Question: Recently the dial-up modem in my computer stopped working. I had a knowledgeable friend of mine come and look at it and he said there was no doubt that the modem had failed and I need to replace it with another one.

I've heard that DSL is much better Internet service and I was thinking, since I have to buy a replacement modem anyway, maybe I should get a DSL modem?

Does it install in the same place inside my computer as the modem that I was using for dial-up? I use Windows XP, will there be any problem setting it up?

Will the DSL use the same dial-up routine I used for my dial-up account? I don't really know much about this obviously. Can you help?

Answer: A DSL modem is really quite a different device from a dial-up modem such as the one that now needs replacing on your computer.

A DSL modem is a small separate external device with an electric power supply of its own. You can probably leave your previous, now nonfunctioning, dial-up modem in place inside your computer if it doesn't seem to be interfering with anything.

Once you have arranged your DSL account with the telephone company and they have confirmed that you have DSL service on your line you're ready to set up your computer to take advantage of an impressive improvement in connectivity speeds. The DSL modem is what you must now plug the telephone line into.

Connecting the modem to your computer is done by running a single Ethernet cable from the DSL modem into an Ethernet card on your computer.

This is the same card that is also used to connect your computer to a local area network by wire. If you already are using your computer on a local area network.

If there is a wire already running into your Ethernet card from a LAN you will need another device called a router to apportion the bandwidth between the computers sharing the Internet connection.

If you don't find an Ethernet cable included with your modem don't forget to ask the shop for one. Some DSL modems connect through a USB port but not the majority.

You also cannot continue to use the dial-up settings that your previous modem and dial-up Internet connection used. However, the new setup for DSL is no more difficult to make than the dial-up connection was and all you need to do is carefully follow the Network Connection Wizard in XP.

The Wizard can be found under Network Connections, create new connection. Remember you are now setting up a broadband connection which requires a password.

Question: Is it necessary to buy a new monitor along with a new computer? Will my old monitor work on a new PC? I really like the new flat screen monitors but they seem to be at least double the price of the equivalent TV type monitors.

What's the advantage of the new ones apart from their size?

Answer: Yes. Your previous monitor, if it's not too old, will work with your new PC providing that the video card on your new PC has an analog output to match the analog connection on your old monitor.

Most new monitors have analog connectors although some have both analog and digital. If you are buying a brand new PC it will, in all likelihood, come with the XP operating system which, when it is first connected, will probably either recognise your existing monitor and provide the correct driver (a program which translates between a PC and a device) or a workable generic driver already contained within Windows.

To be sure of the latest and best driver you should go online to the monitor manufacturers web-site and look up your monitor using the model number on the back and get the latest driver for your operating system. On my test bench I am swapping computers with different operating systems all the time and for all of them I use a Dell Trinitron monitor which all of these various PC's recognise without exception.

Flat screen LCD monitors are said to be easier on the eye than the previous CRT monitors were. I find the colours to be somehow smoother on the newer LCD monitors than they were on CRT monitors.

However, I have read that high-end graphics users are better off with the clarity of CRT's and the options they have for switching between different screen resolutions. LCD monitors, the thin ones, have an optimum resolution setting from which they should not vary.

So if you're stuck with one of the ‘old' monitors don't feel bad, they're still better in some ways and may, in fact, last longer too.

Question: I am using Windows XP Home and I receive my e-mails through Outlook Express 6. However every time I get an e-mail which includes an attachment the security protection in OE6 prevents me from opening an “unsafe attachment” and deletes it!

Answer: The reason your attachments aren't getting through is that Microsoft seems to have decided to play safe with the default position in Outlook Express.

Until you change it, Outlook Express 6 will prevent these attachments from getting through. In practical use this is too restrictive for most people who find perfectly legitimate attachments, such as photographs, deleted before they even get a chance to make a decision on them.

Here is the way to change the settings to allow the e-mails into your Inbox with the attachments intact. In Internet Explorer go to your main Inbox screen and under Tools/ Options/ go to the Security tab and uncheck the box next to ‘Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus'.

You should now be able to open attachments. Of course this means that if an attachment does contain something undesirable it will get right through so be sure to use your judgment in deciding what you open.

James W. Lapsley of ComputerWorks, specialises in PC repairs, upgrades and advice for the home and small office user. ComputerWorks welcomes your questions and comments. Send your PC questions by e-mail to computerworks@logic.bm or by phone to 293-0992.

Copyright 2003 James W. Lapsley