The only way to make IE 'secure' is to completely decouple the rancid POS from the OS. -It is a web browser-. An application. Not a valid component of an -Operating System-, which is concerned with memory access, I/O control and polling, and storage. Check out www.litepc.com You can make Windows quite secure by using either 98lite to scrape the crap off the OS on a new installation, or 2kXP lite, to disable Windows File Protection, yank out the security problems, remove the dll caches so Winders can't 'fix it all better for you', and turn the FP back on. I haven't used IE in years; I went from Netscape to Opera, and have throroughly enjoyed the lack of security issues. I've never used Outlook; Eudora and Agent do the job quite well, and each has survived (with all files intact), multiple OS reinstalls. About the only thing I worry about is the Active Desktop, and if 2kXP lite had a non-active shell to swap for it, I'd be using that as well. Between that, a good hardware firewall in your router, and a good software firewall on your system, you can make things pretty bullet proof; particularly against the script kiddies. Genuine hackers have talent and skill, and can tunnel through just about anything when they put their minds to it....but how many genuine hackers are going to bother with a user? They have bigger fish to fry.....