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Home > 98lite Professional > Issues with Apps (9x)

AOL 7.0 reboots 4 times when installing and can retreive email ok but will not connect to browse the internet

by LitePC

The AOL 7.0 installation gets stuck in a reboot loop if you have used 98lite to remove the ISDN Configuration Wizard (Communications section of the windows add/remove control panel)

DEPENDENCIES
The AOL 7.0 installation requires the following features to be installed - you should ensure all are installed before you run the AOL 7.0 setup.

Communications > ISDN Configuration Wizard
Communications > Telephony Support
Internet Tools > Internet Explorer
Internet Tools > MS Cryptographic Providors
Internet Tools > TCP/IP Utilities
AOL 7.0 installs a "WAN Miniport" Adapter into the network stack to handle Web Browsing connections. This adapter uses the NDISWAN protocol to make the network connections over the dialup. Normally NDISWAN is used by ISDN modems.


In fact the AOL 7.0 setup installs the following components (visible in the network control panel) for a fully working system.
Client for Microsoft Networks
Dial-up Adapter
Dial-up Adpater #2 (VPN Support)
Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter
WAN Miniport (ATW)
NDISWAN -> Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter
NDISWAN -> WAN Miniport (ATW)
TCP/IP -> Dial-up Adapter
TCP/IP -> Dial-up Adpater #2 (VPN Support)
98lite adds a new removable feature under the communications section of the windows add/remove control panel that enables you to remove the Windows ISDN Configuration Wizard. Unfortunately, without this wizard present on the system, the AOL installer is unable to install the WAN Miniport Adapter and NDISWAN protocols.

The AOL 7.0 installer is set up to make 3 attempts at the miniport installation, each attempt requires a reboot and the first attempt occurs when the system first reboots after installing the AOL software - so there are 4 reboots in all before the system settles to load AOL with dial-up functions only (it gives up). After the three attempts, AOL gives up. In the C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 7.0 folder you'll find a file OSPATH.INI containing the lines:
[status]
WanAtwCount=3
You can delete this file, or change the count back to 1 or 2 and next time you run AOL it will make another attempt at installing the WAN Miniport adapter. The installation of the adapter is carried out by the file C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 7.0\OSPATH.EXE

In this scenario your Network Setup that can retrieve email but not connect to the Net is:
Client for Microsoft Networks
Dial-up Adapter
Dial-up Adpater #2 (VPN Support)
Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter
TCP/IP -> Dial-up Adapter
TCP/IP -> Dial-up Adpater #2 (VPN Support)
To fix the situation, you need to have 98lite installed and you need to have run the 98lite Take Control option to give yourself all the extra features in the add/remove control panel. This grants you the ability to reinstall the ISDN Configuration Wizard.

If AOL 7.0 is already installed you just need to shut down AOL, then reinstall the ISDN Configuration Wizard and then delete the OSPATH.INI file. When you start AOL it should reinstall the WAN Miniport adapter and then ask you to reboot. After which you should be fully functional. If AOL does not automatically install the adapter you can run C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 7.0\OSPATH.EXE manually.

If AOL 7.0 is not already installed - just ensure the ISDN Configuration Wizard is installed before you run the AOL installation.



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