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 Most Pogo games require Java because these games are Java-based applications. If you don’t have Java installed, you will need to download and install it from Sun Microsystems. But what if you do have Java and you still can’t play Pogo games? Sometimes it’s a simple matter of enabling Java in your Web browser while other times you may need to try a few other steps.

Clearing the Java Cache

Just as Internet Explorer and other Web browsers have a cache for storing images and other items, so too does Java. This cache can become filled to the brim, causing Java errors. By clearing out the cache, you may be able to play your Pogo games. The items and objects stored in the Java cache are different than temporary Internet files and the objects stored in your browser’s cache. To clear the Java cache, go to the Start button and click on the Control Panel link. Now, go to the Java icon and click it. Once opened, you should be in the General tab. Find the Temporary Internet Files section and click Settings. After the next box opens, click Delete Files.

Updating Java

Newer Pogo games may have been developed using a newer version of Java than you have installed on your computer. You may need to update your Java software before the newer games will function. Fortunately, updating Java is easy enough to do. First, go into the Control Panel and click on the Java icon. Go to the Update tab. Once in the Update tab, you can set up your computer to automatically search for Java updates as well as how Java should prompt you if any updates are found. In addition to scheduling regular update session, you can also update your version of Java manually. Simply click on Update Now and follow the prompts.

Depending on the nature of your Java error, Pogo Support may suggest that you uninstall Java and reinstall it. First, uninstall Java by going to the Start button and clicking Control Panel. Find the Add and Remove programs icon and click it. Look for Java Runtime Environment or J2SE Runtime Environment and uninstall each instance that appears in the list. You may have several instances of either of these applications. In addition, look for Java Web Start and uninstall that program as well. Once all applications have been uninstalled, reboot your computer.

Once your computer is back on, you will need to reinstall Java. Go to Sun Microsystem’s Java Web site and find the appropriate version of Java for your operating system. Click the Download button for the version that matches your operating system and follow the prompts for installing it. During the download process, you may see an Active X control warning regarding installing the J2SE Runtime Environment. If so, follow the supplied instructions for continuing with the installation. Click Install and agree to the terms of agreement. Choose the Typical installation and allow the installation to complete before restarting your computer.

Once restarted, go to Pogo.com and try playing a Pogo game.

 I have Internet Explorer 7.0 on my computer and, so far, haven’t run into any problems with playing Pogo games. However, there are a few known issues surrounding Pogo and Internet Explorer 7.0 - most easily solved. The three most common IE 7 errors users have encountered with Pogo include:

• “Java not found” or “Java not working” errors
• Internet Explorer 7’s address bar blocks Pogo’s chat bar
• Games do not load when Internet Explorer 7.0 and Norton Internet Security are in use

“Java not found” and “Java not working errors” are often easily solved. Most of the time, these errors mean that Java has been disabled in your browser. In IE 7, go to Tools >Manage Add-ons and check to see if Sun Java has been disabled. If so, enable it by clicking Sun Java Console and then selecting the Enable button down below. Close your Internet Explorer browser and reopen it. Try playing the Pogo game that was generating this error.

The Internet Explorer Address bar does take up its fair share of screen space - including covering up the Chat bar in Pogo windows. One easy way to remove the several of the menu bars in Internet Explorer is to simply right-click in the menu bar area and remove the check marks. However, this doesn’t necessarily remove the address bar. Instead, you will need to add Pogo.com to your browser as a “trusted” web site. To do this, go into Tools >Internet Options and click on the Security tab. Now, click on the green arrow and adjust the slider bar to Medium. Click on Sites.

Type in the full URL to Pogo.com and make sure that there is no check mark in the check box area down below. Click the Add button. Exit out of Internet Explorer and then restart your browsers.

If you are having trouble with Internet Explorer loading Pogo games and you also have Norton Internet Security, it could be related to a Norton Internet Security update related to the Norton Ad Block feature. This update blocks Pogo even if Ad Block has been disabled. To work around this issue, you can either uninstall Ad Block or you can add Pogo.com as an approved site.

Do this by going into the ad-blocking configuration utility of Norton Security. Click Add Site and enter pogo.com. In this case, you will not enter the full URL, just pogo.com. Now find the ad-blocking section of the window. Click on Add and place a check by Permit before entering the following values:

• ad
• /ad/
• /ad.js
• /ad.css

Close all windows as well as Internet Explorer. Re-launch Internet Explorer and try playing your Pogo games.

While Pogo.com offers hundreds of free games online, part of its mass appeal is its Club Pogo membership and community. Pogo Minis are editable profiles representing you. You start off by going into the Edit My Pogo Mini area and selecting various options including gender, facial features, skin tone, hair, clothing, and other items.

While the Pogo Minis are customizable, accessorizing your Pogo mini will cost you - in tokens. In order to purchase cool new items for your mini, you will need to go into the Mini Mall and make your purchases. Prices range from a few thousand tokens to millions of tokens. Obviously, the more tokens you have, the more you can splurge. Cool items will cost far more than ordinary items.

Occasionally, the Mini Mall becomes overloaded with tens of thousands of mini-shoppers. When the Web site becomes overwhelmed, you may experience errors such as “The Mini Mall is too popular” errors. Just like a real mall, the Mini Mall gets too crowded. Check back in about a half hour to see if the Mini Mall has been cleared out or not.

When you go into chat rooms, your Pogo mini doesn’t necessarily display. However, you can make a minor adjustment by going to the “Who’s here” list and selecting your screen name. Now, view your stats and click on the Badge tab. Down at the bottom, you will find an option that allows you to display your mini rather than a badge in the chat room. In addition, you can view other people’s minis by changing the view. Look for a button in the Chat Options area that looks like a head and shoulders. Click on this button and you will switch views and see the Pogo minis of those in the chat room.

Part of the fun of buying items for your Pogo mini and dressing your mini up is getting selected as a Pogo Hot Shot. The Pogo staff explores the Pogo community in search of ultra-cool Pogo minis and features them as Hot Shots. Another part of the fun is viewing other minis. Any Pogo game with a chat area supports minis. Simply go into the chat area and click on the various members’ screen names to view their mini. In addition, several specific Pogo games incorporate Pogo minis directly into the game including Penguin Blocks, Jungle Gin, Canasta, Casino Island, and Hold ‘Em.

When buying items for your Pogo mini, you can try outfits on to make sure that you like the look. Some outfits are designed to give your mini a new pose. Otherwise, your mini will default to the basic pose.  

If you see a generic stick figure mini, this represents a non-Club Pogo member. Only full Club Pogo members get to have customizable minis. If you’re a Club Pogo member, start saving up your tokens and customize your Pogo mini!

AOL has partnered with Pogo to provide subscribers with a variety of free games. However, like many matches, this particular partnership has a few kinks to work out. Among the more common technical issues involving AOL and Pogo games are:

• Screen resolutions
• AOL graphics compression errors
• “Cannot load game images” errors
• Difficulty uploading Pogo to Go tokens

Screen resolution problems can be solved by making a few minor adjustments to your Windows and AOL settings. For example, you may need to adjust the AOL toolbar settings, hide the Windows Task bar, or adjust your computer’s screen resolution. Ideally, your screen resolution should be set at 800×600 though the AOL toolbar and Windows Taskbar may block portions of the screen.

Graphics compression errors are common with AOL and Pogo games. By default, AOL prefers compressed graphics. However, this preference must be turned off in order to play Pogo games through the AOL browser. To turn this option off, launch AOL and sign in. Go to the My AOL area and select Preferences. Click on the WWW button which will launch the AOL Internet Properties dialog box. Click on the Web Graphics tab and clear the check mark in the “Use Compressed Graphics” check box. Click Apply.

Before you start a Pogo game, clear out your cache so that old graphics will not be displayed. Do this by clicking the General tab of the AOL Internet Properties dialog box. Find the Temporary Internet Files section and click on Delete Files. Click OK and exit.

Now trying playing a Pogo game. If the previous steps didn’t solve your problem, go back into AOL and click on Settings > Fonts, Text & Graphics. Reduce the setting for online art disk space to 1 megabyte, click on Save, and then exit AOL. This will clear out the AOL graphics file. Next, you will need to go back in and change the maximum disk space back to 20 megabytes.

“Cannot load game images” errors are usually related to the AOL Top Speed service. If you use a different method for going online other than AOL software, you can close the AOL software and use Internet Explorer or Firefox to access your Pogo games.

To clear the AOL Top Speed cache, go to the AOL Toolbar and click on Settings. Click the link for Internet (Web) Options. Click the tab that says Clear My Footprints followed by the button that says Clear My Footprints. Click Yes and Save.

If you are an AOL member who is having difficulty uploading Pogo to Go tokens, you will need to obtain a new password from Pogo.com. Pogo has changed the way Pogo to Go tokens are distributed.

Not all AOL users will experience the same issues with Pogo.com. However, if you are one of the ones that does, these errors are the most common ones reported.

 Pogo games are Java based, requiring that you have a compatible version of the Java plug-in installed on your computer. In addition, users with certain networking equipment from Linksys, NetGear, and SMC have had problems with compatibility that have been solved by installing the Java Virtual Machine from Sun Microsystems.

First, let’s start with the Java plug-in as that’s by far one of the most common issues with Pogo games. Java is a technology that allows you to play games online as well as perform a variety of tasks on the Internet such as chat with other users and enter data into online calculators. The uses for Java are wide and varied. Developers like Java because they can create one version of software that will run on virtually any machine. Many Java applications such as Pogo games run directly in a Web browser.

Your computer most likely already has the Java plug-in. However, if it doesn’t getting Java is a simple matter of heading over to Java.com’s download page.

If you have Java installed but it doesn’t seem to be working as expected, double check your Java settings in the Web browser. Go into Internet Options and click on the Advanced tab. Scroll down to Java. There should be a check mark in the box that says “Use JRE <version>.”

You can also use the Control Panel to double check your Java settings. Go to the Control Panel and find the Java icon (it looks like a coffee cup). Depending on your operating system, you may see a Browser tab. If so, click it and make sure that your Web browser is selected. If not, go to the Network settings in the General tab and make sure that Use Browser Settings is selected.

Pogo.com features a Java test utility in the Help section of the Pogo Web site that will test your Java installation automatically and offer solutions should Java not be present or configured properly.

If your computer is rebooting or locking up when playing Pogo games and you have one of the aforementioned networking products, installing the Java Virtual Machine may solve your problem. This is different than the Microsoft Virtual Machine. You can’t download just the Java Virtual Machine, you must download the entire Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment. If you have a previous edition (Java 1), installing the Java 2 download may solve your problems.

Pogo.com is one of the “stickiest” Web sites on the Internet. Its popularity is in large part due to the ease of playing free online games. Java powers these games and, for the most part, is trouble free. If you are having trouble with Java, first try the Pogo Java Test (found in the Help section). If that doesn’t help, you may need to double check your Java settings or download the most current Java version.

 Pogo.com is an online gaming site with a variety of free and commercial games. Not only can you go directly to Pogo.com to play free games, many ISPs such as AOL provide Pogo games as a service to subscribers. While you can play numerous games for free, Pogo also has games available for purchase as well as a monthly membership program.

However, Pogo users occasionally run into problems. In some cases, the problem originates with the computer being used to access the games; in others, the problem could be related to the game itself.

Let’s start with the computer that you are using to access your Pogo games. Pogo games are Java applications so your computer must have the Java plug-in installed on it. In addition, your installation of Java must be in working order. Sounds complicated but it isn’t. Pogo provides a “Toolbox” filled with tools to make sure that your computer is capable of playing Pogo games. This toolbox is located in the “Help” section of Pogo.com. The Java Test will automatically test your Java installation. If your version of Java is current and functioning properly, you’ll be prompted to test for Pop-Up Blockers. If not, you’ll be prompted to update your Java.

Since Pogo games are loaded into pop-up windows, you may need to make a few adjustments to your computer. Because so many marketers and malicious programmers have made pop-up windows annoying, most computer users now use Internet browsers that block pop-ups. However, pop-up blockers sometimes block wanted pop-ups.

The Pop-Up Blocker test is located in the Pogo Toolbox which is accessible via the Pogo Help page. This test tests your computer for pop-up blocking software. It generates two pop-up windows. If only one appears, you have a pop-up blocker. If two appear, you either do not have a pop-up blocker or your pop-up blocker is set to allow Pogo.com pop-ups.

Pop-up blockers are one of the most common problems with Pogo games failing to load. They are also one of the easiest problems to solve. The Pop-Up Blocker test provides you with a link to detailed instructions for disabling pop-ups. Follow the instructions and you should be able to play Pogo games!

Another common issue with games not loading affects Vista users - and only on certain downloadable games. For example, if you have downloaded a game that isn’t Vista compatible, it won’t load properly for Vista users. You’ll likely be prompted to apply a patch as many of these games have patches available that will make them Vista compatible. Try right-clicking the game’s icon and choosing the Run as Administrator option.

Another common issue with Pogo games failing to load involves several popular brands of networking cards including Linksys, NetGear, and SMC network cards. Some of these cards are not compatible with many Pogo Games. This problem usually shows up as a computer lockup or reboot when trying to load a Pogo game. Trying downloading the Java Virtual Machine from Sun Microsystems as a workaround to this problem.

These issues are the most common reasons that users experience problems with Pogo games.