Judy and Joan; I have been looking over everything you mentioned, and while I don't understand it all, I can follow what you have advised me to look at. Looking at the CPU usage AOL seems to be using 10-15, constantly changing. The main user is System Idle Process running between 80-90. The only thing I have open right now is my AOL mail. No music, no games, no IE. Not sure what System Idle Process is, but I think it means the computer is currently not being asked to work to full capabilities. So I shouldn't be having problems if I have 80% still available, correct? I'm very reluctant to change anything on my set up, hate when I have to download an update to something, have near panic attacks when AOL changes the welcome page. And was not fit to be lived with when everything crashed last Dec. Fortunately, my husband knows a lot about external hard drives and ether nets and all kinds of strange things and he bought me my new PC and got everything restored. So now I am basically as sane as I ever was! But this AOL thing drives me nuts, it always seems to be when I'm in the middle of writing something and I lose it. I've begun writing everything on my MS word processor and then copying it to my mail to send. That way I don't lose all my wonderful thoughts. This old brain doesn't have too many left, so it can't afford to lose any! And if I'm not writing to someone, I'm holding my grandson while he plays some PBSKids game. At 2 !/2, he doesn't understand when the computer just says goodbye and his picture comes up while he's in the middle of something! Rootsweb is the best list manager anywhere on the web. The people are so genuinely friendly and helpful. And AOL has always been my service provider and I'm comfortable knowing my way around it. So I guess I'll just keep signing on several times a day. Thanks again for all your assistance all the time. AnneMarie **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )