Dial-up internet connections are often the only option that many people in rural areas have available; coupled with the fact, in many cases, there are no “local” dial-up internet service providers available and the user has to rely on a national provider (such as AOL).
I recently had a friend of mine, who lives where ticks are as prevalent as cats in the city, whose only option was a dial-up or satellite connection. He had just purchased a computer and he wanted to stay with the provider he had for years. In this case it was AOL (America Online). The dilemma which he faced was that he could not locate any AOL install CDs anywhere. I could not believe my ears. The AOL install CDs, in the early “dialup” internet years would arrive at my doorstep by the bushels.
It was at this point, I offered to help and told him I would download the installation off the internet, via broadband, thinking AOL had that option available. This in itself is where this became quite interesting. You can download an install file (aoldnld.exe), which is a small download; BUT, once you execute the file you need an internet connection to pull down the actual AOL installation and that process by itself you have no control over, except to cancel the install. After further querying the internet for a solution, I found that people are actually selling AOL install CD’s (mostly older versions); and furthermore I could not locate any valid solution to this problem other than going through the AOL site to order the CD.
Due to what I am now seeing as a demand out there for AOL install cd’s, Here is what I did to create a AOL 9.0 Install CD and it worked for me… It is preferable to use a broadband connection and someone with good computer navigation skills to make this as painless as possible.
- Go to the AOL site and look for the AOL Download. At the time of this writing, I located it here:
http://free.aol.com/tryaolfree/cdt.adp?532446 - Click on “Download Now”; which will initiate the download of the “aoldnld.exe” file, that I mentioned earlier. Save the file to a folder.
- Go to the folder and execute the “aoldnld.exe” file and a progress indicator will appear on the screen.
- Once the progress indicator reaches 100 %, the “Install AOL 9.0VR” dialog box (which is an end user agreement) will appear on the screen.
- At this point, click “CANCEL”, “EXIT SETUP”, then “EXIT”.
- Search the computer for a folder named “waol”. Open the “waol” folder and you will see a subfolder with numbers. In my case the subfolder was named “0.4327.165.1”. These numbers will vary. Open the subfolder.
- The contents of this folder is what you need for an installation (which you can burn to a cd or copy to a flash drive). - (see screenshot)
- The executable file, in this case, to initiate the installation is “waol-0.4327.165.1” (see screenshot). Again, the filename will be “waol” with a string of numbers.
- During the installation it will detect what type of connection you have (i.e. cable, dsl, dialup) or you can manually modify the settings for the dial-up number.
The installation of AOL took approximately 5 minutes (or more) on my test pc… Needless to say, like past AOL installs I’ve worked with, it made numerous changes to my test PC.
Would I install and use AOL on my PC, if I had to? I’m not going to answer that one. Just ask any tech out there and you’ll get the answer.
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January 9, 2009 at 12:18 am |
I am a tech, and I have spoken to many users and looked at lots of machines. Each one is different (machine setups and users).
And I have been around computing long enough to well-remember that period when AOL CDs came glued to practically every piece of mail, the new phone book, etc.. (I used mine for target practice.) I’m sure I have at least a half-dozen laying at the back of drawers..
I can tell you that AOL has done much recently to attempt to shed its reputation, and that it has improved.
For instance.. I think they’ve stopped selling your info to any bidder..
That said.. there’s a reason hackers and cybercriminals love AOL user lists: as a group, they’re the least savvy of all computer users. Also, the most prone to be running obsolete software on obsolete computers.
Easy pickin’s.
January 9, 2009 at 6:33 am |
TechPaul,
Your analysis of AOL and the user group, (based on your Tech experience), I strongly concur with. The deeper I got into this, the more shocked I was to see that there is an obvious market out there for AOL install disks AND that the barrage of AOL disks over the years has had a brainwashing affect on many people.
Folks, the last paragraph of this article; you got your answer!
Rick
January 9, 2009 at 1:44 pm |
So once we burn our AOL CD do we promptly use it as a beer coaster? Sorry, had to ask, as that’s what we always did with AOL CDs in the past.
January 9, 2009 at 2:06 pm |
Ebn-Ozn,
LOL… Yes, that will work….
Thanks for visiting!
Rick
January 20, 2009 at 10:39 am |
I have been with AOL for better than six years. I have contacted AOL five times in the last two months and as1ked them to send me a AOL 9.1 installation disk. They still haven’t sent it. Last time I talked to them they said two disks were ordered fo me and I hanen’t received them yet. I don’t know what there problem is they are such a large company.
January 20, 2009 at 10:46 am |
I have been with AOL over six years why can’t they send me a AOL 9.1 installation disk? What is their problem. Do they want me to change ISP’s?
January 20, 2009 at 10:53 am |
Jerry,
First, for that reason and others, I am not an advocate of AOL… AOL has been doing some ongoing restructuring and there may be a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. One thing to keep in mind, AOL software is just software; and the internet is the internet. How you get to the internet, whether it be with the AOL software or some other way; the internet is the same. Many people have the illusion they have to have AOL software… As a matter of fact, for an example… I can go to the AOL website and create an AOL username to use their email and messenger and I do not have AOL software on my PC…
Thank you for the supportive comments you made. You are a living example of the point I was trying to get across.
Rick
June 6, 2009 at 4:05 pm |
Thanks for posting this guide. The “if you must” made me laugh. I’m making a CD for a friend in a satellite-or-extremely-slow-dialup area and needed it.
June 6, 2009 at 9:16 pm |
Amber,
I am glad the guide (or workaround) to getting (making) the AOL CD is still working for people. I am not an advocate for AOL, but there are people like your friend that may have no choice other than to go with their dial-up service… Actually that type of situation is what prompted me to find a workaround to making the AOL Install CD in the first place… Believe it or not, this AOL CD article has been a topper on my blog (unbelievable). Thanks for posting and drop by again!
Rick