AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

[JB]

I have (had) aol 9.0.

Today it refused to load, telling me that I didn't have enough memory and I should deinstall some programs.

So I went to Control Panel and deinstalled some useless (to me) stuff.

AOL was not satisfied. So I really screwed up

I have Garmin Mapsource. I forgot that my City Navigator V8 was actually and update of City Select V6, which was an update of City Select V5. So I deinstalled V5 and V6. Bad, BAD, VERY BAD mistake. I tried to reinstall V5 from the CD and it told me to use a Setup Disk. I aint got no Setup Disk. . . I shouldn't need no stinking Setup Disk.

Well, aol still won't load.

I can probably get on the phone with Garmin and get my firmware reloaded.

What to do about the aol problem??

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

Add more memory to the ol gal.

 

[v1_0]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

Is it asking for more memory, or more disk space?

Removing programs will most likely free up *disk space*. They only use memory when they are running.

In order to free up memory, you could stop programs from running.

First, I would clean up the hard drive. CCleaner does a great job. (empty your trashcan, or it will take longer). This can be found at downloads.com, or twocows.com - or that majorgeek site.

I would then run a virus detector, then spyware/adware scans, then a rootkit detector. All of these things can be found free: AVG (virus), adware & spybot-sd (spyware/adware), and finally rootkit detector from sysinternals.com (now microsoft).

If you find a bunch of malware - try to install AOL, maybe it will have freed up enough memory. You can check what tasks are using memory by using the task manager - there should be a column "Mem Usage". You can click on it to sort programs by memory usage. (If you don't have this on the "Process" tab display, go to "View->Select Columns" in the windows task manager menu.

If you have a suspect process, go to spywarewarrior.com - download hijackthis, scan your pc (with log) and post to the forum. They will help you with spyware/malware just like the Iboats repair forums helps people with boat problems.

For windows 2000, XP: (NOTE: BE CAREFUL WITH THIS)
If you have no suspect programs, then you can start shutting down other things. If you run "services.msc" (start->run "services.msc") you will see a bunch of services. Some of these things are needed, and will cause your computer to crash if you stop them. Others just suck up memory.

"http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm" is a guide of services and what they do.

Here's one list of what to keep and what not to keep:
"http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm"

-V

 

[blouderback]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

People still use AOL ???

 

[penst8grad]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

At first I thought this may be a thread about an argument with your spouse since the title would sum up most of our "discussions".

I dumped AOL many years ago and haven't looked back. I used to have to fix my grandmother and mother's computers since AOL loved to put "stuff" on them. DSL fixed all that.

I still use dialup at work and found VERY cheap national dialup for 5.50 a month with no software to load.

 

[JB]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

This may be it.

I was sure that I had my conehead (geek) put 512M of memory in her last time he was here. Now it tells me it only has 248M.

Gonna see if he can give me a Gig.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

" Removing programs will most likely free up *disk space*. They only use memory when they are running."

Are you running XP?

You have too many programs loaded in the background that you may or may not be aware of. Internet temp files could have you loaded up too.

I attack and destroy this problem with all the computers at work. I use the RUN MSCONFIG and go into the startup and disable many things that do not need to be running "all the time behind the scenes". If you are not comfortable doing it then do not do it alone (ie w/o support from us here) of you could kill everything.

 

[PierBridge]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

This may be it.

I was sure that I had my conehead (geek) put 512M of memory in her last time he was here. Now it tells me it only has 248M.

Gonna see if he can give me a Gig.

It's not a RAM issue....

System restore....for starters

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

AOL isn't the greatest company to go with, past experience, I use to work on computers. Are you talking about DSL AOL? If not is AOL giving you a local number to dial up on? I have simply fixed a hand full of computers using AOL by just changing the dial up number to the closest local number.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

This may be it.

I was sure that I had my conehead (geek) put 512M of memory in her last time he was here. Now it tells me it only has 248M.

Gonna see if he can give me a Gig.

JB if you have XP go buy 2 gig's........Now i know a lot of IT type's will split a gut here but anything under1 gig is just silly......Try it, it will be like a new comp.

Post your comp type and i will give you a link for ram on the cheap and good stuff

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

I had a 400 MHZ with 256 megs of ram if I recall right running Windows XP service pack one and it ran like a top. The AOL problem may not be because of the ram. Hit control Alt delete all at the same time then go under process this will allow you to close certain files or programs that are open that you might not be aware of. Another thing to consider is if you are running an earlier addition of XP it might be service pack 1, try upgrading it to service pack 2 to see if that helps. There are several issues that can cause the internet to screw up (one of the biggest issues being AOL). You could do a factory restore on the computer not a system restore to an earlier time but a factory restore. I have only been working with computers for about 7 years actually longer if you consider all the side jobs I have done for people and I don't claim to be an expert. Everybody keeps downing windows Vista because of all the bugs, windows XP was the same way when it came out thats why you have the different service packs and patches, so for those afraid to get Vista why not get it start getting use to it and get any available upgrade you can get. My mother has a computer with vista on it and it runs smoother then a babies behind, it's are At&t internet dial up service that stinks. Sorry had to get that off of my chest.

 

[JB]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

Actually, I am on wireless broadband and only use aol for Email. Dumb, huh?

Yes, I have XP. What do I have to do to do "system restore"??

GOD, I hate computers.

10 years ago I was a computer instructor! I even hated DOS back then.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AOL+uninstaller

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

Yes, I have XP. What do I have to do to do "system restore"??
GOD, I hate computers.

I got sick of working on computers, I set these computers up at the house all three on a network and I went through all kinds of heck doing that, especially when I updated one of the computers to a new one with Vista and it didn't want to communicate with the network for nothing, so I factory restored it and started from scratch and finally got it figured out.
Restoring your computer depends what kind of computer you have and how old it is. Your computer might have a built in recovery if it didn't come with a restore disc. Back up any files that might be of some use to you in the future before you restore. Rite down any user names and passwords for any sites that you may be signed up for also as this information will be lost also if you use automatic sign in, if your like me after restoring I'm Trying to remember what the heck the user name and password was.
I'm scratching my head though, if you use AOL only for the e-mail, this means this is not your main internet service, sign up for a different e-mail account under hotmail.com or something like that. I know I've grown tired and ready for bed but I'm confused now lol.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

I hear you could turn it offf and put a strong magnet beside the hard drive and that would remove the stuff clogging up the thing,,,,,,Im no computer geek but I know a little about puters.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

I hear you could turn it offf and put a strong magnet beside the hard drive and that would remove the stuff clogging up the thing,,,,,,Im no computer geek but I know a little about puters.

You forgot to add don't try this at home . Lord please don't try that technique.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

My wife teaches a class where the kids learn to use the computer for vocational research. (middle school) The system is suppose to have a safeguard that prevents porn sites etc from coming in...The kids dont need her to teach them because they have found ways to bypass the system controls and get porn anyway,Real flustrating to the teacher ,but she just teaches the class.she isnt responcible for the system flaws.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

You would think that the aministrator could get into the security settings of the internet explorer and set them were nobody could adjust them but the teacher or there computer technician. If the computers are networked it would be a little easier to monitor the kids activities. If they are not networked, adjusting the security settings and password protection would be the ideal thing.

 

[Jerico]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

My wife teaches a class where the kids learn to use the computer for vocational research. (middle school) The system is suppose to have a safeguard that prevents porn sites etc from coming in...The kids dont need her to teach them because they have found ways to bypass the system controls and get porn anyway,Real flustrating to the teacher ,but she just teaches the class.she isnt responcible for the system flaws.

Tell your wife to ask their IT about getting a SonicWall with filtering. I've used them at schools before. Propery setup the kids will not bypass it.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: AUGH!! This is awful! Then I made it worse.

Ahhh jeesh JB see what you have started......dock side chat dribble.........