I have 483 AOL related keys in my Registry. I never had AOL installed - it came as part of the package from Compaq I believe. I briefly "flirted" with Netscape when I first got the computer in 2002, but deleted the rest of those keys today. Can I do the same with AOL? It seems to me that if I ever did want to install it, they would all be reinstalled at download. Am I correct in this line of thinking? 483 files seems like a lot, but probably a drop in the bucket considering the total of Registry keys in the system. And more being created every day - mind boggling. Anyway, can I safely delete these?

2 Tools that really help me. Registry Mechanic and AdAware. Those 2 scan your computer for corrupt/invalid registry keys, and AdAware looks for spyware and gets rid of it. Hope that helps.

Sure you can, and you have a great idea. Just a couple of ideas, if I may suggest. > Delete only directly-named entrys that specifically say AOL, or America Online. For example, if a Hive in the Left column is named, say, RUN, and there is an entry in the Right column for AOL, you can safely delete the entry in the Right hand column named AOL. Do NOT delete the main Hive, RUN! There are many other entrys for that system hive and it is necessary. >However, if an entire Hive in the Left column is named America Online, then you can safely delete it because all of the sub-entrys in the Right column are going to be for America Online. Hope I am clear. >ANYTHING you are not sure about, just leave it. A few entrys here & there are not going to slow down your computer. However, if you truly have 483 keys in your register, I personally guarantee you it is slowing your computer. AOL is the alltime Hog of software, both diskspace and resources. Believe me you are better off without it. Hope I helped, I been doing this for years for my clients and never had a problem yet.

AOL is evil. Get rid of as many of the registry keys as you can. Pay particular attention to post #2. If you try deleting registry keys manually, I guarantee it will get interesting. Please make a BACKUP of your registry before attempting any of the above. Better safe than sorry.

I am using jv16 power tools to find the keys and would use that program to delete them (it supplies a backup of those keys, I believe). I wouldn't do it directly in regedit although I did have to do that to remove Incredimail - which was another nasty program that hogged everything and kept recurring! So, in other words, aol should appear at either a "tag end" or as the main subject? I deleted netscape the same way and have had no repercussions yet, but I did set a restore point and will do so again before I mess with aol. Yes, it had 483 keys on the registry - at least that's how many jv16 found! Thanks for ALL your excellent help. Most appreciated from this "computer newbie". Sharon

Well, I'm not sure what you mean by a "tag end"; As long as the direct entry reads AOL or America Online you are safe, whether it is a Hive header or an individual entry. BTW-setting a restore point is okay, but don't forget to delete those points after you successfully complete. One day you may forget and restore, and guess what's back??

I would only use the restore point if something was wrong and I needed those AOL keys back (for what reason, I wouldn't be able to guess). How do you delete a restore point, besides taking the space alloted down to zero, and then raising it up again? (To allow automatic restore points.) Anyway AOL is gone, so is Compuserve and a few other goodies I found in my files, etc. Thanks for all of your expert help here!