Anti-AOL

Edited 5-23-08.

All those tests I've written about doing to find the best software to remove AOL are finally done. Frankly, I'm a little surprised at the results.

Results: Just keep on using the same old programs to remove AOL.

You'd think I could do better than that, and I tried because I love how so many of you want to find the best ways to remove AOL, but I couldn't come up with anything niftier than my current methods (well, I did find one Honorable Mention) - blame it on lack of better technology.

Honorable Mention: AOLCleanup2

I gave AOLCleanup2 (direct download link) a whirl during my testing. I tried it because the author claimed it could remove quite a few versions of AOL. It's a simple batch file that works fast to get the job done. In my tests it worked great on Vista, but didn't work at all on XP. I still give it an Honorable Mention as one of the Greatest AOL Removal Tools of All Time.

The Losers

I tested Revo Uninstaller out of sheer curiosity - the fact that it claims to uninstall unwanted programs and remove any files, folders, and registry entries leftover from them intrigued me. A program like that would be the most efficient way to remove AOL - if it actually worked. In my tests it removed only three-quarters of AOL's registry entries and just one AOL folder - and not even a hard-to-find folder at that.

Using it meant skipping the required restart to finish removing AOL, which made me uneasy. Also, this program exposes the entire registry to your editing abilities (however good or bad they are) so using it was like trying not to drop cryptonite. It was terrifying to think how easily you could remove your entire registry with it. Not to mention the GUI is so sloppy it could befuddle Einstein.

To round out my experiment I tested some other...well, for lack of a better word...crap that's not worth mentioning, but let me say this: please don't waste your time on Absolute Uninstaller or any version of jv16 PT except for the version I show you how to use here - it's as simple as that.

The Winners *yawn* are, as usual...

CCleaner and jv16 PowerTools (each link will bring you to my corresponding how-to page).

The only news to come out of a week of destroying my dual-booting 2002 eMachines for the sole benefit of the quitting-AOL crowd is this: I proved to myself that jv16 PT is best for use on XP, and CCleaner is best for use on Vista or XP. I've updated both tutorials to reflect that hard-won bit of wisdom.

I also learned that on Vista you should remove AOL with CCleaner first, then use jv16 PT to remove any leftover AOL registry entries. It's the only way to get AOL out of Vista's registry without hand-editing it, so I definitely suggest my savvier, more time-pressed readers try it.

I may update in the next few weeks - forget what I wrote last night about that - I was in a bad mood since I was so pressed for time (thanks for your emails, "Silo" and Jerry - and yes, Jerry, I do have a thing for parentheses; sorry if it made the first version of this post a bit hard to read).

I cannot believe this thing. Seriously, I'm in awe.

I've been eying it for months but never touched it because I wasn't using Vista when I found it. And it's just a simple, lowly batch script. Haven't had much luck with those in the past!

Ran it just now and words can't even do it justice - or maybe they can - let's see: it bypasses AOL's uninstaller entirely (except for one brief stop at the AOL Toolbar Uninstaller), removes almost every AOL reg entry (just 12 entries left afterward), and requires just one restart no matter how many AOL programs you've got installed. And it's quick! Naturally I want to marry whoever wrote it - or at least reincarnate as him in my next life.

Vista users: try it. XP users: don't. It only works on Vista, at least as far as I can tell.

You may get a few "cannot find uninstall.exe" warnings. Just click through them and the UA warnings (if UAC is enabled on your PC) - I promise, you won't be sorry.

5-22-08, Update: This product made my Honorable Mention list as one of the three Greatest AOL Removal Products of All Time. Check out my latest post for details.

Last updated 3-16-09.

Problem: How to uninstall AOL.

Solution: CCleaner.

Difficulty Level: Easy

Uninstalls/Cleans Up After: Any Version of AOL

Good for: XP and Vista/Windows 7 users.

Advanced Vista/Windows 7 users only: I suggest you use CCleaner first, then follow up with jv16 PT 2006 to get at AOL's leftover registry entries - if you use CCleaner first you can remove every leftover reg entry with jv16 afterward. No other method tested so far on Vista does that.

Credit for the idea to write this tutorial goes to William (the page no longer exists), who's comments made me check out CCleaner's neat features.

All visitors running Windows '98/2000/ME/XP: Before we get started, visit this page to learn how to back up your registry, files, and folders. See this tutorial to uninstall the AOL WAN Miniport after  you've removed AOL.

Mac users, please read this advice for removing AOL at Mac Rumors.

Issues for all AOL users running XP, Vista or Windows 7: I've had email that some PCs are infected by viruses when removing AOL, so run a scan with the free online Trend Micro tool before you get started. Some versions of 9.0 SE will not uninstall because a process won't shut down and all versions of AOL may become corrupted and unremovable by normal means; if that's the case use my instructions to stop the AOL Connectivity Service from running before you remove AOL. See this (for XP) or this (for Vista) if you can't find or run the AOL Uninstaller.

This tutorial will show you how to remove AOL and help you clean up and optimize your computer at the same time. The average person who wants to get rid of AOL's leftover files and registry entries should be pleased with the results. If you're a little pickier (like me) and prefer to remove every trace of AOL, you'll want to see How To Remove AOL with jv16 PowerTools instead.

An excellent video on how to use CCleaner was made by Help On Demand, an IT Specialist who makes made short educational videos for the masses.

Before we get started let's download CCleaner. Save the installer to your Desktop and follow the next steps.

1. Before you install CCleaner...

You'll see a dialog box asking if you want CCleaner shortcuts installed (this is the "Slim" installer, so you won't be asked if you want the Yahoo! Toolbar installed). To stop a shortcut from being installed simply uncheck the box for it. When you're done making your choices, click Install.

2. How to access CCleaner...

There's a few ways to access CCleaner: add a shortcut to your Desktop, your Start List, or add a right-click shortcut to your Recycle Bin.

3. How to uninstall AOL...

To uninstall AOL, open CCleaner and click the third icon down on the left hand side of the window marked Tools. The Uninstall Tool will open. You will see multiple entries for AOL and America Online. Look for and place a check mark next to the AOL Uninstaller, then click Uninstall. From here follow these steps (starting with step 2) to run the AOL Uninstaller correctly. Even if you're removing an older version of AOL, the instructions will work as a rough guide.

Let the AOL Uninstaller run, restart your computer when prompted, then return to CCleaner's Uninstall Tool and remove the remaining AOL and America Online programs. You may remove more than one at a time if you like. You will not need to restart your PC to finish removing them.

4. Delete leftover files and folders...

In Explorer Search click All files and folders. Type AOL into the search box and choose to "Look in" Local Drive C:/ (or whatever drive you had AOL installed on). Click More Advanced Options, click Search for hidden files and folders and Search subfolders, then click Search.

Unless there's a file, folder or bookmark you want, you can delete whatever turns up. Right-click the item and click Delete, or highlight it with your mouse, hold down Shift on your keyboard and highlight more items, then right-click the block and click Delete.

5. Delete (most of) AOL's registry entries...

Before you get started, see this to make sure you use this feature safely and effectively. Important note: If you have AIM or any AOL or AIM Toolbars installed that you don't want to remove you should skip this step. If you choose to proceed and later have a problem, here are the steps for restoring CCleaner's registry backup. Read more about the risks here.

Open CCleaner again and click the box marked Issues. You'll see a list of registry issues that CCleaner will check. You can uncheck any issues you want to skip. Once you've chosen what to check, click the button marked Scan for Issues. Once the scan is done, look over the results to make sure they're safe to remove, make a backup of the results, then click the button marked Fix Selected Issues.

You have a choice of how to remove registry issues: you can remove them all at once, or one at a time. My preference is to remove them all at once (it's quicker).

6. Use CCleaner to clean up your PC...

Click the Cleaner box, then click the Analyze button. See this to make sure you use this feature safely and effectively. In a few minutes (or less) you'll be given a result list that tells you what can be removed from your PC. Once you've made sure the items listed are safe to remove, click the Run Cleaner button.

7. Defragment your PC's hard drive...

Download Auslogics Disk Defrag (told you this was easy). Save it to your Desktop, then click the shortcut to install it. Once it's running, keep hitting the Next button until you see it's defragmenting your hard drive. Click Finish when it's through; it will tell you how much space you regained.

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Further Reading: Check the FAQs if you have a question; if your question is not answered in the FAQs, please feel free to send me an email. See my How-to Section for more ways to get AOL out of your life.

Also see How to Uninstall AOL.

Edited/updated 12-08-2006.

After I ran tests a month or so ago, I concluded neither Mr. Tech's AOL Cleaner nor the PC De-Crapifier do a good job of removing files, folders, and registry entries when they uninstall AOL, but I did my tests on a PC with 9.0, OpenRide, AOL's Safety and Security Center and Security Monitor installed -- more crap than either could handle, and didn't test them until I'd already "uninstalled" AOL using AOL's own uninstallers.

It hit me later these tests weren't good enough to base my results on, but neither cleaner did much better the second time around, so for the tech guys who deleted 2 podcasts about my uninstall and how-to cancel pages after I stopped recommending the PC De-Crapifier (update below), I'm hoping your site won't be the last one to notice little ol' mine.

For the latest tests I installed 9.0 on a recently restored eMachines XP Home, after removing pre-installed AOL 8.0 from it with jv16 powertools. To make the tests evenly weighted I didn't install OpenRide or any external AOL malware programs, didn't use AOL's uninstallers first, and cleaned AOL off my PC with jv16 powertools before re-installing AOL to test the next removal product. The results were quite different this time.

First, what's installed with AOL 9.0 SE:

• AOL Connectivity and TopSpeed, added to Windows Services
• 117 files and folders
• 5 programs: America Online, Screensaver, Coach, Connectivity Service, and Spyware Protection
• 1,092 registry entries

Mr. Tech's AOL Cleaner

Mel Reye's notes say it uninstalls almost everything except 9.0, which is what most people want to get rid of.

It didn't remove any files or folders. It was good at removing registry entries, with only 2 keys left out of 1,092, but those, along with two processes still running, waol.exe and aolscd.exe, were all AOL's software needed to reconnect, much to my horror.

The PC De-Crapifier

Jason York's notes say it's for removing pre-installed AOL, which I haven't used it for. It does a decent job on a fresh download -- not great.

The good news is you can't reconnect to AOL with what it leaves behind. The bad news is, it leaves behind a lot, including AOL Coach, Screensaver, and Diagnostics, 34 files and folders out of 117, and 871 registry entries out of 1,092.

AOL's Own Uninstaller

I didn't use any of AOL's uninstallers listed in Add/Remove because I was tired and knew it would take too long, so I went to aol.com and got OpenRide because it has an uninstaller you can use in place of them (how's that for lazy?).

They've improved the uninstaller since last summer so you can't reconnect to AOL after you use it, and HijackThis! no longer flags their Connectivity Service after the uninstall, either, just the dialer, which can't do anything by itself. All the same, AOL Coach and Screensaver, 56 files and folders out of 117, and 879 registry entries out of 1,092 were left behind, along with nearly every program AOL installed in the first place. AOL's own uninstallers merely stop AOL from connecting by removing a bare minimum of files, folders, and registry entries.

Out of the four programs I tested, there was just one that uninstalled everything I could find, so I suggest using jv16 powertools to uninstall AOL with or to clean up what other uninstallers will leave behind.

Update: I never saw either of the TechCasts mentioned above, (the first recorded on April 9th) so I wrote last week and asked them if they would send me the links. I told them the shows the search engines linked to don't mention my blog anymore, and asked if their discussions were in fact deleted. One of them wrote back a few days later. He used his real name but I'm omitting it. Hi Marah, I do recall seeing this [sic] a while back ago, but I've just done a search on my web-site at www.techcastnetwork.co.uk, but was unable to find anything about it. I do however have two podcasts that mention AOL which turned up on my site search engine: http://www.techcast.co.uk/?p=127 http://www.techcast.co.uk/?p=131 ...Hope this helps and thanks for your email. Regards, "Whoever," TechCast Network

Oh, well.

Check out my how-to uninstall AOL guides.

Last updated 8-22-09.

Problem: How to uninstall AOL.

Solution: jv16 PowerTools.

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Uninstalls/Cleans Up After: Any Version of AOL

Good for: XP users only. Vista and Windows 7 users: give jv16 PT 2009 or CCleaner a try.

I'll be honest: this tutorial is not very quick, so if you don't have some spare time and a firm desire to clean out every last trace of AOL, see How To Remove AOL with CCleaner instead. Take these steps at your own risk. I'm not responsible for what happens. Bookmark this page, since you'll need to restart your computer to finish removing AOL.

All visitors running Windows '98/2000/ME/XP: Before we get started, visit this page to learn how to back up your registry, files, and folders. See this tutorial to uninstall the AOL WAN Miniport after  you've removed AOL.

Mac users, please read this advice for removing AOL at Mac Rumors.

Issues for all AOL users running XP, Vista or Windows 7: I've had email that some PCs are infected by viruses when removing AOL, so run a scan with the free online Trend Micro tool before you get started. Some versions of 9.0 SE will not uninstall because a process won't shut down and all versions of AOL may become corrupted and unremoveable by normal means; if that's the case use my instructions to stop the AOL Connectivity Service from running before you remove AOL. See this (for XP) or this (for Vista) if you can't find or run the AOL Uninstaller.

This tutorial helps you remove AOL and it cleans up and optimizes your PC. It's especially good for removing older versions of AOL (like AOL 9.0 SE) which leave lots of leftovers behind in Explorer and the Registry. It will take you under an hour to pull off with a free 1-month trial of (click to download) jv16 PowerTools 2006, a powerful uninstaller and registry cleaner.

1. Tools we'll use...

The first screen you'll see in the jv16 PowerTools program is home base; it's where you'll find each tool we'll use.

3. Let's uninstall AOL...

To uninstall AOL, click the Software Manager. You will see multiple entries for AOL and America Online. Look for and place a check mark next to the AOL Uninstaller, then click Uninstall. From here follow these steps (starting with step 2) to run the AOL Uninstaller correctly. Even if you're removing an older version of AOL, the instructions will work as a rough guide.

Let the AOL Uninstaller run, restart your computer when prompted, then return to jv16 PT's Software Manager and remove the remaining AOL and America Online programs. You may remove more than one at a time if you like. You will not need to restart your PC to finish removing them. When you're done return to jv16's main window.

4. To further clean up, uninstall AOL's Registry Directories.

Before you perform the next 3 steps, see this to make sure you use jv16's powerful registry editing and cleaning features safely and effectively. Important note: If you have AIM or any AOL or AIM Toolbars installed that you don't want to remove you should skip these steps. If you choose to proceed and later have a problem, here are the steps for restoring jv16 PT's registry backups. Read more about the risks here.

To get any leftover installed bits of AOL, click the Registry Manager. The contents will display the same way that the Startup Manager's does - in one long list. Place checks next to unwanted AOL entries, click Remove or Uninstall (Remove is most likely the only option that will work), then return to jv16's main window.

5. Cleaning up some more - delete AOL's Registry Entries.

AOL can leave hundreds (sometimes thousands) of registry entries behind after you remove it. The more bloated your Registry is, the more RAM your PC will use trying to sort through it. To remove unneeded registry entries, click the Registry Finder and type AOL into the search box. There will be a long list of results. Follow the next steps carefully.

5a. Deleting AOL's Registry Entries...

Click Select and All to highlight the entire list of results. Most of them belong to AOL's now-missing software, but some of them may not, so check each entry carefully. Sort by clicking on the Key and/or Value Tabs along the top of the window to pinpoint what you're looking at. Click on the entries you want to keep to deselect them. Once the scan is done, be sure to back up the results, then click Remove to delete the highlighted entries (this step is definitely not for the dyslexic - double check your selections before you proceed). Repeat steps for America Online only if you do not have AIM or any AOL or AIM Toolbars installed, then return to jv16's main window.

6. Clean the entire Registry.

There may be a few stray AOL registry entries on your PC after following the last step. Also, removing AOL might cause a few other dead entries in your Registry that may seem unrelated, but in fact are quite related to it. To clean out the last bits of AOL, click the Registry Cleaner. From the "Quick Select" options on the lower right-hand side of the Registry Cleaner choose Normal for a quick, basic scan, then click Start.

6a. Cleaning the entire Registry...

Once the scan is done, click Select and All to highlight the entire list for deletion (as in the step above, you might want to check the results over to make sure you'd like to remove them), be sure to back up the results, choose Fix or Remove ("Remove" is quicker, but "Fix" will repair what it can), then return to jv16's main window.

7. Compact the Registry to gain hard drive space.

When you remove a lot of entries from the Registry, like we did in the steps above, the Registry will fragment (ie, it will throw links to it's files all over the place). To make your PC respond quickly and use less RAM, you will want to compact the Registry (squeeze all the remaining files back together again). To do so, click the Registry Compactor. You will see the computer's Registry Hives. Click Select, All, and Compact. It will take a few minutes and the Compactor window may temporarily turn white. When it's finished the Compactor will say how much space was regained on your hard drive. Keep jv16 PowerTools open for the next steps.

8. Gain more space - delete AOL's leftover files and folders.

To get at AOL's leftover files and folders, we'll hunt them down through Explorer Search. As in the steps above, this step will give you more space on your hard drive and reduce RAM usage. To open Explorer Search, on jv16's main screen, click Shortcuts, System Tools, and Find files or folder.

8a. Gaining more space - deleting AOL's leftovers...

In Explorer Search click All files and folders. Type AOL into the search box and choose to "Look in" Local Drive C:/ (or whatever drive you had AOL installed on). Click More Advanced Options, click Search for hidden files and folders and Search subfolders, then click Search.

Unless there's a file, folder or bookmark you want, you can delete whatever turns up. Repeat steps for America Online and keep jv16 open for the next step.

9. Clean up with Disk Cleanup.

Disk Cleanup is another way to gain more space on your hard drive. It takes files you've deleted and compresses them so that they take up less space. To open Disk Cleanup from jv16's main window, click Shortcuts and Run.

9a. Cleaning up with Disk Cleanup...

We're going to run the Disk Cleanup tool, so type Cleanmgr.exe into the Run dialog box.

9b. Cleaning up with Disk Cleanup...

Disk Cleanup will open. Place checks next to files you don't need and click "Yes" to delete them.

10. Get your PC running like a dream - defragment your hard drive.

Defragmenting the hard drive AOL was on will compress the remaining files and folders so your PC will run faster and use less RAM. To Defragment: On jv16's main screen, click Shortcuts, System Tools, then click Disk Defragmenter. This will open the Disk Defragmenter.

10a. Defragmenting your hard drive...

Click Analyze for a Defragmentation Report.

...or just click Defragment and let it do its thing. Imagine files neatly lined up next to each other, instead of thrown all over the place, and you'll get why doing this is a good idea.

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Note: Once you've uninstalled AOL this way, you'll see you can uninstall anything else, like AIM, RealPlayer, QuickTime, etc., using the same method -- you'll just need to change the file names.

Further Reading: Check the FAQs if you have a question; if your question is not answered in the FAQs, please feel free to send me an email. See my How-to Section for more ways to get AOL out of your life.

You can read an old version of this post (it's changed a lot since then - I take a knife to it about once a year) with most of the the original comments here.