hi lists: thanks to everyone who responded. it seems, by some crazy happening, that my computer security has righted itself. first emails came in, then I could access webpages. the only thing I had to sort was a few permissions, but other than that, all's fine now, for the moment at least. any thoughts as to why the update to nis should have done this? Hope to hear from you soon From Martin. If you want to email me please use either of the following email addresses. m.wilsher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or Martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Please visit my website: www.btinternet.com/~m.wilsher