A friend of mine just had this issue tonight with her dial-up connection. She is using Windows 98 and had AOL 9.0 installed. She called me last night and told me that she could not connect to the internet, though she has been for over a year with 9.0 . She said she saw the 77-HOKI error. She contacted AOL support, spoke with three technicians, each saying that her modem was shot. I went over there just over an hour ago and used a laptop to connect. The connection from the laptop to the internet was a success, which would only further prove that the modem was the issue on her desktop. Now, I remembered from a past experience where I had tried to use AOL 8.0 with Windows ME, that there were compatibility issues. My internet would eventually stop connecting on that computer I remembered. I checked the AOL website, which assured me that Windows 98 was compatible with 9.0. I know better than to trust AOL's opinion... I uninstalled AOL 9.0 and used that same CD to install AOL 7.0 (most versions are still stored on those CDs). I installed 7.0. Guess what, it still didn't work. Now, I'm not easily convinced. I still have the local access numbers for my area. Using the advanced (expert) setup tool, I was able to input two numbers, and configure them accordingly. After saying a quick prayer, I clicked on the sign on button... To the surprise of three technicians, I was able to connect! Once connected, the connection was just fine, and the issue is now fixed! Apparently 9.0 IS NOT compatible with 98, now is it? The problem has been solved. If anyone has faced the same error as her, it is a good idea to use a different version of AOL, as yours might not work as AOL assures you. I hope this has helped someone out there