%&$#@!!! AOL Question

Why is it that both Internet Explorer and Netscape are loading extremely slowly and have 5-15 second delays when clicking on links, whereas my AOL browser is going as it kind of should be...

...In no way am I supporting AOL insomuch as this program is most probably the root of this dilhemma.

[HarmNone]

It's dilemma. Have you tried restarting, or cold booting, your computer? You might also try defragging. I don't know that it will work, but it's worth a try. :)

HarmNone, not a computer guru

EST Defrag time: The next "eon..."

[Axhinde]

I delete temporary internet files and defrag weekly. More space = faster machine.

[Artha]

Get a real browser (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/why/).

I can load disk clean-up just fine..

..it simply loads about 1 x 10^-18 of the blue bars set for analyzing.. And never quite finishes from that point :blush:

[Percocet]

Mozilla? Come on, that crap's just that, crap.

Internet explorer is more universal than anything else out there in the world. It's essentially the "default" of any internet user.

The AOL browser just plain f*cking sucks. Netscape is worthless. Mozilla is old, reliable, but not well known. I'd go on with the others, but all I gotta say is that if you use a LAN or Dial-up connection, stick with IE.

As far as your system going slow, I'd say it's about time to just restart the computer. a disk cleanup or defrag might be useful, but if it's dial-up then you should take a look at the speed you connected at. Your modem may be, at a default, 56k, but it can still connect at lower speeds, like 40k, 30k, etc (+/-, of course).

If you don't feel like restarting, just reconnect (in the terms of a dial-up).

Otherwise, you may have too much on the computer, like others have suggested. Check your spyware too, that can slow you down (or viruses and worms).

I'd put more emphasis on keeping your computer "clean" than anything (in the terms of spyware and viruses). Now a days, most computers have 20+ gbs of HD space, which is no where near harmed by 1-2gb of combined memory with temp files, fragged files, etc.

I like AOL better than most ISPS

[Artha]

Internet explorer is more universal than anything else out there in the world. It's essentially the "default" of any internet user.

The only thing (I have found) that Mozilla can't do where IE can is ActiveX controls and windows update. ActiveX is a security risk anyway, and it's not that hard to run IE every week or two and check for updates.

Firefox has pop-up blocking, banner ad blocking, tabbed browsing, themes, and plug-in support. It wins hard.

[HarmNone]

Defrag, Stanley. Sheesh!

[Percocet]

it's like I said, IE is more universal than any other browser in the world.

As far as pop-up blocking goes, if you want one you can buy one to tack on to IE. OR, you could get viewpoint, which blocks all pop-ups created by the page being created.

Sucks in the terms of wanting to compose an e-mail and having a pop up for it, but with a simple click you can get it back. Small annoyance, but it's free, none-the-less.

Okay.

edited to add" defragglin

[Edited on 9-4-2004 by Stanley Burrell]

[HarmNone]

Also, defrag in Safe mode. It'll go a lot faster.

Heh. Defraggin' is working, albeit slowly.

Disk cleanup on the other hand is asking me to insert the Windows XP start-up CD because it can't delete certain files; The corrolary of this instance is unknown to myself, but I am pretty screwed w/o said disk.

[HarmNone]

When you get the darned thing defragged, get AdAware and Spy-Bot, and use them. That may get rid of some of the crap for you. Are you defragging in safe mode?

Yes, and the screen looks weird.

Originally posted by HarmNone
When you get the darned thing defragged, get AdAware and Spy-Bot, and use them. That may get rid of some of the crap for you. Are you defragging in safe mode?

I've got this thing called Spysweeper but I haven't updated it fer a while, tho.

[HarmNone]

There are a lot of spyware deleters out there. I think Peam has one he swears by. I use Spy-bot and AdAware, and I keep them updated, just like I keep my anti-virus software updated. Why have something if you're not going to use it properly?

You're quite clever.

[HarmNone]

Originally posted by Stanley Burrell
You're quite clever.

My mommy thinks so, too! :D

[Numbers]

What everyone suggested should work fine. Clean out your cache's for both browsers (deleting cookies couldn't hurt, either, but that's your decision,) you should defrag monthly, possibly do a thorough scandisk if you have the time (you should do that every 3 or 6 months, if not more,) and download the spyware detectors.

Here's a couple of other things you may want to try doing. Look for a program called RegClean... it's an old Microsoft program, but they don't support it anymore. Regardless, you should still be able to find it off download.com or by doing a google search on it. Just make sure that when you download it, it's the one from Microsoft. That'll go through your registry and clear out any redundant entries or entries that are pointing to nothing. Very useful tool.

Also, go to your C drive, click on View > Toolbars > Address Bar. In the address bar that pops up, type in "%temp%" This will bring you to your temporary files that are NOT cleared out when you clear the cache in your browsers. Clear out everything in there. On almost every computer I work on, when I go to this file, there's upwards of 5 to 10 gigs in there.

Also, download Mozilla Firefox and use that, instead. Much more stable, secure, and reliable than IE.

[peam]

Artha meant to link you here:

www.opera.com

[Artha]

Yeah, I meant to link you to the browser that's almost as good but not quite.

[kheldarin]

Originally posted by peam
Artha meant to link you here:

www.opera.com

I'm using that now.

Fucking rocks.

[peam]

Best browser ever. Mouseovers and keyboard navigation rule.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

<Internet explorer is more universal than anything else out there in the world. It's essentially the "default" of any internet user.

The AOL browser just plain f*cking sucks. Netscape is worthless. Mozilla is old, reliable, but not well known. I'd go on with the others, but all I gotta say is that if you use a LAN or Dial-up connection, stick with IE. > Percocet

Has the brain trust you consulted with making that ignorant comment informed you that the AOL browser *IS* MS Internet Explorer?

Just curious.

No. I did not know that.

[HarmNone]

Hmm. I would have sworn the AOL browser was NetScape. AOL does, after all, own NetScape.

HarmNone

[Artha]

Netscape has been discontinued. All or some of their hardware and staff are now being used for Mozilla, which is a completely seperate organization.

[HarmNone]

AOL is still offering it as a dowload....

http://www.aol.com/downloads/

I'm confuddled......again. :D

HarmNone wonders, is it is or is it ain't?

[Numbers]

AOL definitely uses the IE browser.

Which is why it sucks.

[Artha]

I'm confuddled......again.

AOL developed Netscape, but the last version will be the last version. Mozilla uses Netscape as a base, but it's better.