Why America Online (AOL) is a virus to networks and how to fix
the problem.
by Dexter Hansen
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After doing a few upgrades to my son's PC (Personal Computer), I finally had enough spare parts to put together a legacy 486 PC. I had heard how easy it was to make two machines running Windows 95 to network and thought it would be a great thing to have a print server as well as a second machine in case the daughter wanted her homework printed right now. There are other problems other than this that can cause network problems, however, this is one that many receive because AOL knows "Best". A peer to peer network is a means means of hooking two PC's together and allowing them to share hard drives and peripherals (Printers, Scanners, etc.). WIN98 will also allow you to share modems via Internet Connection Sharing without putting server software on the machines like Wingate. You need an open slot in each PC in the network and know if your machines have a PCI or ISI buses. A Network Interface Card (NIC) is needed for each machine and a means to hook them up. They can be 10 or 100 MZ. The hook up is the same, only the 100 MZ cards are faster. There are two ways to do it. One is to tie the NIC's together with a BNC cable. If you do it this way, two 50 ohm terminators are also needed at each end as well as a T for each end. The other, hook up is to get a hub and the 8 pin phone type connectors (RJ45's). The parts are bundled and sold as network starter kits, however, if you have a legacy machine (486 or older) the PCI NIC won't work in the slot. I had to run the NIC in half duplex to get it to work on the 486. There is a third way also using just two NIC cards with the RJ45 connectors and using a Swap cable. (1-3, 2-6, 3-1 and 6-2), however, this limits the network to two PC's. The most comprehensive site for the information to hook up a peer to peer network is at http://www.helmig.com. If the site has moved, just do a search on "peer network". I knew of one person who had already did it and thought I'd give it a shot. When I finally got my peer to peer network going at home. everything seemed to work fine. I even had the trial version of Wingate going to share the modem. That was until I fired up America On Line (AOL) to do some web page updates. As a side noe, with the advent of the "Internet Connection Sharing " component of Windows 98 & up, a sharing program is not needed, but that's beyond the scope of this page. I thought I'd port to AOL through my network. It was a big mistake. I have server space there. Since my daughter informed me she hasn't used AOL in over a year, I'm moving my sites off . I was using AOL version 4.0 on my "server". AOL version 4.0 is a 32 bit version. After I figured out that the network would work if I reloaded the network drivers from my Win95 system CD, I contacted AOL. They told me to reload my software and thanked me for using AOL. After I contacted AOL a second time and said that I saw a post at http://www.masseylawn.com/aol.htm that basically defined the fix I had figure out. They said it was a known problem and reload the network drivers. AOL doesn't seem to mention it in any of their FAQ's that I could find. I found out later from AOL Support that AOL's 32 bit version (the WIN 95/98 version 3.0 & up) uses AOL's own winsock.dll. When you load AOL, it has a "Tools on Demand "(TOD) automatic update feature that automatically updates your software and loads AOL's Dialer and AOL's winsock.dll file. Once this occurs, it lobotomizes the ability for the dialer to talk to the modem. The dialer calls up, the browser loads and there is nobody home. I am aware that AOL can be ran through another ISP. The software will work provided you connect to the ISP first, then load your AOL software. I know this will work, however, you are relying upon the fact that you are the only one to use the computer. What happens if the wife, kids or one of their friends try to go to AOL as they were taught else where? Better doctor your AOL shortcut if you want to prevent a problem or follow the fix below. It should be noted that AOL has also came out with a 16 bit version of AOL 4.0 and has since came out with two additional upgrades, the latest which I have been told allows TOD to be suspended. As far as AOL 7.0, a word warning about AOL 7.0 -- it cannot be kept out of the start menu without fixing the registry with REGEDIT. A word of warning about REGEDIT (For the brave -- it's located in the Windows Directory under the name of Regedit.exe). It is not forgiving and if you don't know how to use it --don't. It's a one way street with no forgiveness. If you delete or change the wrong thing, you may end up crippling one or more of your applications and have to reload software. The fix is to reload your network drivers from your Windows CD and load a 16 bit version of AOL software. Basically any thing that is older that version 3.0 or the 16 bit verision of AOL 4.0 - "AOL for Home Networks". The new versions also are supporting the 16 bit version. You can also use the Windows 3.1 version 3.0 if you can still find it. As long as you don't try to push the 32 bit version of AOL software through your network it will work. I'm running again and have AOL's 16 bit version, but for all the problems I've had, I've dropped AOL. It seems the more I actually used AOL's service, the less I liked it. Their FTP interface is about the worst I've seen as well, but that's beyond the scope of this warning. On a positive note, if you have kids, it great because they police the network. I hope you haven't spent to many hours trying to get your network running before you found this warning.
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Author's Statement: This information is provided for informational purposes. This is intended in no way to go around any copyright laws or rights of manufacturer's and service providers referred to in this information. Should there be a problem or concern, contact the author below.
Last Revised - 12.18.03
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