Star Tool, also known as Master AOL and the Master Tool, is an additional menu on the AOL client used by AOL developers. After Star Tool is installed, an addidional menu will be placed before the "File" menu. It can be accessed by clicking the asterisk (See right).

The Star Tool was originally found on an AOL website hacked by Glitch and YTC. More on the history of Star Tool can be in O0O's article about it.

Installation:

1. It will be assumed that you are using America Online version 4.0 or America Online version 5.0. It does not matter because the the Star Tool for each version is identical. Close AOL before beginning.

2. Downloaded the Star Tool into a directory on your hard drive (the AOL directory is easiest to remember and will prevent installation problems.) Choose the AOL version that will be used and download the Star Tool:
Star Tool for AOL 4.0 | Star Tool for AOL 5.0.

3. These ZIP collections both contain 8 files:

  Ada.bin
  Ada32.dll
  Amsvcr.dll
  Atomdbug.cgf
  Atoms.ada
  Diag.exe
  Master.aol (AOL 4.0) and Master.tol (AOL 5.0)
  Readme.txt

Unzipping into your AOL directory...

Good, this makes things a lot easier. Just unzip them and procede.

Unzipping into a different directory...

Unzip the files into a directory of its own (without any other files). If you do not see 8 files that means that your computer is set to hide system files. To temporarily change this setting to show all the files do the following:

a. Double click My Computer or its equivalent so that you are in Windows Explorer.
b. Click View > Folder Options.
c. Click the View tab and mark the option that says "Show all files"
d. Click OK

You should now see all 8 files. Copy the 8 files and paste them into the AOL directory.

4. You should now have all 8 files unzipped or copied into your AOL directory. Locate the master.aol or master.tol file then cut and paste it into the "tool" folder in the AOL directory. AOL 4.0 uses *.AOL files; AOL 5.0 uses *.TOL files. The only difference between the Star Tool for 4.0 and the Star Tool for 5.0 is that each has the necessary file for the version it is intended for. Otherwise the setups are selfsame.

Installation is complete. Load AOL and if the instructions were followed the Star Tool should look like the one above.

Next Page - Star Tool's Features>>