Thanks Venkat. The computer came with XP SP2 and I get the automatic upgrades. But none to date have been of any use against whatever 'bug' is in there. When I ask for IE I'm told no updates are available. So I will try Firefox. Joyce none. for that matter you should not have any problems with IE also becau se lots of people use it satisfactorily though there are security problem s galore withh all browsers. have you installed xp1, xp2 on you win xp home? which version is IE ? <snip> The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website, web based bulletinboard for questions and answers: Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com