Richard.....
Yes, I know what you mean, even though have been relatively happy to date. .....Plan to co-ordinate new ISP on moving to Broadband in the not too distant future.
Re. your "PS", what is one to do though, when your newly purchased PC comes with AOL fully installed, as with a friends recently. .....Even after uninstalling, a quick "Search" on AOL brought up numerous files; and what's to say eliminating those will cure the problem. .....Your point I suppose.
While I'm at it, why does AOL disable the XP Internet Connection Firewall? .....Not that I rely on it.
BST