Helen's not the first to be having dramas with the chatroom, but before I get onto the network54 people to try and sort it out, it would be helpful to find out exactly what problems people are experiencing and whether or not they have firewall programs on their computers to prevent hackers getting to them (I have a theory that it's hackers, not the chatroom, as I've never had a problem with it).

So, can anyone who's had a drama with the chatroom just post the details here and I'll try to sort it out once and for all!

I downloaded the 'firewall' @ Zone Alarm but cannot install it online or offline. It simply does not display the 'next' button for me to go ahead and install it. Does anyone know any other free firewall programs?

I haven't really had problems getting on or whilst on. Only when my cache is full.

That's such a nuisance that you can't get zonealarm to install, Alyson. It's a great program. Computer Choice magazine rated it on a par with Norton Firewall (which of course is not free). If you can't get on to anything else decent, maybe you could email the zonealarm people and ask them to help. It must be a glitch in the system.

When I installed it I was horrified at how many times the system repelled an intruder while I was on the net. At one point it was happening every five minutes. I got sick of the alerts coming up on the screen and turned them off, but it's good to know that it's still working.

I leave all that firewall stuff up to Craig... But when I lived with my parents, my brother had installed it - and it drove me nuts!!! I uninstalled it one day, and it took him almost a week to notice, LOL!! Fi

Fi you rascally thing. You should have just turned the alerts off. Now I understand why my son is always complaining about his sister using his computer!