Good news and bad news...
The good news is that it's working. I can launch Outlook, surf using IE6, I've successfully updated all the software you've asked me to install, I can use Firefox etc.
Tha bad news is that I have no idea what I did to get it working. I hadn't even followed the link you suggested in your last response as yet. I was fooling around in the 'Internet Options' section of IE6 (I didn't really 'do' anything) just trying to get a clue or... just something. I restarted my PC (for the upteenth time), expecting to see the usual 'unable to connect' messages from CounterSpy, AVG etc. Suddenly I noticed a Steam Update (Valve [Half-Life]) which meant that it had successfully connected to the net...
However, like I said, I have no idea what I did. But I do remember activating my firewall one time, without even noticing that it was down.
Now I can concentrate on doing a month's work in 1 and a half days.
Anyway, many MANY thanks for all your help Vop This. I wasn't aware of any of the software you asked me to download to help protect my PC. But I promise you I'll be using them now.
Much appreciated.




