i have phoned my isp,and now broadband is available so i have changed over{my be safer}?.

dd, safer as far as dialers are concerned (as lond as you disconnect your dial up modem when you go boradband) however the extra usability of BB tend to mean you will use the internet more and be exposed to more threats. This is not something to worry about but its worth being aware. Here are a few pointers that might help :-

Use a Router if possible, this allows you to share the connection with more than 1 PC at the same time but more importantly most of them have a simple but effective firewall built in. If you dont use a router use a software firewall like Zonealarm

Use a virus scanner, norton etc, I use a free one from grisoft called AVG. Untill recently I did not have an installed scanner I just used housecall every now and then.

Use spware scanning software to find and remove spyware. I use both Adaware free version and Spybot Search and destroy.

Use something like Windows Washer to check and remove junk from your PC.

I also use some extensions to Spybor and Adaware plus some other resident programs to bloc spyware rom being installed and to do something with adverts!

and have fun......

I notice some are seeming to be having problems with Norton Virus blockers software.

When I used it some years ago it seemed to slow my computer down and have constant conflicts with software.

I changed to Antivir.guard which is free and I use Pop up stopper from Panicware
"Marvellous" They both are updated regularly by internet ann touch wood seem effective and my computers are old but appear faster than some of the later models running Norton.

I am content with Windows 2000 and seeing other using XP will stay with someting I know a "little" about.


Addresses

antivir.guard for Windows http://www.hbedv.com and http://www.free-av.com
Panicware www.panicware.com

cheers spaceman , aol is the isp,i belive it has mcafee firewall protectionas a free-be,will i have to run,,,anti spam & anti virus,again when its all connected {the nortons stuff} i have.

cheers ,fred one.

Spaceman i am thinking of rebooting my pc whats your view on that and will it solve my problem.

dd, do you have a problem at the moment? i thoght it was OK. Roboot should not do any harm.

No ,,no problems. but i was told it mite be the best thing to do, as a file is still at risk status.

when the broadband comes alive for me,will it be best to reboot then?

dd, when you go to bb you will probably have ot reboot as you will have to install a new modem or router.

cheers,thanks for all your advice much appreciated.

Help urgent!
Been sent a file by e-mail, when i go to open it i get msg "windows cant open file" then i click "use web to find an appropriate programme" this gives me a new window saying file type excel spreadsheet and file extension .xls

how do i open it?

D.,

You need Microsoft Excel to open it. If you haven't got Microsoft Excel you're welcome to mail it to me and I'll convert to a different format for a spreadsheet that you do have (eg Lotus 1-2-3).

edit: Just checked my Excel. I can even save it as a web page if you haven't got a spreadsheet installed on your pc.

H
Thanks for that, have downloaded m excel and now downloaded the file, dont understand it though!

H
Whilst your in your "help D mode" !.........
When you have a mo, give me an opinion on where the USD/ZAR is going, ignoring the possibility of government intervention of course.
TIA
D. (x!)

My dell lap top appears to have some explorer problem and i can not run programs
from desk top as soon as i click a short cut icon the computer goes into can't work mode it wont even run the windows back up disk and I have forgotten how to start the pc and run it in safe mode which i hope will allow me to get into my computer to run the w98 disk if i have got it all wrong i dont' mind being told

Bresie, could you be a bit more specific about what is happening? are you getting any error messages? what programs are you trying to run?

Windows 98 does not have a safe mode!! are you sure your using W98?

spaceman
the pc boots up ok then the active desktop runs in disabled if i click on any icon such as my computer or aol the system just slow's up and I try Con alt delet to close the programand I JUST GET THE END TASK SCREEN UNTILL I HAVE TO SWITCH PC OFF AND REBOOT.THE MOUSE DOESN'T FREEZE UP LIKE IF THE PC HAS CRASHED
i CAN GET INTO CERTAIN THINGS FROM THE START MENU LIKE AOL BUT i TRIED TO OPEN WINDOWS EXPLORER AND THE PAGE WAS BLANK EXCEPT FOR A ICON SAYING ZZTOP
WHICH IS VERY WORRYING AS I HAVE A FEW BAD HABITS BUT ZZ TOP HAS NEVER BEEN ONE OF THEM

Bresie, OK not sure whats causing that. Could your hard disk be full? Have you installed any new software or hardware recently. Do you have a virus checker and have you run it recentlty? can you confirm that it is Windows 98?

I am a bit rusty about W98, hold down the CTRL (or F8?) key while the PC reboots and then select safe mode option (apologies W98 does seem to call it safe mode, most IT people reserve safe mode for NT/W2k/XP). See if it woirks OK from there?

Do you have a second PC that you can read this from?

CHEERS SPACE WILL TRY ,AND YES IM ON MY OFFICE DESK TOP