I'm not raising this thread again for information, just to thank all those helpful folks who are prepared to give their time and expertise for free.Thanks a lot for the advice. I will be following things up immediately. The first thing is, that I will be converting to Windows XP (today), having worked with Win.98 previously. I've already looked at a couple of the firewalls recommended by the contributors and it appears that they don't operate with Win. 98, OR, there's more 'messing around' to get them to do that. That's not a good idea for a computer numpty like me!(it has to be simple!)However, firewalls apart, XP must be a step in the right direction, I hope.

Regards and many thanks

Andy