Has anyone figured out a way to get AOL to work with Vista?

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I am trying to use AOL 9 with Vista and it crashes within a few seconds of
startup. Has anyone figured out a workaround for using AOL 9 or any other
version of AOL?

Before replying please read:

1) I have already contacted AOL and they do not have plans to release a
Vista compatible version until Vista is closer to release
2) I know I can use AOL under my XP partition - that is no tthe the point -
I would like to be able to use it while testing Vista.
3) Please refrain from all the usual AOL snide remarks such as why does
anyone use AOL, why would an AOL user be testing a complex operating system
and so on. I have my reasons for using AOL and simply would like to get it
to work with Vista if at all possible.

Thanks in advance for any workaround suggestions.

Len
 
LenH said:
1) I have already contacted AOL and they do not have plans to release a
Vista compatible version until Vista is closer to release
Click to expand...

When the windows x64 edition was a beta/ccp i called aol and they said
the same thing, and 18 months later when i was able to buy the windows
x64bit aol still did not work due to all the driver issues.
aol keyword beta has some information, but nothing that works as of yet!
 
I think that many vendors have fallen short of preparation for the release
of Windows Vista. I do understand the code has been changing but I simply
do not believe that AOL and others haven't been working on Vista
compatibility. Does anybody believe that when Vista is closer that AOL and
HP and others are going to pull drivers and compatible software out of the
air? I don't!

Anyway, I use Trillian to get into my AOL accounts and it works very well as
a chat client. The interface is pretty cool and is easy to set up. You can
be signed on to multiple accounts including Hot and MSN Mail, Yahoo, IRC and
AOL all at the same time. All your chat buddies will show up in the sidebar
interface with little dots that light up when any of your buddies are
online. Trillian also has Audio and Video support, file transfer etc.

PS
 
Phillip said:
I think that many vendors have fallen short of preparation for the
release of Windows Vista. I do understand the code has been changing
but I simply do not believe that AOL and others haven't been working on
Vista compatibility. Does anybody believe that when Vista is closer
that AOL and HP and others are going to pull drivers and compatible
software out of the air? I don't!

Anyway, I use Trillian to get into my AOL accounts and it works very
well as a chat client. The interface is pretty cool and is easy to set
up. You can be signed on to multiple accounts including Hot and MSN
Mail, Yahoo, IRC and AOL all at the same time. All your chat buddies
will show up in the sidebar interface with little dots that light up
when any of your buddies are online. Trillian also has Audio and Video
support, file transfer etc.

PS
Click to expand...
 
Yes.. and no one there has found a solution. The fact is, I am pretty sure
there is no solution, but I don't want to leave any stone unturned.
 
I want to be able to use some of the AOL content that you cannot get on any
of the AOL web offerings, AIM or Trillian. In particular, I want to be able
to visit AOL chat rooms that I believe you can only get to via the
traditional AOL content. I do not believe there is any "alternative" way to
access those chat rooms - if there is, I am all ears. :-)
 
Your other computer. The primary home computer that you did not install
Vista on.
 
As noted in my original post, I am fully aware that I can use my XP partition
to access AOL. That is not the point - I am simply trying to see if anyone
has figured out a way to use AOL with Vista so I can test Vista and use AOL
at the same time.
 
AOL has a 'bring your own access' plan that allows you to use any ISP (one
that works) and still enjoy full AOL access. Don't know your location,
situation or access times, but could be much less expensive also.
 
Hello LenH

What is it that you did not understand that Colin said. It is very clear to me.
 
I know full well what AOL has and in fact I have the "bring your own access"
plan. However, that has nothing to do with my posted question which is a
very simple one. Is there a way to get any version of the AOL traditional
client (AOL 9.0 is the most recent verision) to work with Windows Vista? So
far, AOL does not have a test version that supports Vista. Given all the
expertise here on these boards, I was hoping that perhaps someone here might
have found a way to make an existing version of AOL work with Vista. If so, I
would great appreciate hearing about how they did it.
 
Here you go.
NO!!!

Happy?


LenH said:
I know full well what AOL has and in fact I have the "bring your own
access"
plan. However, that has nothing to do with my posted question which is a
very simple one. Is there a way to get any version of the AOL traditional
client (AOL 9.0 is the most recent verision) to work with Windows Vista?
So
far, AOL does not have a test version that supports Vista. Given all the
expertise here on these boards, I was hoping that perhaps someone here
might
have found a way to make an existing version of AOL work with Vista. If
so, I
would great appreciate hearing about how they did it.
Click to expand...
 
The only success story I have heard involved using just the AOL
Communicator, not the full AOL package.
 
Yes, and with the ads you have now, I can just imagine trying to find
content in an ocean of ads. yikes
 
If you are subscribed to AOL, you can access any of their functions using
IE. A friend has done it for years. Go to the AOL homepage, call for
instructions (that's what you pay for) use their help. AOL xx is the
dial-up program which also launches their modified browser.
 
If you want to get really esoteric, load up a copy of XP in a virtual
machine on Virtual Server 2005 R2 installed on Vista and install AOL in it.
That is the only experiment I have made with running AOL on Vista that
actually produced a fully functioning AOL.
 
Len;

I appreciate your frustration. I would hazard a guess that most of the
users of this forum have a pet application or a favourite piece of hardware
that stubbornly won't work, no matter how much cajoling we try. But to come
into the newsgroup with a bit of a chip on your shoulder and then demand an
answer may not be exactly the right way to go about things. As far as the
"expertise" in this forum, the abilities and experience of the group are
Windows based and quite deep in that regard, but there seems to be a dearth
of AOL users (unless their keeping dark secrets). So the "expertise" here
may be severely limited when it comes to the complex world of AOL software
code. That's why I suggested an AOL forum may be more appropriate since I
would expect there to be more knowledge there than here by virtue of a
larger group of users pooling knowledge and resources, and thus, you are
more likely to find the answer, or at least the proper direction to embark.

Mark
 
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