AOL internet access network setup?

My mom has aol. I looked in her network setup and I saw all this weird stuff. Does aol use vpn?

Here are the adaptors:

AOL
AOL dial up
Dail up
Dail up 2 (vpn support)
ms vpn
SMC EtherEZ (8416)
WAN Miniport (ATW)

It looks like a bunch of junk to me. Is all that needed?

Also, I went to

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

and tested her computer for security and it said it was stealth. My computer was not. I have an hp pavilian too. She has no firewall. I am wondering why her computer was safe and mine was not. Does aol have some kind of security measure that is like a firewall?

 

That adapter listing is pretty standard for the default AOL load. And you are correct that about half aren't needed. OTOH they don't do any harm normally and if her system is working, they certainly aren't causing a problem on her system.

They take a very little space and unless in use, not enough system resource to make it worth the effort to remove the un-needed. Especially if she may change from dial-up to broadband (or vice versa).

As to her being "stealth" and you not, hers could be from a firewall at the ISP. Or the fact that AOL uses a semi-pseudo-sorta VPN I think.

 

Thank you for replying to my question.