[Help] | Removing a virus (Cant get rid of AOL)

[ender341]

Does anyone know of an unistaller that just force unistalls aol, when i run the aol uninstaller it tells me aol is ont installed, i tried reinstalling aol (*shudders*) and trying to uninstall it again and the uninstaller said it wasn't installed, anyone knoew how to get rid of it?

*Curses toshiba for installing virus's with their computers, and of course curse aol and all the evil it has spawned

sorry if this should have been in the software hang-out, i though i was in that forum when i created the topic, but i was mistaken, so if a mod sees this please move it to software hangout

[Officer_Dufus]

Hmmmmm, I didn't have any problems when I uninstalled AOL. I just went through add/remove programs and got rid of it that way.

Lastly I went into Windows exporer and went into program files, and delted those pest AOL folders that they keep there containing the link to "free aol"

Really, it is like a virus when they install AOL.....good luck!

[ironman2003]

I had the same problem with my toshiba notebook. Good luck! I ended up reformatting and installing xp pro over the default system from Toshiba. That worked like a charm.

[ender341]

actually ironman that was what i was hoping to do on the thing (once i looked at some of the batch files that they failed to delete after the install i decided that they must have some of the worlds least experienced programers) i know i used to have a program that would give you the cd-key for the windows disk (as toshiba doesn't give you one), does anyone know where to find this so i can reformat with a non-ghosted disk?

[update]

after a little searching i found this program to find windows xp keys on the currently installed machine

(if the mods don't think this is to much of a cracking tool, please just remove the link, or tell me to remove it, but i can say for me it has been really convenient)

magical jellybean keyfinder

Edited December 1, 2005 by ender341

[Andromeda43]

It ain't hackin'.....

the registered key is kept on your HD. Belarc Advisor can and will find it and display it for you. Always has.

It really doesn't matter if AOL is shown as installed in your Add/Remove list. Just go into your hard drive with windows explorer and delete all and any folder that says AOL on it.

Look in Program Files and also look in \Windows\.

Do a search for "AOL" and delete all suspect entries.

It CAN be removed.....just takes a little while and some persistance.

Then run a good registry cleaner like "Easy Cleaner".

And YES, it's almost as bad as a virus. I'm constantly removing it from my customer's PC's.

I've been told, that the parent company of AOL also owns Gator, Claria and who knows how many other Spyware companies. Well anyway, it's best removed whenever possible.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays,

Andromeda43

[ender341]

the problem is it keeps trying to run files on start up which it cant find (and when i delete the entry it seems to re-appear), but since i have the cd-key i figure i'll make my parents an unattended disk that installs all the stuff they need (basicly java/flash and such along with office) i wanted to do a fresh install anyways because they like to install a lot (*many times many) propagandaware, and the sad thing is all the trials expired before they even bought the comp...

[nolookingca]

You can try using MR Tech AOL Cleaner to remove the extras and then try uninstalling the core. If all else fails, you can always try living with it

[woodswalker]

Make sure it isn't hidden in system restore.