First the good news. Having crawled out of the evolutionary muck that is dial-up, I am now blazing along at cable modem speed. The Bad News - my computer, after 1 1/2 years and many programs later, is in dire need of a reformat and reinstall of the operating system. A task I have done before and do not relish. That said, when I log off all my data will go to that great Database in the Sky. So if you don't see the web site updated for a few days, it could be an indication of BIG PROBLEMS on my end. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and I'll have the web site back on my computer in no time. Wish me luck...

Reformatting is a good thing. Make sure you back up all your important info like email addresses, addresses, and phone numbers.

May the force be with you.

So far so good, almost everything is back on my computer (minus the garbage). Tomorrow I'll reinstall Frontpage and this web site. That'll be a big one. Also will set up my network. Now I need to set up a firewall and then re-hookup my cable modem.

Umm, why are you formatting the drive? It may be possible to do what's known as a clean install or install to a new directory and save 90% of your data. The process is slightly complicated and a little different depending on what OS you're using, but it's still much less painful than a complete format of the hard drive. I used to do phone support for MS, and I can say for sure that only in the situation where there are hardware issues or virus attacks should it be necessary to format the drive to get a new install of windows. If you haven't already reformatted, I'd look into it.

Too late, but thanks. I decided to do a full reformat because frankly after 1 1/2 years there were enough scattered remnants of old programs, etc that it was the best way to get a new, clean system. With two hard drives it wasn't so bad. I backed up essential files plus put them on a CD. I just considered it spring cleaning. The computer is now as good as new. Which was my main goal. Now I just need to be more selective in what I add to the computer.

The only reel hard part is getting that darn internet connection running again. I always have to call the help line.

That was actually the easy part. With cable it is just plug in once the account has been set up. Too nice.