyway due to some idiot installing dodgy XP Pro corp on a machine with a valid home edition license! So I will be trying the AOL connection without the AOL software, so I will report back on this.

 

Now that I would be interested to hear about. Good luck!

Harry.

 

I will be using about 2% of technical knowledge and 98% will be left to luck!

 

Interesting!

The PC that I am rebuilding uses a BT Voyager

Will look into that

Cheers Sparky

PS Sparky has nothing to with the great Hughes does it?

 

have you checked the hosts file for any extra entries?

i use AOL myself, i have the software installed to check my email, but i had my netgear router and now my cisco router configured to use the primary login and it works great, i have had no dropped connections since i started to use the cisco router.

 

Thanks for all of the above, Guys. Unfortunately not sure if it's a Voyager. I do know that there is no entry whatsoever in Programs for IE, only AOL browser, so it has gone somewhere. And as I mentioned, when installing Firefox, it was blocked - could not find any site.

 

the short answer to that as far as i know in NO!!!
you can drop the modem out if you get a wireless gateway/router and gain access to the net without initialising the aol software.........i went out and bought a linksys wireless gateway + router,and mannaged to set up a connection without starting aol itself. i could get on to aols site through IE but heres how to get the software to start without initialising the modem...
start AOL 9.0....click on sign on options.....click add location....enter your location name(i used Broadband to keep it simple).....aol will detect your modem,from there just sign on using your new location...it should work...it did for me.
hope this helps....im missing Brazil beat Japan to type this lol

 

Thanks Mark - the client never did come back to me, but I did ask one of the guys I recruited at work recently who used to work for AOL tech support, and he assured me it would work fine without the AOL software.

Hmmm, might actually look the client up again and go back to satisfy curiosity if nothing else :hhhmmm