Hi Wonko,

I'm running the following:

Microsoft XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 1

And I'm running AOL 4.0 and having problems.

Often, when I run a flash session with AOL 4.0, AOL 4.0 crashes and I
get the following:

"Main Module has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are
sorry for the inconvenience."

When I click on the link that gives details on the error, I get:

Error Signature
AppName: waol.exe	 AppVer: 4.0.0.10	 ModName: ntdll.dll
ModVer: 5.1.2600.1106	 Offset: 00001f2c

I'd prefer to stick with AOL 4.0 because it contains a file with my
address book.  This is quite easy to copy and move around from
computer to computer.

I could upgrade to AOL 5.0 and I'd have the same file, called
"organize", which I could copy and move from computer to computer.

With AOL 6.0, the system has changed so there is no way to copy the
address book.  I'm thinking that it might become resident in the
global AOL network, but I'm not sure.  So far, AOL has been kind of
muddy with their correspondence.

Is there any way to successfully get AOL 4.0 or AOL 5.0 to work with
Microsoft XP Home Edition?

Thanks,

Zaynab-ga

I contacted AOL Technical Support and learned that AOL 4.0 is
"supposed" to work OK with XP Home.  However, according to AOL, you
would be more likely to get better results with the latest version of
the software (8.0).

There are a number of things you can do to try to do to resolve this
problem.

1.  Based on the following information, reinstallation of AOL 4.0 may
solve the problem:

"ntdll - ntdll.dll - DLL Information
DLL File: ntdll or ntdll.dll
DLL Name: NT Layer DLL
Description: Contains NT System Functions
System DLL: Yes
Common Errors: File Not Found, Missing File, Exception Errors
Solution: Download WinTasks to find out which application is using
this DLL. Many problems can be solved by resinstalling this
application. If the DLL is missing, download it to your windows system
folder."

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/dlllibrary/ntdll/
"WinTasks DLL Library" LIUtilities

2.  Try running AOL in Windows 95 compatibility mode.  Go to the icon
in the AOL 4.0 directory that starts AOL, right-click on it, click on
Properties, and click the compatibility tab.  Then click "Run this
program in compatibility mode for:" Windows 95.  See if this helps.

3.  Do you have enough memory in your computer?

"Minimum system requirements for Windows XP

Pentium class processor, 233 MHz or higher
64 MB (megabytes) of RAM minimum
Hard drive free space required for install: 117 MB
VGA, SVGA or better display
800x600 screen resolution for optimal viewing
28.8 Kbps or faster modem or other means of  Internet connection
Internet Explorer 6.0 (comes with Windows XP) or higher"

From "AOL Help," obtained online from the AOL service.

"Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition
PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed
recommended; 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family,
AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum
supported; may limit performance and some features)
1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.* 
Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor 
CD-ROM or DVD drive 
Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device"
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/sysreqs.asp
"Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition" Microsoft
Windows XP

Note that Microsoft recommends at least 128MB of RAM for decent
performance.  While AOL 4.0 is much less memory intensive than AOL
8.0, you may get better results with 192MB or 256MB of RAM if you have
128MB of RAM or less.  My experience is that software vendors grossly
understate the amount of memory and processor speed necessary to get
good results.

4.  Try upgrading to AOL 5.0.  I ran AOL 4.0 and AOL 5.0 under Windows
95 for a considerable period.  I recall AOL 5.0 being much more stable
in that environment than AOL 4.0 was (I often had weird AOL crashes
with 4.0).  So, you might try 5.0 (My experience with Windows 95 may
or may not have any bearing on performance with Windows XP Home
edition).  AOL 4.0 did not work with Windows NT without modifications,
whereas I don't believe AOL 5.0 has the same limitation.  Since
Windows XP was derived from Windows NT, that may indicate that 5.0
would work better. You can also try running 5.0 in Windows 95 or 98
compatibility mode.

5.  Upgrade to AOL 8.0.  You are correct in that there is an online
copy stored of your address book, but there is also a local copy. 
When you install AOL 8.0 on a different computer, according to the AOL
tech support representative, your address book is automatically
transferred to the new computer when you connect to AOL for the first
time.  Alternatively, you can copy the Organize folder onto a
removable storage medium and transfer it manually to the new computer
by copying it into the AOL directory after you have completed the
initial installation of AOL 8.0 on the new computer.

I hope one of the above options is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Wonko

Hi Wonko,
This is perfect.  I'll be back with more questions later.
Zaynab-ga