<<Sometimes it takes five or six attempts before I am able to access my =
email in XP Pro without a connection error.  Other times it will make me =
retype my user name and password over and over.>>

Ring your ISP and they will go over your settings with you.  Every ISP
seems to need different settings, modem settings often differ too.

Usually it's a problem that can't be fixed at a distance.

Possibly a bad phone line. This can be checked by your telephone company.

Can also be caused by having too many peripherals such as answerphones,
faxes, plugged into the phone line. If any of these create static, this can
cause disconnects especially with Winmodems (ie cheaper modems which rely
on computer to do the work). Better modems have better static protection
builtin.

Presumably you've checked fully for viruses. There are some viruses which
can cause disconnects, though not usually with exactly these symptoms.

Don Penlington
 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html