Isn't there any way to stop from exiting programs - especially AOL -
by accident? This happens all the time in our house. Is there (1) any
way to get the morons at AOL to have this as an add-on that we don't
know about? or (2) any way to stop this in general?

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Request for Question Clarification by tisme-ga on 22 Mar 2003 09:40 PST

How are you exiting these programs? By clicking the X at the top
right? Also what operating system are you using?

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Clarification of Question by bbb-ga on 22 Mar 2003 11:39 PST

Thanks for asking. operating system is system 2000. (same, on 2 family
computers). I'll have to ask about how the signing off is being done;
I didn't know there was more than one way to do it (I'm never on AOL
myself). So I'll post that info when I get to ask.

But in the meantime: Is there any utility which prevents you from
exiting programs in general? Years ago, it was standard for almost
every program to ask you to confirm such an exit. Now hardly any do.
Is there any way to get a utility that does this? or to have the
operating system do so?

(I have small hope. It's so obviously necessary that of course they
took it away. That's computer logic...As computers got more powerful
and able to run more programs at once, you're increasingly likely exit
a program in error - i.e., more windows can be open, etc., so it's
easier to hit keys in error. So of course, they took away that
"confirm exit" protection, which is now more useful than ever.)

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Request for Question Clarification by tisme-ga on 22 Mar 2003 15:08 PST

I am not sure sure about if there is a specific utility that prevents
you from exiting a program in general, but many programs do have the
option to prompt before exiting. Unfortunately I would need to know
the exact version of AOL that you have (probably tells you at startup,
or under Help... About) to see if this is possible in your version of
AOL. I am going to do some research into this for you, but I still
would like you to reply and let me know exactly how the programs are
being closed.

With Windows 2000, it is certainly possible to use the registry to
prevent certain aspects of the operating system from working (such as
the X in the upper right). One would still be able to quit the
application under File... Close. I seem to remember that this is
possible, but before doing research into this or another solution,
would like to know more about how the "signing off" is happening.

tisme-ga

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Clarification of Question by bbb-ga on 23 Mar 2003 06:57 PST

to tisme-ga:
Thanks for the note. AOL is version 8.0. 
Don't do too much research on the registry question. I'd be very
reluctant to modify the system software. I'm only hoping for an add-on
that operates as a kind of "shell" around a program, only for one
reason: to interrupt the quit-program command and ask if you really
mean it. If that existed, then I'd open AOL within it.

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Clarification of Question by bbb-ga on 23 Mar 2003 07:07 PST

to tisme-ga  -- PART II
I forgot your essential question: How is the logoff happening.
It's being done by another family member -- let's call her Fluffy (the
cat), to protect the guilty. Fluffy usually clicks the "x," yes.

Yes, there is a utility that will do this, it has a macro recording
capability
that will allow your computer to automatically click on the prompt
window to avoid being logged off. I think it has some other
capabilities, but I'm not sure. I've seen it used for AOL, and my
friend managed to stay logged on for a few days this way, but I've
never used it myself.

If I were you, I'd do some research and change ISP. Not all the ISPs
treat you this badly.

to steph1000-ga: 

Thanks very much -- what's the utility? You didn't leave the name. It
sounds like that's what I'm looking for.

Also, your comment about changing ISPs is exactly right. In fact, I
never used AOL, and wouldn't -- this is all for my daughter. (The fact
that AOL doesn't let you put e-mail in folders, etc., to me is absurd
and makes it a useless program, especially for anyone in business.)

So-- what's that utility? Can you supply the name -- or can anyone
else reading this help, maybe?

I think the utility that steph1000 is searching for is actually one to
keep the connection live under different circumstances. AOL
automatically disconnects its users after a certain amount of time
without actively using the internet, and this utility will prevent
this from happening.

So far I have not had any luck finding anything to prevent AOL from
closing after the 'X' has been clicked. One possible workaround would
be to use Internet Explorer to surf the net, with AOL minimized. If
internet explorer is accidently closed, all that has to be done is to
reopen it. Your internet connection would not be lost. I have done
extensive searching for such an application, and although I am not
ready to give up quite yet, it does look grim at this point.

tisme-ga

I had AOL 5 or 6 years ago and AOL frequently timed me out while I was
typing on a forum or down loading. AOL couldn't tell I was doing some
kinds of things, or didn't care. I'm much happier with ATT (dial up)
at $14.95 per month which includes full sevice long distance telephone
at 7 cents per minute. I had several other dial up ISP in between, all
better for my purposes than AOL and two of them were free.  Neil

to tisme: thanks for searching. hope there is something out there. I
can't believe that most programs -- in fact, almost all, I think --
have taken away the essential convenience of "do you really want to
exit?", especially at a time when running multiple programs is the
norm, so that it's very easy to shut a program down inadvertently.
Confirming an exit only takes hitting the return button one more time,
and when you get used to that, it just means that program-exit = exit
+ 2 returns, which is almost instantaneous and not exactly a big
burden.


to neilzero: thanks for the comment. I agree about AOL (they manage to
be what Mr. Rogers called "fancy" without being at all well-designed,
in a lot of ways). But actually this is all on behalf of other family
members who use it. Kids in particular are sold on AOL because of its
instant-messaging, etc.  (I keep saying that a tin can on a string was
fine*, back in my day, but it gets me nowhere.)

*Actually those never worked either.