Cursed by a proxy server?

Hello. I'm hoping somebody can help. This is my young son's computer and we don't connect online with it often. However, when we do, we usually cannot connect to any sites until we go in and uncheck the "use a proxy server for this connection" box. If we stay online long enough, the box checks itself again and the next time we dial in, the box is checked again. Any idea what is causing this? We don't use AOL but I think many moons ago, a free trial was used on this computer. I managed to update IE so it would not run the IE by AOL anymore. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

did you maybe use your isps install cd at one time? or upgrade from one OS to another

No way of knowing. The computer has passed through several hands over the years. I'd like to know how to fix it though. Thanks

check in add/remove programs panel and uninstall AOL if present. when the box is checked does it display a web address or a port number.

Nope, uninstalled AOL some time ago. And, no, although the proxy server box keeps self-checking, there is no address or port.

look in the add/remove programs panel and see if you recognize any isp software in there and uninstall it if so.