Member Avatar for Blade10878

Running Windows Me, the AOL versions is the latest 9.0 Security Edition, when i start up the computer, and enter windows the following programs appear on my taskbar, Waol, Aoldial, Aolservicehost, Aolhostmanager, all of these prgrams are usless but they auto start when the computer starts, and they suck my RAM dry, how do i delete or at least disable these programs without screwing up my aol browsing ability? *note, I releaize That i should take this question up with AOL, problem is I have tried, the live chat is down, message boards still no replie, and i do not want to call them and talk to some guy from India who I cannot understand, and who cannot understand me, already been there done that.

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A short, practical checklist to follow after the suggestions already posted by and — keep what you need and verify before you disable or delete anything.

Start by confirming whether the tasks are really AOL components or something pretending to be AOL. Some of the names you listed (waol, AOLDial, AOLServiceHost, AOLHostManager) are legitimate parts of AOL 9.x but have been abused or imitated by malware; that’s why they sometimes use lots of RAM. (file-intelligence.comodo.com)

Inspect running items first (don’t delete blindly). Use Process Explorer to open the process properties, confirm the full image path and the “Verified signer”/publisher information, and check whether the file lives under Program Files\Common Files\AOL (typical) or in a suspicious location (C:\Windows, Temp, etc.). If the signer is Microsoft/AOL and the path looks right it’s probably the real AOL component; if not, treat it as suspicious and investigate further. See Process Explorer for details. Process Explorer. (learn.microsoft.com)

When you want to stop automatic startup without guessing which registry key to edit, use Autoruns (it shows every autostart location, the publisher, and integrates VirusTotal checks). Run Autoruns, enable signature verification and VirusTotal lookups in Options, then uncheck (disable) only the AOL items you are sure you don’t need. If you still use AOL dial-up, leave the dialer entries alone; if you only use webmail or broadband, many AOL helpers (TopSpeed, HostManager, optional spyware tools) can be disabled. Backup or create a restore point (or full backup) before making changes. Autoruns. (learn.microsoft.com)

About McAfee and “write-protected” detections: update definitions and scan from a minimal environment (Safe Mode or rescue media). If McAfee won’t remove its items or is itself causing problems, use McAfee’s MCPR removal tool to clean the product and then reinstall or replace it with another AV. After cleaning, re-run your scanners (Malwarebytes, an on-demand scanner, or a rescue ISO) to catch anything that remains. . ()

Tools/resources: Process Explorer, Autoruns, VirusTotal, Malwarebytes, MCPR. Always verify a process’ path and digital signature before removing it, keep a backup, and if anything looks like a trojan (unsigned, wrong folder, heavy CPU/RAM) treat it as malware and clean it with up-to-date scanners or a rescue disk.

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Member Avatar for pcschrottie

without screwing up my aol browsing ability?

I don't know which of these programs you need to surf the internet with AOL but I can tell you how to disable the autostart entries:

Start->run->enter msconfig, click OK and then go to the startup tab and uncheck the programs that you do not want to be started automatically. Leave scanreg.exe enabled!

Michael

Member Avatar for Blade10878

ty for the help, i did so and now they do not start at start-up, although i do have a slightly unrelated question i shall ask, i got Mcaffe from the new aol, and it found 75 "dangerous" items on my computer that it could not delete, clean, or quartine, because it said they were "write protected" which i assume means they are writing to my harddrive. i downloaded another program called, stinger that Mcaffe recomnded, and it scaned my HD and nothing happend. i still have those dangerous objects on my computer. what should i do?

Member Avatar for pcschrottie

Try to run McAffe in safe mode.

Member Avatar for Blade10878

I have windows ME how do i run safe mode?

Member Avatar for Zachery

Your problem is not AOL, or any other programs on your computer, your probem is windows me itself.

To get into safe mode, after you boot your computer, a soon as the bios display goes away you need to hit F8

Member Avatar for Blade10878

what do u mean by my problem is windows me?

Member Avatar for kosmoe

>

To get into safe mode, after you boot your computer, a soon as the bios display goes away you need to hit F8

To get into safe mode you need to hit F8 or CTRL as soon as the bios display page APPEARS. that is the black and white page.

Member Avatar for bship53626

messages from Mcafee that state write protected can be removed. First you need to keep mcafee updated; always check for updates! Now, get on line, open Mcafee Security center while you are on line. run scan and when it's through click on each item and hit delete and it will delete the write protected virus

Member Avatar for bship53626

depends on your computer but most computers can be started by " restarting your computer and tapping F8 while computer is starting and you will be in safe mode. Or use your help program; that's what it's for

Member Avatar for gara3of5

I also have 9.0 SE. After you go to RUN, type in msconfig, click the Startup tab, then uncheck Host Manager, click apply and then okay. You will have to re-boot for the change to take effect. You may also want to uninstall McAfee that you got with AOL 9.0 SE. It drains your computers resoursed and slows it down to a crawl. I installed Norton and goT rid of AOL's version of McAfee. I also got rid of AOL's spyware and firewall. I kept the Pop Up Blocker.

Member Avatar for The Dude

Welcome to the site!!!

AOL 9.0 is garbage and takes over your computer like crazy!!!!

AOL7.0 Canada was the last good version!

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