Hi All, I'm looking for some expert advise regarding installing AOL 9.0. I have a 3 year old Gateway PC, it's a 1 ghz, P3, with 128 mb Ram, running WinME. PC recently had a system crash and many hours were spent reformatting the HD, reinstalling all the software, and running all the MS critical updates that were not on the PC before the crash. This PC had the AOL 9.0 software installed before the crash but I have not reinstalled it yet. Question is... Should I reinstall the AOL 9.0 software? I'm wondering if the AOL 9.0 will possibly create problems on my otherwise pristine system. -hthandyman-

Probably the only purpose these heavily padded up programs serve is to enhance their corporate publicity and revenues. [I would not know the full features of AOL cos I am not in US so dont take my word for it] I had MSN Explorer because it looked very impressive but usage wise it was no better than IE and it was loading pages slower [though they claimed it was more advanced than IE] Similarly with MSN Messenger: the earlier version was simpler and lighter. Now its got all kinds of ad panels built into it and even when I am idle I can see hectic upload and download traffic going on because of MSN Messenger. When I log sign off it stops. So it means it is hogging my resources silently in the background to update the ads and media content.

I used AOL 9.0 when it first came out, just to try it, but in my opinion its slower, takes longer to connect and hogs your memory. so I went back to AOL 8.0. that seems faster, it may or may not have some of the features of AOL 9.0, but i guess it depends what your looking for. Basically i only use there connection then surf etc with ie anyway hth andy If all else fails, give up lol

Thanks for your comments. What I was trying to find out is what others had experienced with AOL 9.0 on their system in regards to it being problematic. Funny that you mention it being a memory hog because I've seen it installed ok but then when you go to run it it reports "not enough memory" and you have to shut down other important programs just to get it to run. See, I was just trying to find out if in general people were having problems with AOL 9.0. -hthandyman-

AOL-9 has a kinda bad reputation particularly with Win-ME (statistically). I'm not trying to be negative here, just giving you the low-down of problem reports on AOL message boards (since you asked). 9.0 is basically designed to go with WinXP, although many have problems with it also(?)It is reported much more often with older systems (& older Windows versions) and especially with WinME. No one seems to understand just why. Last year AOL tech support started recommending systems of 256MB minimum RAM for 9.0 and even then (with other programs, etc) it often has memory problems on many systems. Although some folks with 98, ME, & XP do just fine with it. Often seems like sometimes it takes a few days to really develope problems-when it does(?) I just avoid it but if it works for you then great. Ps: Sometimes streamlining ME helps (like it does with almost everything) Try the "Running WinME well" site here http://www.burzurq.com/

DublA, Your comments are consistent with my experience after we installed AOL 9.0 onto a system that had all the Windows ME critical updates installed as well as a new anti-Virus program, ZoneAlarm firewall, and PopupCop popup blocker. AOL 9.0 used to run on this sytem but now it will not after reinstalling *all* SW from scratch and adding the programs I mentioned above. AOL 9.0 seemed to have messed up the whole system and I was wondering if this was typical of AOL 9.0. Thanks for the info! -hthandyman-

I have been using AOl since AOL 4.0 first came out. Then, I was on a Mac, I still cringe at the name. Then I moved to PC about a year ago and have AOL 5, 6, & 7. AOL 6 didn't work right for me. AOL 7 had a connection problem. But this is about AOL 9.0. I have a Compaq Presario, an older computer that originally had Windows ME on it and I installed AOL 9.0 on it. It worked fine, except for the memory hogging, but I have never had a low memory error message. I then switched to Windows XP Pro SP1, and installed AOL on it, I'm using it right now as a matter of fact. I haven't had any problems with it, except for finding access numbers for it in my area. I like AOL for surfing the web, but I don't really use AOL for it though. I use AOL for the connection, then I open IE and use it to browse the net. The main thing I use AOL for is the connection and the spam blocking in e-mail. I've also used AOL 9.0 on Windows 98SE, and it worked good on it too. But I have heard of problems with Win 98SE and AOL 9 together, but I haven't had any. So, I'd say if you want to use it, then try it, if it messes up the computer, then go back to AOL 6 or 7 if you can, but only if you want to use AOL for internet. If you want something else for browsing the net, I suggest you go with NetZero. NetZero is better than AOL, mainly uses IE, or Netscape if you have it, and doesn't use hardly any software to use it. Cost, only $9.95 plus tax a month. It's really good. So with AOL 9, either use it, or use NetZero. That's my suggestions.