Removing AOL

Dan Dowd · Post by **Dan Dowd** » 21 Oct 2001 7:57 pm

I have a friend that wants to remove AOL and use IE and a local ISP. Any help on how to remove it or un-install it completly.

erik · Post by **erik** » 21 Oct 2001 9:27 pm

I don't know the specifics but my dad had to do this a year ago and it required a technician as AOL deposits junk into the registry which will not leave upon unnstall.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 22 Oct 2001 2:40 am

Some versions of AOL do tend to leave a lot of crap behind.

Make sure you do an "orderly" uninstall using the AOL uninstall program or the uninstall software feature in the Control Panel. After it completes there will still be an AOL folder, etc. Manually delete any AOL folders, files or desktop icons that remain. That SHOULD take care of it and allow him to use a "real" ISP and browser.

Rich Paton · Post by **Rich Paton** » 23 Oct 2001 11:45 pm

Before attempting this, your friend should back up any files on his computer that he wants/needs to keep, because this process often causes problems that will require re-installing windows, and/or re-formatting the drive & re-installing everything. I've read some real horror stories about this, and read them far to often for comfort!
I would definitely err on the side of caution, and get prepared for the worst.

Bob Farlow · Post by **Bob Farlow** » 25 Oct 2001 11:59 am

There is a program called "Reg Cleaner" that does an excellent job of removing registry references to programs that have been uninstalled. Go Here: http://www.jv16.org/