brockenspectre.....
So you are basically looking for an emergency measure for the next week or so.
Just a suggestion: forget the laptop; you say the PC is fine with the AOL (presumably broadband) modem disconnected.
As all your important files are on the PC, set up a separate
Pay As You Go (no subscription) dial-up account (assuming you also have a built in 'standard' modem). It takes about a dozen quick 'clicks' and less than five minutes of your time. There are a myriad of companies out there providing this service; I use
this one. It will cost you 1p per minute 1800-0600 week days and all day weekends (3.95p per min. 0600-1800). 60p per hour, as an emergency measure, if you keep to the off peak periods (less than 4p in the day to dispatch urgent e-mails, prepared off-line, all in one go).
Do you usually use the inclusive AOL mail client (?), or an external one, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird etc (??). If the latter, no problem (apart from slow!); if the former and the only AOL problem is their modem, then the program should work via dial-up (I think). If it doesn't, because it transpires there is an AOL problem in addition to their (presumably USB) modem, then set up your AOL account in Outlook Express, or similar, using AOL's POP3/SMTP settings.
[NB: Even when everything is working (broadband) perfectly, not a bad idea having one of these accounts set up in the background as a backup in a crisis. Costs absolutely nothing until you use it in
Pay As You Go mode, but a godsend - temporarily - when all else fails]