As someone relatively new to computers I can enjoy taking them to pieces but all this software inadequacy is making me p***ed off. I am glad to know that access problems with mudcat are not at my end.

Maybe everyone should run Linux and Firefox or some such Gates-free combination until he can produce programs that are not full of holes. Seen the latest exploit under XP? It gets around SP2 apparently.

I found this recently - it may be 'old hat' to all you tech people but I had a troubled night thinking about all the updates I should load but am damned if I am going to risk a computer that works for an updated one that doesn't. These problems of spyware etc etc should be sorted out in robust products - not left to millions of users to deal with. I have just spent half a day trying to get W98(2) to accept a modem at some place else than COM1. It offers me COM5 - which doesn't even exist in the Registry.

I am afraid a lot of people will be staying with out of date software (even more full of holes than XP) until they have confidence that their next expensive purchase will actually WORK.

Happy reading http://www.mdgx.com/web.htm

Steve in Sidmouth http://www.seered.co.uk