How to avoid high Internet bills was the main subject of tonight's show. We also covered the relative benefits and costs of broadband compared to dial-up access and why broadband can be cheaper than dial-up. The Choice comparison of computers to whitegoods was also mentioned, we still say computers aren't toasters.

Gator

We had two callers who were having trouble with Gator, we'd recommend uninstalling it and anyother program that is associated with spy and ad-ware. Gator and Offer Companion, new net, kazaa, imesh, B3D Projector are some of the other things to look for in your add/remove programs list. Adaware is an excellent utility for detecting these things. If you suspect a program is spy or ad-ware do a Google search on the program's name.

Windows 98 shutdown

Windows 98 is notorious for having shut down problems and Michael was experiencing them. The fix is simple: Download the Windows 98 shutdown patch. We'd also recommend the mapped drive and big IDE drive patches as well.

System freezing

A system freeze, a fatal error and scandisk freezing indicate that Louie's hard drive is about to fail. A computer that starts in Scandisk and runs the surface test automatically is already making a call for help. If the surface test is stalling, that's a very bad sign. The good news is by catching it early, you can usually transfer all the data without problems.

ISP going broke.

Shirley's ISP appears to have gone out of business and she's worried about her e-mail. Unfortunately, any incoming mail she hasn't collected will be lost. Anyone who sends mail to her since the ISP's severs were shut down should get a "mail undeliverable" message. This problem is why it is important that small businesses have their own domain name and e-mail system.

Once again, our thanks to all the listeners and callers. Our apologies to the callers who couldn’t get through, as usual we had a full switchboard. If you’d like to be informed of upcoming advice spots, please e-mail us.