IIRC, even though you have to use AOL's software to dial into their system, once you connect you can run Internet Exploder I mean Explorer over that connection just like any real ISP. Just gotta watch for the 46-minute timeout, if they still do that (I haven't used AOL for years, just work on it time to time).

 

that perfect nav bho you mentioned earlier is a form of browser hijacker-usually picked up on kazaa or other p2p venues.go to www.snapfiles.com(freeware site) and download spybot search and destroy,while you're there look around,they have other good apps including firewalls that noone should be without these days.if you are on the internet(and we all are)you need to be secure.think of it like checkin the oil,a little preventive maintenance goes a long way to keepin things runnin right.Oh yea,update spybot then reboot to safe mode to run it,anything lurkin in the shadows has no place to hide in "safe"!! good luck.

 

You might buy and down load Ad-aware 6, there is a number of items it will find that can and have caused problems for many!

 

I know this is pretty simple but when you are on the web page try hitting the "F5" key. This forces a reload of that page. It might work.

 

You can also try to see if it is AOL or something in your machine by logging in to AOL, minimizing it, and starting Microsoft Internet Explorer (or netscape, mozilla, etc). Then AOL is just the "link", so if it works normally through MIE, you know the issue is with AOL.

You can also choose refresh from the toolbar (where in AOL depends on version as I recall) to refresh the webpage, or right click on the open page and choose re-load.

Just some further ways to dig for info....

Jim

 

Ad-Aware 6 and Spybot do pretty much the same thing. I run them both, actually. The best part is, they are both free. Just download, install and run.

 

>>>I have noticed that when i see the list of posts in the forums its stayed the same for several days. in the center part tho i see the last post made to the forum regardless of when its been made that day<<<

This sounds like you set your fav when you were reading posts, instead of when you were at the home page for FTE. If that's what you did it will always take you to *the same old page*
If you can get to the FTE home page or the first page for the forums, drag that to fav's. It should say you already have that in Fav's. but you can edit the name for the second *item*. Then you have two Fav's for FTE. So delete the first one.

Or you can simply delete the link you have in favs now and do a search for FTE forums to get back. Make sure you are on the FTE home page when you set it in Favs, drag it to Favs.

I wonder why your using IE if you have AOL. Can you reset your default browser to the aol browser? The IE browser to me is a PITA. And it's so susceptible to hijacking. virus scan isnt' much of a gaurd as i recall.

BHO stands for Browser Hijacking Object. Six showed up on my desktop one time. You can't jsut delete them or send them to the recycle bin. They come back like a yo-yo.

http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/ I think this link is to an articles on the crap that gets pulled.

*Hijack This* is good. They have people who help and guide you through it. Got rid of five BHO's there and CWShredder got rid of the last one.

http://security.kolla.de/ :: Spybot
http://www.lavasoft.de/ :: Ad-aware
http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/datanotary/ :: Datanotary article at SWI
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.zip :: HijackThis
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip :: CWShredder
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virus.aspx?ID=35839 :: Computer Associates virus info page

Some of these downloads are close to 4MB so you may not have room if your puter is really old.

 

My understanding is when you download the free stuff........all it does is identify you have "them" however you cannot delete them. Is this true or have I had to much coffee.............???

I had the free for a while and could not delete, every time you closed the software, reopen and run again you got the same list back up. Then I bought the program and now it deletes the little buggers.

 

My free versions delete just fine.

 

ok lets clear this up shall we....first off,the url I gave earlier(www.snapfiles.com)has a list of the top 100 freeware titles available for download-they are FREE full version software!that means they do the job for FREE!I had said to browse while there because you will find AVG antivirus,Zone Alarm firewall,spybot,ad aware,spyware blaster, and 94 other useful titles that will help you guard against malware.These days the second you connect to the internet some bonehead is tryin to stuff your computer full of crap that you don't want or need!And there are some nasties out there.Like I said before"preventive maintenance"is the key-you're better off to spend the time securing your computer now as after you lose all your data and have to reformat to resurrect your operating system.You can protect yourself for FREE by using the programs I listed earlier,and who knows what other goodies you might find.If you find crap on your computer that the programs can't get rid of,do a search,you'll find all the options you need to get clean.And last but not least-UPDATE,UPDATE,UPDATE-there's no point havin last years virus definitions and not todays,cause its the new bugs that bite the hardest.Sorry for bein so long winded but spyware crap burns my ****.Good luck,surf safe! oh yea-its usually "shareware" that only lets you do half the job-they want yer cash to do it all-LOL.

 

Shaggymane's responce seems to be the best I've read so far.....Clear out the links to FTE in your favorites, reenter FTE's homepage, then save the homepage in your favorites.
The general health of any Microsoft OS computer depends on the basics.
Hardware health:
1.) Make sure you have enough free space on your harddrive and keep it as clean of "junk" as you can. Scan Disk and Defrag at least once a month.
2.) Make sure you have enough RAM to effectively run the OS and other software you run on your computer.
OS Software:
1.) Keep it updated. Win98SE has less problems than plain Win98, but both are no longer supported by Microsoft.
2.) Win 2000 Pro is much better and is still supported.
3.) I don't upgrade OS's until they are no longer supported with security updates.
4.) Novice Hackers keep a watch on Microsoft's update page and when a security fix is posted...they use it's flaws to write their viruses.....So, INSTALL YOUR OS's SECURITY PATCHES FORM MICROSOFT'S WEB PAGE AT LEAST WEEKLY!!!
Software:
1.) Pick one Suite of Utilities and stick with it's upgrades.....I have tried many and now only use Norton System Works. Learn how to use all it's programs and KEEP IT UPDATED FROM THEIR HOMEPAGE!!!!
2.) Pick a firewall and use it....again I have tried many and I use Zone Alarm Pro.
3.) Pick an ad-ware program and use it...I like Ad-aware.
4.) SpyBot Search and Distroy is the best.
5.) Never, Ever uninstall a program without cleaning out your Registry as a final step...I use a FREE program called Reg Cleaner.
6.) I very rarely use Internet Exployer or Outlook Express.....I love Netscape and it's E-mail program version 7.0.......too many hackers love IE and Outlook Express.
7.) Get a different ISP....AOL loves to hold your computer hostage with advertising and their support people are not the smartest.

In closing....the more you know about your computer the better your computing experience, and you get what you pay for...I have been building my own computers and using the internet since before Microsoft had Win 3.0 and have never had a problem.....Good luck and happy computing. Mike

 

Netscape is what I use, your number 4 is why.
I have treid to explan why it is so good. "I very rarely use Internet Exployer or Outlook Express.....I love Netscape and it's E-mail program version 7.0.......too many hackers love IE and Outlook Express." Netscape seems ot have a bad rap.

 

Tim...Netscape started out as a very small program....I can remember when that was very important....my harddrive was only 30 MB. At the time every file was scrutinized as to it's importance and deleted if not needed to run the program. Netscape, at that time, was very small in program size. Eventhough it was a small program, it was very easy to configure. If you wanted your browser to do extra stuff....you installed plugins. It still is smaller that the bloated IE (if you use Reg Cleaner to get rid of all The AOL junk). Which means it takes less system RAM for each open browser window, and it dosn't try to hijack system resources. IE and Outlook Express rob you of RAM and system resources which slows any system down. I don't like the fact that AOL new owns Netscape, but I'm glade they have been leaving it alone....if a browser works....don't mess with it. I guess that is why I also love Norton....smaller program sizes, very effective, and less use of system resources.