Hey Christine, I used to have Earthlink as my ISP and I also hated all of that TotalAccess junk. The way around it is simple, as long as you already know the number it dialed to get online. If you don't already know that number, it's a simple matter of using Earthlink's site to look up the one (or more) for your area. Just look to the bottom left side of the following page for a place where you can enter you phone number and have the site tell you what numbers are local for you. http://support.earthlink.net/ I will add for anyone else following along that this works for nearly ANY Dial-up ISP, as long as you collect the local dial-up numbers from them before you start. I'll also suggest that you make sure it's not a long distance number you're about to use. The internet service might be a single fee, but a long distance number used to call into it will also rack up your phone bill separately. Once armed with the number(s), go to Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections tab and focus on the "Dial-Up" section of the Property sheet (the actual 'official' name of these types of options windows). If there are any entries already showing, decide whether any of them are still active. If not, select them one by one and click on the Remove button to expel them from your system. Do NOT remove any that are used to connect to your work network or VPN that is still operational (if either exists). Now, click on the 'Add' button and select the radio button (the rather small 'dot') next to the line "Dial-up to private network" and click Next. Enter the phone number (follow the instructions given to test whether the number needs the 1-area code- part) and click Next. Give the connection a memorable name such as "Earthlink Dial-up" and click on the Finish button. This should bring up the Connection Settings property sheet. Fill out the areas for User name and Password and then click on the Properties button. Go through each tab and set the options as you like. If you run into any questions, ask about them here. When you're finished with that, click OK to close that group. Click OK again to return to the main Connections tab. Finally, click on the radio button next to the line that reads "Dial whenever a network connection is not present". This will tell IE to make the connection whenever you open up an IE browser window. The only thing left to do is to open up an IE window and see if it works as advertised. ;O) Provided it works right, click on the link below to take you to Earthlink's personalized 'Home' page. If this is what you had set up before, just go to Tools > Internet Options (yes, it's the same place where you set up the dial-up connection) and click on the 'Use Current' button to set it as IE's default Home Page. If Earthlink's 'Home Page' is NOT what you were using before, type in the correct address (http://www.etc) and press enter to take yourself there. Once there, follow the directions above to set it as your default home page. With the above directions, there's no need to use System Restore or anything else that might mess up other parts of your setup. To change which email addy is the default, I would need to know what email app you use. Unless you're talking about your membership with PCTT. Feel me more info and we'll get it working the way you want/need. Peace, GMan "The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked!" ----- Original Message ----- From: "cristy" <poppy0206@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 5:20 PM Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- gman, dial up/cable question signin window > Hey Guitarman, > > I am back home where and moved the old computer back here from relatives > house. You helped me set it up from dial up to cable. Now I want to > connect dialup again. You said it should not be a problem and I am online > but I want it the way it was. I had disabled total access (an earthlink > thing) from startup. I ticked that so it would start up as I could not go > online without it. I "used to be able to" click on the "e" at the bottom > of > my screen for explorer and a signup window for earthlink appeared that I > like alot better than this total access stuff. When I use it with the > total > access sign in it is slower and they put a toolbar thingy at the top of my > screen I do not like. > > question is can I do a systems restore since I did create a restore point > right before setting up for the cable sign in. Will that fix the dial up > the way it was (the sign in window etc.). And since last week I defraged > and also compressed old files, will it change that back or will that > remain > the same? I know it does not affect files that are saved. > > > p.s. also how do I make my email (from) back to earthlink as default > instead > of cox cable. i.e. poppy0206@xxxxxxxxxxxxx instead of poppy0206@xxxxxxxx > > > thanks, > hope this all makes sense. -- Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary. To unsubscribe or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/