Sorcha -

Spybot install has been so clean for me that I haven't really looked into what you can do to foul it up. The only behavior I have observed is that it occassionally runs into permissions problems. It often says a particular one or two malware components can't be removed if it's run under anything other than an Administrator login. IF YOU HAVE CREATED MORE THAN ONE USER IDENTITY, or otherwise have an Administrator account set up, it may be necessary to log in as Administrator for successful install. With most programs, you'll get an error message saying "You don't have permission to do that" or something similar, but Spybot does have the almost unique "feature" of being able to bomb due to insufficient permissions without producing the normal message.

Jeri -

Modems are one of the components most susceptible to "frying" their Input/Output parts due to external electrical influences, so it is possible that yours has died. The most common other failure, though, is in the little pigtail lead you use to plug it into your 'phone jack. These cords can look perfectly fine and lose a line quite easily. If you haven't already done so, at least try a different phone wire before resorting to more drastic measures. If you've changed the connection, make sure that you haven't plugged into an ethernet jack instead of the phone jack on the computer. They look very similar, and are often located side-by-side, although the ethernet plug is a little larger. The smaller phone plug can be inserted in an ethernet socket, but of course won't make the connection.

John