AOL's default setting for images is to compress them by
reducing the number of colors you see in the image. This means photographs or
full-color graphics will look grainy or blotchy, regardless of how nice they
look to everyone else.
Advice: Find the setting
under "preferences" or "options" and TURN OFF where it says "compress
graphics".
More Advice: To save
images for use outside of the AOL browser, use a DIFFERENT program to view the
web pages with the images, such as MS Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator,
both of which are free. Otherwise you will be stuck with AOL ".art"
files instead of the actual ".gif"s and ".jpg"s on a page, that
can then be handled by standard graphics programs.
<TOP>
With earlier versions of AOL in particular, finding the real
web is not as obvious as typing in an address. In fact, pop-up ads cleverly
hide the "internet" button in the newer browsers. If you DO have an older AOL
browser, typing a real web address in the keyword box will not work, because
very few web sites have keywords, and besides, addresses are not
keywords.
Advice: Click on
"internet" and maximize the window, the top of which will be where you can put
in the URL of the web site. Remember to type the WHOLE address as it appears
wherever you saw it.
<TOP>
Although we know a few people who have not had regular email
problems with AOL, loss of email attachments is the most common problem. You
may send a picture or other file to a user, or have one sent to you, never to
have it reach its destination. This seems especially true if one of the
recipients is not on AOL.
Advice: If you need to
send files back and forth, and only have AOL to do it, you are playing
roulette every time. Use another service -- either another email client or
web-based email (usually free) that lets you send and receive attachments.
Warning: Some of our
clients and associates has have expressed a concern for AOL filtering their
personal mail. We do not know the validity of this claim, but the concern is
that recent anti-AOL warnings sent between AOL users become corrupted (garbled
as if encrypted).
<TOP>
Consistent with its monopoly-like practices, AOL released
version 5.0 a while back, which upon installation seems to systematically
sabotage non-AOL dialup connections and non-AOL browsers.
Advice: DO NOT install
AOL 5.0 if you plan to use any other web browsers, dialups, or mail clients.
If it's too late, uninstall all of them and re-install. You may have to
reinstall Windows as well.
More Advice: DO NOT
UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES install any BETA (experimental) version for testing.
Do not be AOL's guinea pig, unless you don't mind potentially loosing
everything on your system. Wait until the bugs are out before you even
think about upgrading ANY software, especially from AOL.
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