Computer

[Larry Reese]

Run the anti-virus and anti-bots, make sure your firewall is up, etc.... There are good freeware programs for much of this, but if you'd like to invest a small amount (instead of spend on the repair, I hope) you might consider getting a complete security suite (Norton is good, for one); usually not too outrageous for internet purchase and download with yearly renewal. However, if that's not to taste, for XP I used to use ZoneAlarm, one of the best free firewalls around. Is Firefox completely up to date with the latest mods?

Hopefully it's just software. My old HP desktop had an undiagnosable intermittent hardware failure and is just a big paperweight. If all else fails, and your system is old, you could probably pick up a good used or even new computer for pretty cheap. They're really commoditized now.

Take it easy,

LR