My boyfriend's computer conundrums are making life unbearable! Every day it's something new.

Let me just preface by saying, my boyfriend is extremely diligent about deleting things he doesn't need and he has always done disc scans and defrags methodically from the day he bought the system. (He's very into the idea of computer maintenance).

I can't provide specific details as I don't use the home computer but I do know that he uses Windows '98. He has had various versions of AOL over the years and is presently using AOL 9.0. Of interest is the fact that his problems have worsened substantially since downloading AOL 9.0. (He constantly says he wishes he'd never done it - he was happy enough with the previous version which was 8.0). He does use Norton anti-virus but I've no idea what version... Over the last six months at some point he has added Spybot to his reportoire of computer maintenance.

The main problems which occur on a DAILY basis are:

Can't add a bookmark to his AOL "favourite places". The folders containing his favourite places are constantly shifting and actually disappear so the next time he signs on, he has to resave them.

His AOL e/mail is a nightmare. EVERY DAY, he loses sent and unsent mail. It literally disappears right before your eyes sometimes. His system crashes constantly and then he spends like an hour while AOL (automatically) tries to sign on again, more error messages, more crashes...

He's constantly calling AOL help and every technician tells him something different. He's just this moment got off the phone with AOL and his computer is worse than ever. Whatever the technician advised/instructed him to do has made things even worse. (In addition, he had some very old e/m drafts that he had put in a folder to be sent but with no intention of sending them anytime soon and they have all been automatically sent following his telephone instructions from AOL).

*I keep thinking he has a virus or something but with all this anti-virus, anti spyware and other maintenance that he's CONSTANTLY doing on a daily basis and nothing's ever found... I don't know but I'm at my wits end just listening to it all.

It's awfully vague information I'm providing but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Win98 has been running a very long time, and with the system so messed up with crashes and errors, I would suggest a start clean. Backup all the data and FDISK, FORMAT, and re-install.

I suspect this is the fastest option to get the system back into a usable state. Troubleshooting AOL at this point seems futile.

AOL 9.0 is optimized for Win XP. It may not be the best choice for an old Win 98 PC. What I would suggest is a complete uninstall of AOL then install 8.0. 8.0 will be on any 9.0 CD, just don't use the default install routine but view the disk in Windows Explorer to find the 8,0 installer.

Arrrrgggghhhh there goes the spread again, so I'll post instead.

Nice one Scott I had a feeling AOL 9 is geared towrads XP, but wasn't sure.
Seeing as you are an AOL user you are definitely the best person to give advice on this issue.

HI,
I also use Win98SE, and have friends who use it also. It is NOT friendly with AOL, as mentioned in a previous answer. The earlier version of AOL, in my opinion, would come closer to working correctly than any newer versions.
If your boyfriend is going to continue with AOL, he might want to consider, at least, intstalling Win2000, or even better, XP.
I do wish him the best of luck.

EIR,
Some members here seem to have to add posts even though your questions have been previously answered and which don't really help in your answer. Usually these are done to try and build their reputation.

I do not necessarily recommend upgrading your PC. I think it irresponsible to do so without knowing more about your existing system. It may not have the hardware to support an upgrade and may not be worth putting in the money to make it upgradeable. Your question was specific to problems with AOL, so going back to AOL 8.0 may be all the answer you needed. I would ignore any advice subsequent to that.

Thank you all for your very prompt replies! The common thought seems to be that AOL 9 is not necessarily the best choice to use in conjunction with Windows 98 and I personally agree. (At the rate technology advances these days, the system we're using at home is pretty outdated I guess and I wholly concur that going back to AOL 8.0 is probably the answer here.) Hmmm... the adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" comes to mind.

*ScottGem, you're absolutely right in suggesting the hardware would not support an upgrade. I've taken all your suggestions/feedback home to peruse and will follow your advice in uninstalling 9 and following through with the installation of 8.0 (using Windows Explorer as you've suggested).

Fingers crossed... Thanks again - much obliged!