All i can say to you people is check for firewalls. Now days computers are so hopped up with protection they're full of troublesome features and programs you probably dont know are running. As Norm mentioned earlier check out if it's AOL's firewall, it its not check for any programs you may be running. Norton internet security should definitely be checked. Its a program that kind of flies under the radar, its rather low key and almost hides and does its job. If that firewall is off, check windows. Click on

Start --> Control Pannel --> Network Connections, then look along the sidebar for "Change Windows Firewall settings"

Thats all i've got, I'm no expert but I had the same problem. I know how frustrating it is.

Now i also have a bit of a problem. Anyone who has aol can relate to the frustration of downloading at 5 kbps (on a good day). I like to leave my internet on overnight to download while I sleep but occasionaly when i wake up i find my downloads have stopped and im not connected. The little box pops up that says LW does not detect a connection yet AOL is still up and running fine. If anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it

Timmy