My money is on the Windows update; Mickeysoft has been on a binge lately of 'saving people from hackers', and basically screwing up everything. What version of Windows? If it is XP, then go over the built in firewall with a fine toothed comb. They have been turning the stupid thing on by default, and ignoring previous settings. If 2k, the last service pack did =bad= things to the functionality. I have SP-2 on my Win2k, and that is it. I deal with issues by running a good AV proggie (Norton), a software firewall, and the NAT and hardware firewall in my router. You can supposedly uninstall new service packs....supposedly. As for Norton, just turn off your connection and turn it off. If that is the problem, you should be fine then. They did have a few issues with updates a couple of weeks ago (in their haste to stop supporting Internet Security 2002, they hosed several patch files, and a lot of people found they had broken IS. It required a reinstall to clear the problem). But this did not involve the AV files.