DuckDodgers,
You ask any computer tech and they will give you an ear full about how much they hate AOL. AOL entrenches itself in an computer system and it is very difficult to completely get it out.
AOL works 100% in some computers, while the same program in another computer does nothing but lock it up.
Before you go out and get another notebook computer, it would be worth it to do a fresh install of your operating system, load the hardware drivers and then install AOL. (If you cannot live without it.)
That should solve your problem, and if it does not, then there is something else wrong with the computer.
Take Care,
Richard