View Full Version : Removing AOL...when it is not there!
eastern wiseguy
27th Jul 2007, 08:43
I was looking through Windows Task Manager this morning(boy do I need to get out more!) and I noticed in the processes a whole heap of AOL stuff running in the background.I don't have AOL installed (altough Mrs EW did and removed it).It seems that despite the uninstall it remains...can anyone suggest a way of removing it completely?
Regards
EW
green granite
27th Jul 2007, 09:26
No, but if you go to the control panel and select "start up" you can stop them running by unticking the appropriate boxes.
frostbite
27th Jul 2007, 11:42
Such is the nature of the stuff, it can even have the ability to reinstate itself in startup.
Go to Control Panel and click on Remove Programs just in case there is a mention of AOL there. Do the deed if there is.
Then, get something like RegCleaner and let it find any instances of AOL, get rid of any it finds.
With luck, that may be all you need to do.
I would agree with post #2 and also delete all folders with any reference to AOL if you do not need the beast. Registry work may be just a bit too risky?
frostbite
27th Jul 2007, 14:30
Blindly deleting folders can cause more trouble than you started with.
If you cannot go the uninstall route then try renaming a root AOL folder and see if it upsets the system over a couple of days before deleting it.
Blindly deleting folders can cause more trouble than you started with - yes, but it makes you FEEL good:)
Seriously, I've never had a problem when I have ELIMINATED:ok: the odd orphan AOL folder.
anti-aol
30th Jul 2007, 02:18
"...can anyone suggest a way of removing it completely?"
Yes, there's a way to remove it completely.
I don't belong here, and I'll leave as soon as I finish this post (I'm not a pilot and have no rumors for any of you) but I couldn't help taking pity on EW's plight.
If he's finding AOL's processes running in Task Manager then AOL is not uninstalled fully, so removing files and folders won't help.
There's a Connectivity Service that runs even after so-called "removal" of older versions of AOL; it's bad coding on AOL's part that doesn't let you remove it the way you should be able to.
There's an AOL Adapter in Windows Device Manager that has to be removed, as well.
I'd check these pages for what EW needs:
http://anti-aol.livejournal.com/29611.html (remove Connectivity Service)
http://anti-aol.livejournal.com/35102.html (remove AOL's Adapter)
And see how he does from there.;)
eastern wiseguy
4th Aug 2007, 23:35
Anti Aol ....big big thanks.....:ok::ok: