Delete and Reinstall AOL for MAC OS X

John,

That is very strange indeed! Maybe you should start a new topic in Using Mac OS X, relating to that issue only, as I am baffled why you can't scroll to the bottom of that window.

But getting back to your AOL issue,

How many "Filing Cabinets" do you now have on your system?
What are the exact paths to them?
And what are they titled, exactly?

ali b

To RobertPellucid, and a P.S. to John

Hi Robert, and Welcome!

The problem John is having is not in trying to remove AOL.
If you read the Entire Thread carefully, you will find that John did not follow my instructions, to uninstall & reinstall AOL exactly as I posted them.
Therefore his "Personal Filing Cabinets" did not get saved properly.
That is the problem we are attempting to rectify.
AOL Tech Support may have also given him incorrect instructions.

If your Father's computer is loading AOL on startup, then I would guess that it is in his
System Preferences > Accounts > Startup Items.

I can post instructions for you, to totally remove AOL from an OS X system, but please start a new topic. This thread is complicated enough for John & I.

I hope to hear from you, and,
Enjoy Your Stay in "Discussions"!

ali b

P.S. To John: I haven't abandoned you! I had matters to attend to yesterday. I'll be back later.

Hi Elaine!

Nice to meet you.

Before you go any further, please "Repair the HD" & "Repair Permissions".

THESE ARE THE STEPS FOR USING DISK UTILITY TO REPAIR YOUR HD

1.Insert your Mac OS X CD-ROM disc or Restore DVD disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2.Once started up from CD or DVD, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc to access Disk Utility.
3.Click the First Aid tab.
4.Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5.Select your Mac OS X volume, if necessary.
6.Click Repair. If DU reports errors it has fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported.
7.When finished, select Quit Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
8.Select Quit Installer from the Installer menu.
9.In the resulting pop-up window, choose restart.
10.After the computer has restarted, you can eject the CD.

TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK

1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)

Rerun RP until the only message it reports is:
"We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./System/Library/Filesystems/cd9660.fs/cd9660.util.
New permissions are 33261"

This is a status message and not a cause for concern. You may safely ignore it.

Or these:
"We are using a special uid for the file or directory ./private/var/at/jobs. New uid is 1"
"We are using a special uid for the file or directory ./private/var/at/spool. New uid is 1"

Again, these are status messages, which appeared after Security Update 2005-001.

There may be others that you can ignore. Complete list here Spurious Permissions Errors.

When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".

ali b

Elaine,

Do you have a CD that looks like One Of These with the Jaguar spotted X on a white background, that says #1?

Use that to "Repair Hard Drive".

You should "Repair Permissions" while booted into OS X as per my instructions HERE. Not from a CD.

I'm hoping the fact that you are in the UK, has no bearing on the situation! Although the UK version of AOL may be different. Maybe that has been part of the AOL problem all along. Let's hope not.

ali b

John, Elaine, and/or Assistant,

You wrote "
We still have a System Folder on the desktop, which you asked us to put there."
That is not true.

Before msg # 65., the only place that I mentioned the System Folder, in this thread, was in msg # 1.1..

"For the time being, put that "Data" folder back where it was.
HD > System Folder (should have a 9 on the folder icon) > Preferences > America Online > HERE
That does not say to move the System Folder to the Desktop.

I repeat: "What is in the system folder on the Desktop, and what is in the system folder on the HD?
Where exactly is the system folder on the HD, and what is it's exact name?"

" However, when we suspect we have been cut off and check the connection by lifting the receiver, and the sounds indicate we are still on line, it seems to trigger the AOL system into immediately quitting after we put the receiver down."
What makes you suspect that you have been cut off?
As the computer is sharing your home phone line, I think lifting the receiver, WILL disconnect the modem.

Please confirm:
HD > USERS > HOME > LIBRARY > PREFERENCES
com.aol.aol.plist (a file)
America Online (a folder)
com.apple.internetpref.plist (a file) You have ONLY this file? and NONE of the rest?
com.apple.internetconnect.plist (a file)
com.apple.internetconfig.plist (a file)

"...not be emptied from the trash because they were “still in use”, even though I was not on line..."
Do you QUIT AOL, as well?

"I restored all the checks on the PPP when the above changes made no difference to AOL connection problems."
This could be part of the problem. For a recommended troubleshooting procedure to work, it is best to follow all of the directives.

"...System Folder > Preferences (I could not find a System Preferences folder in OSX)..."
Could you tell me which of my posts this refers to, so I can backtrck?

ali b

OOPS!

Sorry John! That area is for Level 2 and above. I forgot.

I'll post the instructions here for you. Give me a few minutes to put it together.

It will take two posts.

Hang in there!

ali b

UNINSTALL / REINSTALL AOL

If you are somehow able to get online, download a new copy of AOL from here AOL for Mac OS X, and save to "Desktop".
It may say you already have the latest version. That's okay. Select the option to download an additional copy.

If you can't do that, you can use an AOL CD. Even the ones that say AOL Version 9 Optimized have an installer for OS X.

Go to System Preferences > Network and write down or take screen shots of the preferences you have set. You may have to reset some custom options later, depending on how you connect.

Sign off & Quit AOL and all other applications.

Just to be on the safe side, pull these files/folders into a newly created Folder on your Desktop for safe keeping:

These files are located HD > Users > Shared > America Online (HERE)

Your Address Book
All of your "Contacts" files
All of your "Favorites" files
All of your "Filing Cabinets"

Trash the files & folders I have listed below.

The paths are in all capitals, and the files/folders are under the path, marked like this:
<AOL> (Application). See the first entry, as an example.

Path: HD > APPLICATIONS >
File or Folder: <AOL> (Application)

HD > APPLICATIONS > INSTALLERS >
<INSTALL AOL FOR MAC OS X> (It's an old one, but you may want to keep this in case of an emergency)

HD > USERS > SHARED >
<America Online> (Folder)

HD > USERS > HOME > DOCUMENTS >
<America Online> (Folder) If Present

HD > USERS > HOME > LIBRARY > COOKIES >
<Cookies.plist> (File)

HD > USERS > HOME > LIBRARY > LOGS > CRASH REPORTER >
<AOL.crash.log> (File) (You may want to keep this one for future reference)

HD > USERS > HOME > LIBRARY > PREFERENCES >
<America Online> (Folder)
<com.aol.aol.plist> (File)
<AOL for OS X Backup Installer> (Application)

Although you may have to reset some of your connection preferences, for other browsers, to ensure there are no AOL prefs lurking about, trash these files, if present:

HD > USERS > HOME > LIBRARY > PREFERENCES >
<com.apple.internetconfig.plist> (File)
<com.apple.internetconnect.plist> (File)
<com.apple.internetpref.plist> (File)

Empty Trash.
"Repair Permissions". At this point, it wouldn't hurt to restart, and "Repair Permissions" again.

After that, reinstall AOL from the new Installer on the Desktop.

I haven't had to do this for awhile, so, I can't give you specific instructions, but if you follow the prompts you should be okay.

Just make sure when asked if you have an existing AOL account, that you would like to use, say YES.
This should ensure that your Address Book, Favorites, Contacts, and Filing Cabinets will be preserved.

After you have successfully installed, sign off & quit AOL.
Repair Permissions.
Restart.

At this point I would reset the options in System Preferences > Network.
I can only tell you (At the bottom of this post), how I have mine set using the Apple Internal Modem with Dial-Up. This is where you can refer to the screenshots you took to set a configuration that works for you.

Next, load AOL & sign on.
The windows will take a bit longer to load. Don't panic, this is normal. The Art Database is being recreated.
Reset any custom AOL Preferences.

Check your Address Book, Favorites, Contacts, and Filing Cabinets.
If any of them are not right, after signing off & quitting AOL again, you can swap the old files you saved in the folder on your Desktop, with the new ones. Refer to the same PATH listed earlier. Put the new ones in the trash. Move the old ones individually to replace the ones that are now in the Trash. Don't empty the Trash until you are sure things look hunky-dory.

Continued in next post......

.....Continuation

NETWORK/INTERNET SYSTEM PREFERENCES (Apple Internal Modem Using Dial-Up)

While AOL is not loaded, go to:

System Preferences > Network > Location: Select "Automatic"
Show: Select "Internal Modem"

On the PPP screen, click PPP Options. Check ONLY
"Disconnect when user logs off"

On the TCP/IP screen, Configure using IPv4: Select "Using PPP"

On the Modem screen, Select your modem from the list. I'm using an iMac (Summer 2001), and I have "Apple Internal 56K Modem (v.90)" selected.

Check "Enable error correction and compression in modem"
"Wait for dial tone before dialing"
"Show modem status in menubar"

Also select your Country.

Then, Location: "Automatic"
Show: "Network Port Configurations"
Make sure "Internal Modem" is checked and at the top of the window.
Click "Apply Now" at the bottom of the screen.

I hope I remembered everything! Good Luck!

ali b

John,

Did you print out the instructions, and follow the procedure exactly?

Particularly,

1 - Just to be on the safe side, pull these files/folders into a newly created Folder on your Desktop for safe keeping:
These files are located HD > Users > Shared > America Online (HERE)
Your Address Book
All of your "Contacts" files
All of your "Favorites" files
All of your "Filing Cabinets"

2 - Just make sure when asked if you have an existing AOL account, that you would like to use, say YES.
This should ensure that your Address Book, Favorites, Contacts, and Filing Cabinets will be preserved.

You wrote:

"...I then dragged the data folder from the desktop...":.

What "Data" folder?

And "... I have trashed the new files:.."

I don't think you should not have needed to trash the new files, quite yet.

ali b

John,

That "Data" folder belongs to AOL v 5. I haven't used OS 9 in quite some time, so I'm not sure if I can sort this out for you.

For the time being, put that "Data" folder back where it was.

HD > System Folder (should have a 9 on the folder icon) > Preferences > America Online > HERE

You wrote:
"...there were a few items relating to 5.0 still on the computer which I could not delete..."

Not that you should have, but why couldn't you delete them?

Again,

My instructions state:
Just to be on the safe side, pull these files/folders into a newly created Folder on your Desktop for safe keeping:
These files are located HD > Users > Shared > America Online (HERE)
Your Address Book
All of your "Contacts" files
All of your "Favorites" files
All of your "Filing Cabinets"

Was there not a "Filing Cabinet" at that location?

I've got to think about this!

Do you still have OS 9 on your system?

ali b

John,

Were you accessing AOL only through "Classic"?

...On a folder of OS 9 items I have a ‘data’ folder of 5 items...
What is the exact path to this folder, and what are the 5 items?

... On the HD I have a ‘data’ folder of 3 items i.e address book, access numbers and filing cabinet....
What is the exact path to this folder? Are these new files, or the ones you dragged from v5?

... In the trash I have access numbers, address book and filing cabinet, all 3 put there from the new AOL folder following reinstall.I cannot put this file back to its original place as the AOL folder, whre it was,was trashed...

How were they put there? How was it trashed?
Do you now have an AOL "Address Book", accessible from the AOL Toolbar? Does it contain all of your old addresses?
For the time being, pull the "Address Book" & "Filing Cabinet", from the Trash, to the Desktop.

In the HD > Users > Shared > America Online folder, this "Data 23/9/05 8.28.12 pm", should be a folder, containing the files listed below.

DOD Database
Error Log
Home
Main Database
Xpcs Registry.dat

Sounds is a Folder containing all of the AOL sounds
Dictionaries is also a Folder

Is this how it is?

Why do you use "Auto AOL"?

...One final point. When I go to FILE > FIND and write in ‘users’, and click on search, the bottom of the page shows ‘users’ as being on the HD. Yet when I scroll down the HD there is no sign of ‘users’....

When you double click on your Hard Drive icon, and the window opens, you mean there is NO folder titled "Users"?

You're right, this is getting very involved! You've got me confused!

Are there some emails in the old "Filing Cabinet" that you just can't live without?

I have to do some other things for a while. I'll be back later.

ali b