• Disconnects/Hanging on AOL with Windows Driver Model (WDM) Modem. (Win ME)
• Hanging/Slow downloads with Universal Serial Bus Modems. (Win 98SE)
• Connection times out when accessing secure sites.
• What causes Sync errors?
• What if AOL cannot resolve my problem?
• AOL wont connect after system restore or repair on XP
• Advanced DSL Statistics.
• AOL Adapter wont install on AOL 8 and AOL 9

If you are using a Microsoft Windows Driver Model (WDM) driver for your modem and your operating system is Windows Millennium Edition, the connection to America Online (AOL) may be dropped, and your computer may stop responding (hang) after 10 to 15 minutes of use.

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, you can find it at Microsoft's KB Article Q272016.

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by redxii
last modified: 2002-08-16 23:40:02

When you perform large file transfers over Universal Serial Bus (USB) modems using communications device class (CDC) compliant USB drivers in Windows 98 Second Edition, throughput speed may decrease. In addition, the computer may stop responding (hang) after a few minutes.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows 98 Second Edition. Does not apply to anything later than 98SE.

If you are experiencing this type of problem, download the patch from MicroSoft KB Article Q240947

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by redxii
last modified: 2002-08-16 23:39:47

This seems to be a common issue. When accessing some secure sites, your connection may time out. The time outs are usually related to a high MTU (such as 1454).

To remedy this, set your MTU to either 1400 or 1438. This should not have too much of an effect on your connection's performance.

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by redxii
last modified: 2002-08-16 23:38:01

What causes Sync errors? (#3764)
A: Overheating modem or bad modem.
Incorrectly installed microfilters.
Bad house wiring.
Interference from 900mhz phones.
Interference from fluorescent, halogen or street lights.
Copper pairs that degrade after a few weeks of DSL signal strength.
Connections are being worked on at your CO.
Messy building telco board in basement full of garbage and water.

You've been set at a speed that is way too high for your connection profile
Lines on the outside can only take so much and then it starts to overheat or get hot. When this happens, you will notice that your line loses synch every so often.

Sometimes if your TELCO is trying to save a few bucks and too many people are on, they will break your connection and it will STOP responding to you. (you will notice this when your connection starts to become sluggish after a few hours or packet loss is encountered).

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by thebombs12 edited by redxii
last modified: 2002-08-16 23:38:56

Related Topics:
- I called AOL several times and they keep telling me to do the same thing. It does not work.
- AOL cannot help me resolve the problem with my computer.
- Every time I call AOL, the tech rep. keeps putting me on hold and when they take it off, they would tell me to install, reinstall and remove software and settings.

It seems like some of the AOL representatives there are not very knowledgeable of the problem. You may,
- call AOL back and ask them for the senior technician.
- post the problem here on DSLR Forum: AOLPLUS.

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by thebombs12 edited by redxii
last modified: 2002-08-16 23:40:20

In Windows XP Home or Pro, you may experience problems if you do the following in order:
-Install Windows XP
-Install Service Pack 1 for XP
-Repair Windows XP in Recovery Console, Reinstall, Upgrade or Recovery Mode.

You will have the following problems when connecting to AOL, America Online hangs at Step 3: Requesting Network Attention for DSL. This is a Microsoft related issue but it affects America Online as well because it corrupts a certain registry string that forces you to be unable to connect to AOL. To fix the problem, look at the Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article - Q329441

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by thebombs12 edited by redxii
last modified: 2002-10-27 01:35:00

Advanced DSL Statistics.
If you have modem diagnostics software installed (it should be included in your aol plus startup kit) and you want to view line statistics. Do one of the following:

If you have a:

Westell Wirespeed:
In the main screen of the program, hit Ctrl+Alt+F7

Efficient Networks Speedstrem 3060/4060:
In the main screen of the program, hit Ctrl+Alt+A

Creative Broadxent Blaster
In the main screen of the program, hold down Ctrl+Shift keys and double-click the screen.

ActionTec Hybird or USB/Ethernet Modem
In the main screen of the program, hit CTRL + P or SHIFT + P

Thanks to:
thebombs12
DSL Freak
THA DON WON

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by thebombs12 edited by Meteor Dive
last modified: 2003-06-23 05:25:35

When signing onto AOL using AOL 8, you receive the message "AOL has detected a problem with your Internet connection, please restart your computer and try signing on again". In AOL 9, AOL reports at startup, "AOL is about to install files necessary to connect to the Internet. Your computer may need to be restarted". In both scenarios, rebooting the computer does NOT fix the problem. With AOL 8, you will continue to get this message at sign-on.. With AOL 9, you will never even get the program to start. These are both indications of a missing or improperly installed AOL Adapter, a.k.a "WAN Miniport Driver (ATW)". If you use the AOL System Information application and then go to the 'Utilities' tab and press the 'Uninstall AOL Adapter' button, you receive the message "The AOL Adapter is currently not installed".

If you get caught in this endless loop, you'll find that uninstalling AOL and reinstalling does not help. After many hours trying to figure out the solution, I finally found the cause of the problem.

The problem seems to occur when there are outdated AOL Adapter INF files in your \WINDOWS\Inf directory. It can ALSO be caused by INF files with a filesize of '0 bytes' preventing the current AOL Adapter files to be installed properly. Please note that the AOL adapter never successfully installs in this scenario -- Going to AOL System Information and then Utilities, followed by 'Uninstall AOL Adapter' will result in 'The AOL Adapter is currently not installed'.

To fix this: (These instructions are for Windows XP)

1) Click START. Then get to ACCESSORIES.. Then open up 'WINDOWS EXPLORER' (*NOT* Internet Explorer)
2) Click on 'TOOLS' then 'FOLDER OPTIONS'. Click the 'VIEW' tab. Make sure that: 'Show Hidden Files and Folders' is CHECKED. Also, make sure 'HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES' is UN-CHECKED. If you have a setting for 'SHO THE CONTENTS OF SYSTEM FOLDERS', make sure that is CHECKED. Click APPLY, then OK.
3) OK.. Navigate to your C: drive. Click the '+' next to Windows. Then open up the INF folder.
4) Click on the 'Name' column so that the files are in alphabetical order. Scroll down until you get to files that begin with 'OEM' followed by a number.
5) Right off the bat -- if you have *ANY* OEM files that are showing a filesize of 0 -- delete them. Also, be sure to delete its corresponding PNF file if one exists. (Example OEM11.INF and OEM11.PNF)
6) The next step will take a little work. You want to check each INF file by opening it, and looking for indications that it is for the AOL Adapter. If you double-click an INF file, it should open in Notepad by default. Look for a line that says 'WANATW.INF' at the top. If you dont see it, close the file and move to the next OEM INF file. Once youve found one, delete it along with its corresponding PNF file, as above.
7) Continue until you have gone through all OEM INF files. When you are done, reboot your machine and start AOL. AOL should automatically re-install the AOL adapter files correctly for you.

Hope this helps..

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by RickNY edited by redxii
last modified: 2003-11-25 08:12:36