Help with slow AOL startup

[Bernie526]

I'm hoping someone knows how to deal with this. When I start AOL, it takes at least 30 seconds to go through the loading and initializing process before giving me the sign-on screen. (This process takes only 5 sec on my other computer.) I have cleaned out the cache and all other temp files. I deleted duplicate files and then defragged the hard drive. I have 96MB RAM. What else can I do? Is there a utility to speed up this process? Thanks!

[RLT65]

What CPU, harddisk & what version of AOL?

[Bernie526]

Pentium II, 200 mHz, 2 gig hard drive. Currently AOL 6.0, but we had the same problem with 5.0.

[BFlurie]

Might try setting your My Aol/ Preferences/ Graphics down to 1, closing AOL, then restarting AOL & setting it back to 15-20 MBs. Also, your Personal Filing Cabinet may be too big -- try compacting it and/or deleting some of your stored mail.

[Bernie526]

Yes, my PFC is very big, containing about 1800 emails! But, I thought they were stored on AOL's server, not on my hard drive.

[BFlurie]

1800 emails! No wonder. Look at your PFC while offline. What you see has to be stored on your HD -- you're not connected to AOL's servers.

[Bernie526]

Oh, of course! I'm going to clean out my PFC, plus my husband ran a shareware program that finds duplicate files. These two things should help to clear up the problem.

Thanks so much everyone!