AOL for a friend

w hole

w hole

Regular Member
My Location
uk
Hello All

For some reason I have an aversion to AOL - they rub me up the same way as RealMedia [They seem to want to tell ME what to do]

Anyway - I have a good friend and neighbour who has been with them for some time, and who comes to me for 'computer advice'.

They have been subscibers to AOL ever since they went on line, and have been able to get along OK despite them.

Now however they have upgraded to XP and AOL 9, and have asked me to help them to escape from the 'straight jacket'.

Can anyone advise me on the following:

1] How to set up a 'Dial Up Connection' to AOL - without using their software - via Windows XP - I have the telephopne number.

2] How to set up an account in Outlook for an AOL Email Account - I have the Email Address and Password, but no POP or SMTP deatils

3] How to sign in to a Hotmail account vial Outlook or Outlook Express [Although I think this service is about to be withdrawn]

Kind regards

W Hole
 
1) It may be as simple as using the old .ins file & phone No.

2) You could try pop.AOL.com (or pop3......) & smtp.AOL.com if they follow
normal rules.

3) If you get online then you could try going directly to MSN .

L
 
I'm not convinced that AOL works on dialup without their crap interface, like you, i wouldn't touch their stuff with a barge pole, even if it was free. :)
 
I kicked them into touch in 1997 and only ever used them at work, since then I have never advised anyone to use them, people beg me for help when they get locked in or out as the case may be like Rolf I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!!
 
Can't help directly but you could try phoning their (free) tech help line.

I know it's a long shot but when all else has failed...

PaulR
 
Long time since I used it, but I tried everything to get around the AOL restrictions. My conclusion was that it was not possible, mainly due to the fact that they employ dynamic routing and load balancing across their servers (web, mail, ftp, news - you name it. You couldn't specify diddly, esp. DNS, POP3 and SMTP which rather made it all a waste of time.

There was some info in their FAQ, but it was well buried even then, and it didn't give much more info than I have!

:(
 
w hole said:
So does anyone have any knowledge of their system?

W.H.
Click to expand...
I seem to remember from somewhere that AOL are unique inasmuch as they have their own networking around the country from the local exchanges and this is part of the reason that their system is more secure.

Pity it also makes it such a tw*t to work on.

PaulR
 
Back
Top