well, it is Saturday, and traffic in here drops off a lot on the weekends...

"the application doesnt work".... which application? There are lots of search applications. What is your usual procedure to do a search?

"java capabilities online"...hmmmm? That is sort of unclear about what you actually DO. and 'submit' what TO what?

" most of the files require a program to open with" are you saying Explorer is not working? Can you download & install programs? If so try Turbo Navigator as a file manager to bypass Explorer..(it is better, anyway...I haven't opened Explorer in ages!) and Power Desk is even better...)