Anti-AOL

Updated 7-22-08.

Software: AOL Email.

Replacement: POP Peeper.

Difficulty Level: Easy

For people who've never had any ISP (Internet Service Provider) except AOL, "How will I survive without them?" is a good question. POP Peeper can download your AOL email to your Desktop so you don't have to sign into AOL for it. You can read and write messages directly from it. If you're planning on canceling AOL and want to try this out, you should sign up with a new Internet service provider and install POP Peeper before you call AOL to cancel your account.

Send and receive AOL email from your free POP Peeper email client instead of logging into AOL.com or using AOL's software. It's no harder than typing in your AOL screen name, password, the name of AOL's email server, and asking for SMTP Authentication just one time. Set it and forget it. On a scale of 1-10, this is just plain easy. Download POP Peeper here, then follow the steps below, which show you how I set up my AOL email address to work with POP Peeper.

1. Add a new account...

Open POP Peeper and click the Accounts tab on the top left-hand side of the window. Click Add.

2. Click Create, then click Next.

An Account Wizard will open and ask you to either Import or Create a Single Account. You will be creating a home for your AOL account, so click Create a Single Account, then click Next.

3. Add your email address...

Type your AOL email address (such as xyz@aol.com) into the Wizard. Click Next.

4. The correct settings are auto-filled...

The name of the email account (in this case, the name of it is AOL) and the default mail protocol (AOL uses IMAP) will be filled in for you by the Wizard. Leave these settings alone and click Next.

5. Fill in name and password...

Fill in your AOL screen name and password when the Wizard asks you to. (My AOL screen name is itcouldntb, which I chose because aolsucks was taken.)

6. Settings again are auto-filled...

AOL has two mail servers: imap.aol.com and mail.aol.com. Choose imap.aol.com. The port number for the server, Port 143, is filled in for you. Leave these settings alone and click Next.

7. Choose how POP Peeper connects...

This part of the Wizard asks, Do you want to enable SMTP support for this account? Check Yes. Leave the box for the Name blank. At the bottom of the window, it will say, Server Requires Authentication. Check the box next to those words. The correct port number is already set for you (Port 25). Click Finish.

8. Now you can read your email...

To read your AOL email from POP Peeper, click View and Account Mode. Once Account Mode is enabled, right-click the name of each email account to check for new email or to read what you've already received and reply to it. That's all there is to it - it's as easy as pie.

See my How-to Section for more ways to get AOL out of your life.