Stockbunny

I'm pleased to have been of help.

One point to bear in mind, the option of putting a computer in the loft need not be expensive. You can pick up early P2 machines very cheap and once set up it would not even need a monitor.

Ian, Thanks for your help I can only get access if I disable Norton. :-(

TM

Do the open firewall bit.Its in the Norton box when you click on the Norton Icon.
My powers of Explanation just get better all the time:-)
E-mail me internally if you want more assistance.

help,have bought an old windows 98 se as a back up it would appear the ports are closed, so unable to connect to broadband, l.l.

LL are you using a router? The problem is probably not ports but the internet connection settings on the w98 PC.

spaceman.no router at present,just trying to connect to broadband (bt)which comes up with no ports,l.l.

LL, OK I was assuming this related to TCP/IP ports but it may well be physical ports e.g. USB ports. It could be that the PC does not have a USB connection or an Ethernet card and the install software is looking for them?

So a few Q's :-

What sort of device is attached to the BT BB connection? is it a USB 'modem'?
Does the PC have a Ethernet card?
Does the PC have a USB connection?

You can get a USB card for very little same is true for an ethernet card so if this is the problem it should be pretty easy to sort.

spaceman internal message sent l.l.

ll Replied.

I am trying to install Outlook and when I open it I get a message saying

"Network problems are preventing connection to the Microsoft Exchange Server Computer. Contact your system administrator if the problem persists."

Anyone help ?

Can I send Faxes Without an Internal Modem.I use a An alcatel speedtouch 330 external Modem.
Any Ideas?

There are services on the web that will send a fax if you send them the image. However, modems are disgustingly cheap now and you won't need a fancy one if you're just using it to send faxes. In fact, even a very old 19.2K modem would be fine since the maximum fax sending speed is 14.4K. Here's a 56K modem on eBay which looks as though it's going to be sold for 99p!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3451637430&category=3693

Don't forget you will need a cable between the modem and the wall socket. This is sometimes but not always included with the modem.

If you have Windows 2000 or XP, basic fax software is included with Windows. If you have Windows 95 or 98 and the modem does not come with software then buy a second hand copy of something like Winfax on eBay.

Sorted my problem now.

Ive Got XP Pro.Do i still need to get the Modem was to late for the one above.
Been looking at a Creative Modem Blaster V.92 PCI - Fax / modem. 14.49 Inc P&P From Easy trader.

Yes, you need a modem since faxes require a direct telephone connection between the sender and receiver. ADSL doesn't do that. Any PCI modem will do, the one you found will be fine. There are plenty of cheaper ones though, and in fact the new V.92 modems are slower than the old V.90 ones. No ISP in the UK uses the new V.92 features as far as I know, since the investment in replacing all of the modems at their end would be too great. Bear in mind cable and software.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?query=pci+-adsl+-amr+-isdn*&catref=C3&socolumnlayout=3&lotr=1&from=R10&sacategory=3693&BasicSearch=

Motorola 56K V.92 PCI Data/Fax Modem - NEW 9.99
Opted for this one of EBAY.Cheers for Your Assistance.
Iain

Topman - re the homepage problems you described over on the 'Broadband Suppliers' thread:

It might not be as easy as Seymour C suggests, as I think mysearchnow is a variant of the 'coolwebsearch' hijacker software which resets your default home page and/or search entries. I had to deal with a case of this last summer and it was a pain to sort out. If you type in mysearchnow and spyware (or hijack) into Google you'll find various entries which should point you in the right direction. There's a program called 'HijackThis', if I remember correctly, that produces a diagnostic log to help with the clear up. (I didn't use it, but I've heard it's legit.) If you end up having to edit the registry to delete or change various entries like search-URLs you'll probably (but not always) also have to find and delete a registry 'RUN' entry that points to a file placed somewhere on the computer, which will also need to be deleted. Otherwise rebooting your PC will cause that file to be executed, which will, in turn, automatically repopulate the registry with all the entries that you've just removed. Running Lavasoft's Ad-Aware (available by free download, or sometimes on PC magazines' front-mounted CDs) will point you to any other unwanted spyware that might have found its way on to your machine.

I see from the March PCW magazine (p68) that Symantec's 'Norton Systemworks' has now begun to expand its antivirus software to encompass key-logging and spyware programs - an area in which it had previously been weak. Looks like Norton's still lagging in this area though, so I'd recommend trying other progs like Ad-aware until they get their act together.

Ah, thought it was too simple to be true!

StonyB/Topman,

Just to add a little info to StonyB's excellent post.

I am not sure if mysearchnow is an affiliate of coolwebsearch however I have dealt with a few cases of coolwebsearch and I can confirm that it is a real pain. Not many PC users are yet aware of the problems these hijacks can cause as they haven't been well publicised.

However the following sites may help :-

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html

The first is a forum dedicated top this sort of problem and the second is a related site with a lot of info about cool web search.

There are 2 tools available which can be used to assist, they are called cwshredder.exe and Hijackthis.exe (as mentioned by StonyB). I do not recommend using the Hijackthis.exe program unless you have read the information in the spy ware forum above and you are happy with making registry changes.

I also agree with StonyB about Adaware which I use daily but I also use 'Spyware Search and Destroy' as I find that often one program misses the spyware but the other finds it, I also run it daily, both of these should be checked for updated frequently. In addition I also use Windows Washer V5 each day to clear junk (not spyware from my PC).

Hope this helps a little.

Spaceman - thanks for all the additional info, and pleased to see that mysearchnow might not be related to coolwebsearch, so it might not be quite so difficult to sort out. I hadn't checked-out the spywareinfo site since last year, where the cwschronicles link that you mentioned shows just how devious cws has become. @#%%#$$!!!