Thanks for your reply. I am not sure what you meant by run as Administrator. I am logged in as Administrator and running browser as Administrator as well in Vista.
What I mean is that all the bat files in the C:\aolserver directory are to be run either:
1. by rigth-clicking on them and selecting "Run as Administrator"
or
2. by opening a "command prompt shell" always by clicking on the proper icon and selecting "Run as Administrator" and then starting the bat files from that shell.