Genealogy Chat

Since changing to Broadband from Dial up I`ve had probs. Comp.switches itself on then off again at random. Phoned AOL(premium rate line!) said they had probs with Windows, got me to switch off firewall. Problem solved but inundated with dire popup warnings from Windows. Got fed upand worried by this and switched f.wallback on. Same prob again. If this is a Windows prob why doesn`t every one have it? Have other AOL subscribers experienced this? Can`t get rid of AOL,signed up for a year! I`d be grateful for any suggestion. Sylvia.

Hi I get that sometimes and i'm with NTL ! Not sure what i did or didn't do but it's O.K. now Not much help to you i'm afraid but it might not be AOL. Hope someone can help you. Regards Jan

Just how dangerous is it not to have a firewall? Can I get one from anywhere else except Windows? Thank you Sylvia.

Hi Sylvia I have mine from Zone Alarm but there are quite a few you could try and there's loads of free ones just google. Jan

Thank you Jan. I will try it now-if I don`t get cut off in the middle! Regards Sylvia.

Sylvia, did you also go wireless at the same time? I did and that gave problems like the one you describe. The reason was that the wireless box had its own firewall, so the two firewalls were competing. In this case, switching off the firewall on thye computer was not a risk since the one in the wireless box still operated. Had a similar problem also on a separate laptop trying to share a printer between desktop and laptop. Jim

Hi Jim, no I didn`t go wireless. I have just installed Macafee firewall so lets hope that does the trick. Many thanks to all for help. Sylvia.

Have you visited the Microsoft Update site lately? If not, give that a try as it will update your PC to the latest technology. Judy :)

Hi Judy, I have windows xp and the updates are supposed to be done automatically. At least thats what it says when I checked it out. However, I have turned off Windows firewall and installed Mcafee and touch wood everything seems to be working ok. Many thanks for help and interest,regards, Sylvia.

Hi Sylvia... There's actually more updates at the site than the ones that update automatically. If you go to the site and click on CUSTOM the site will scan your PC and advise on what other updates are available. The ones that automatically update are CRITICAL updates - updates that, for the most part, patch vulnerabilities in your PC. Custom updates are, for example, updates for your Internet Explorer, which enhances surfing, DRIVERS, which are updates for hardware on your PC, etc....so it's equally important to manually visit the site to obtain these updates as it keeps you up to date with new technology. Judy