Haystack, check no proxy server is specified under LAN settings.

Yes, I found the problem. It was Zone alarm. It stopped IE, but let mail and Firefox work fine.

I have just noticed, while copying files to a SanDisk 4gb flash drive, that the flash drive is running a FAT32 file system while my XP is running on NTFS. Is there any particular reason for this? Is it worth formatting the flash drive & would it automatically convert to NTFS?

Check the manufacturers website.

Most flash drives come formatted to FAT32 and may not support NTFS but some can be reformatted.

It makes no difference for most things what the two filesystems are. My USB stick is FAT32 and my hard drive is NTFS and I copy files both ways regularly. If you want to boot a variety of Linux from a USB stick then it does matter, but aprt from that there is not usually a problem.

Thanks guys. It's not really critical, but I thought that 1gb of NTFS files was more than 1gb of FAT32 files due to the NTFS system being more compact. Also presumably Windows must convert the files each time they are copied to each other? I thought that FAT32 went out with Windows 98.

An NTFS file system is more reliable and can be larger than a FAT32. It will also support user permissions which FAT32 does not. For a USB flash drive, these things do not really matter because performance and reliability of the drives is so poor anyway.

@Optimist or anyone some advice please on a new server that i have just bought the problem being the backup,its running a Phenom Quad Core processor with 8GB ECC RAM, 1.8TB HDD and DirectAdmin control panel with a connection port to 1GBps the problem being the size of the hardrives for the back up i cannot fathom a way to back this beast up.
Do you have any suggestion on how i can do this its used for a File Storage server and the only way that i can see is have a matching server.
We have 3 others that are slighly smaller but only 2 are run as the 3rd is the backup for that setup.

Mega....

MB

That sounds like a nice machine.

When you get up to that size of storeage, you will need to rely on a range of strategies. And consider how valuable the data is, how up to date you need it to be in the event of a failiure and what is the cost of any downtime.

Start with the simple things, make sure that you have a good UPS and dual hot swapable PSU's in the machine, which should protect you from power failiure problems. Replace the hard drive with a RAID 5 array or better with the drives mounted in removable caddies. You would need 4 - 1TB discs (allthough 5 or 6 would be better) which would give you 2TB of fault tolerant storeage and a significant increase in disc read/write speed.

The only way to really back up your data is to mirror the entire server which should be in a different room/building/continent depending on it's value and cost of downtime.

Assuming that this is not practical, then split it accross different machines/portable disks, with only the most recent data mirrored elsewhere.

You probably don't have to back the entire disk up, just know where to get everything from. For instance, it should be possible to recreate an SQL database from the log so you may just need to mirror that in on line storeage.

Opti thanks for your quick reply it is a fair brute I pushed the server load to 29.00 (compared to a max value of 4.00 as I've set it now) and yet it was responding lightning quick,i will look into that tomorrow,what i am planning on doing as the project expand i will look at adding a load balancer across to distribute the resources across another location.
Thanks again and i will update you later in the weekend

MB

I'm glad my comments were useful.

Another thing to consider, is virtualisation. That way, you can swap the server between machines in the event of problems.

Optimist, Could you translate the above.

I can't do that on my QL.
8-)

Optimist, Could you translate the above.

I can't do that on my QL.
8-)

Fed

Try upgrading to a Commodore Pet ;)

How do I find out what software/firewall is blocking ports to the internet, untill a few weeks ago I could gain access to my banks website site online now I cant tried using network connection solver in Windows XP, it says it cant access ports 80, 443 and some others even thou 90% of the internet is accessible

I had zonealarm secruity and superantispy untill yesterday, now uninstalled
I still have Norton Internet Secruity, Avasti Anti Virus and Windows Firewall, I have done virus checks, spyware etc and switched every firewall off I can find still not helping

I am also using a netgear wireless router, any ideas what could be doing this?

Mega,

You might hopefully know the answer to this one. Is there any way to prevent some websites from masking their referring link? Maybe a server side script that would reveal it or something?

Does anybody else know?

Richgit

Ports 80 and 443 are standard ports for the internet and no security software should block them.

If you have some internet access, then something must be blocking specific sites, not just by port number. The only ways to find what is blocking them is by either disabling them to see if it makes any difference (that can be tricky with some) or checking the logs if you can find them.

Despite your virus checks, I'm concerned that the problem may be virus related. What other sites can't you access? Can you access Microsoft and other AV sites? Try running an online virus check with an AV that you do not normally use.

Can you access your bank site from another computer connected to your Netgear router?

I see that you have several AV programms and firewalls installed. These at best will tend to slow down your computer, and may actually make things less secure. Your router will stop nearly all incoming attacks, Norton IS has it's own firewall and is well regarded despite it's (IMO) many faults. The only other one that I would suggest is Microsoft Windows Defender which seems to differently from an AV program and works well alongside them.

If you are really paranoid about security then get a router that filters evrything but that can be expensive. There is no substitute for responsible browsing. If you want to visit less reputable sites, then use a virtual machine and don't save the changes.

Hilary

Try disabling Java ;)

RG69 - Is it possible the Windows blocker has certain sites on it's 'block list'?
Go to 'internet options', 'Privacy' & check the blocked sites tab. Might be worth reducing the cookie filter down to 'Low'. Also check your Windows firewall settings, which will now presumably be at the default setting now that you have uninstalled ZA.
Depending on your security sttings in the various Firewall & Anti-virus programs, certain sites will also be blocked or need permission to be accessed. Your Norton must be the same, though not one I use. You seem to have an awful lot of Firewall/anti-virus stuff installed, which must be slowing down your machine almost to a standstill!

So simple. Thanks Opti.

:o)