Must have been having IP-schizophrenia. Even my ISP was repeatedly asking me to give my password every time I tried to log on to Outlook Express email and newsgroups from my laptop for a few days. I was afraid it might be a virus, but a thorough check nixed that hypothesis. I had a friendly chat with Roadrunner's tech support folks, since which I have had no problem.
    Meanwhile, I re-established my Mudcat cookie, so that is no longer a proglem. BUT - -
    Would someone explain why I need to log off Mudcat, rather than just shut down IE when I'm finished? If I'm the only one using this computer, can anyone else pretend to be me, as Mr. Red suggested?
    Truth be told, when I first "joined" Mudcat, I didn't know that I was declaring a permanent identity. Initials are so mundane! Can't I "resign" as mmb and re-join with my preferred screen name?
    Peace!   M. : )