Firewall and AOL don't work together,

[MarineCorps]

Recently I installed a firewall called outpost. I like it a lot however aol does not work well with it, every minute or so it reconects (a little screen pops up and you can't load webpages while it's reconnecting) and sometimes when I log on it doesn't connect. I shut off the program and all problems have ceased. Can someone tell me what is going on? I really like the firewall. If I can't fix it then one of them is going to have to go, and considering how much I HATE aol it's not going to be my firewall (I'll just turn it on, when my father begins to get annoyed I hope he'll switch to something other then dial up )

 

[bobgote]

get rid of AOL
its a piece of crap
i use outpost, it's been very good to me.

anyway, if you want to try to have them work together, you might want to open up outpost and see what processes its blocking. I have no doubt that AOL uses a whole bunch of crap.

 

[Goober]

Ya, get rid of AOL. I do now know why anyone uses it, it is so crappy. get Mozilla or Opera, the superior internet Browsers. And do NOT revert back to the bad old days on Internet Exploder, it sucks . . .

 

[bobgote]

Can you please stop saying internet exploder? it's really annoying.

 

[MarineCorps]

I hate AOL also but it's not my choice to stay with it (matter of fact I just went head to head with my father over it. He goes on the internet far less then I do (I'm on almost every second of my life) he says it works fine for him and that if I want to pay the internet bill for other stuff he'll change (he's cheap, aols 14.95 a month.)

@Realgoober: AOL is not an internet browser, it is an ISP.

 

[Goober]

Originally posted by MarineCorps
I hate AOL also but it's not my choice to stay with it (matter of fact I just went head to head with my father over it. He goes on the internet far less then I do (I'm on almost every second of my life) he says it works fine for him and that if I want to pay the internet bill for other stuff he'll change (he's cheap, aols 14.95 a month.)

@Realgoober: AOL is not an internet browser, it is an ISP.

I assume that is 14.95/month in U$D.

Right, i completely forgot that AOL is also an ISP, but can't you still use Mozilla with it? I do not have AOL (obviously, people much have heard my rants againt Telus, my crappy ISP), but I have heard many a nasty thing about it. I can't say much else, other then try to find a different Firewall . . .

Can you please stop saying internet exploder? it's really annoying.

But it is true. It literally "Explodes" with Pop-ups, the scourge of the internet. And the stupid thing caught a virus on me . . .

 

[Turner]

RG - even if he does use another browser, he's still going to have the connection problems with it. Because Operat/Firefox/Netscape will still need an open connection to get to the web pages. And if Outpost is shutting down AOL, then no web pages are going to get through.

MC - I've got AOL at home. Let me look at in when I get home (in about 8 hours). I'm sure, tho, that someone else can answer before then.

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by RealGoober
Right, i completely forgot that AOL is also an ISP, but can't you still use Mozilla with it? I do not have AOL (obviously, people much have heard my rants againt Telus, my crappy ISP), but I have heard many a nasty thing about it. I can't say much else, other then try to find a different Firewall . . .

AOL is a program that loads and eats up your memory while connecting you to the internet. You can use other browsers with AOL running, but the problem is that AOL will still be running. If your dad is cheap have him sign you up for Earthlink or NetZero. Far better services for cheaper.

Originally posted by RealGoober
But it is true. It literally "Explodes" with Pop-ups, the scourge of the internet. And the stupid thing caught a virus on me . . .

No it is not true. I use IE 6 and have no popup blocker and I rarely ever get popups. You probably go to too many porn sites if popups are a problem for you - and if they are, just install the Google toolbar. As for the virus, that was your own bad. You either didn't have your security set up properly, or you were just carelessly clicking and browsing away.

Anyways, about the firewall - it's possible for you to run both the firewall and AOL simultaneously, only you will have to configure your firewall to work with it. Search AOL's help database for setting up firewalls with their software, and they should provide you with the port numbers. If not, then I recommend trying the ICF (internet connection firewall) in Windows XP (assuming you are using XP) or ZoneAlarm.

 

[MarineCorps]

Win98 actually. Like I said my father is cheap, had the same pos for almost seven years now. It's slow and crashes at least once a day. It's an HP 6470z. BTW I blocked a program from connecting, called SDRR, after that the problems started.

 

[bobgote]

Originally posted by RealGoober
But it is true. It literally "Explodes" with Pop-ups, the scourge of the internet. And the stupid thing caught a virus on me . . .

stupid nicknames for products are just that. they are very annoying.

and if you don't have software to protect yourself, that's not IE's fault.

 

[IglooDame]

AOL uses ports 5190-5193.

For what it's worth, AOL's email client is much more virus-resistant than Outlook or Outlook Express (they've been removing virus-infected attachments for at least the last year), and the bloat is about the same.

 

[MarineCorps]

I could care less about it being virus resistant, I hate dial up. Slow DL speeds, ties up the phone line, and just about everything else bad. Only good thing is is that it is cheap. Once I get a job I am going to pay for an internet service that is fast and cheap (RR is not gonna happen at 44.99 a month) Most likely I'll use earth link or something like that. Thanks for the port info, check that out when I get home from school (vacation ended)

 

[IglooDame]

Originally posted by MarineCorps
I could care less about it being virus resistant, I hate dial up. Slow DL speeds, ties up the phone line, and just about everything else bad. Only good thing is is that it is cheap. Once I get a job I am going to pay for an internet service that is fast and cheap (RR is not gonna happen at 44.99 a month) Most likely I'll use earth link or something like that. Thanks for the port info, check that out when I get home from school (vacation ended)

Ah, understood. I hate dial-up too, that's why I got broadband as soon as I moved to an area that had it.