QUESTION - Hi Joyce - quick question - when you are updating the site - does that mean the site is unavailable to be accessed? I am trying to decide if that is the answer or my browser is inadequate. ANSWER - My updating the site does not affect users at all as I am only uploading one file at a time. I do all my work offline and just upload through ftp when I am finished. Frequently Rootsweb is bogged down by heavy user traffic and can't handle the load. Also if you are in a rural area, as I am, you probably have real Slooooow phone lines no matter how fast your modem is. You are probably just experiencing the usual state of web drag from inadequate infrastructure and too many users. Rootsweb, which is the server on which I rent my space for my site, is sometimes down for maintenance or - they actually have electrical failures in California, too, sometimes. There are many factors that can make them unavailable, but I am not among them. Also your ISP - in your case and in mine - AOL - also experiences drag when it is loaded with too many users. The whole dang blasted Internet slows down because usage has grown faster than resources. If I weren't out here in the country I would certainly get Road Runner, but that is not an option on my isolated hill. For any of you who do have access to Road Runner or some other high speed Internet access, that would certainly be the way to go. Actually I just bought another PC Computing magazine today with info on higher speed access. Unfortunately, no matter how many of these technological breakthroughs occur, none of them have gotten this far off the beaten track yet. You may be more fortunate. The only option here in an area as rural as mine is Direct TV, but at this time that is only a one way solution and not the whole thing and that, too, is not all I need as far as I understand it. In doing my site I try to keep files at or below 50 K which was the recommended size a few years ago when the site first started and resources and the standard home computer configuration were even slower than now. Small files load more quickly. As you can tell, I do not always succeed in that goal and I am not willing to reduce the number of photos as that is a great pleasure to me and to most, not all, of my guests. Eventually we will all have improved resources for using the Internet, and these pioneer days will be only a memory. Thanks for asking - a good question. Joyce M. Tice <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/jmtindex.htm">Tri-Counties Genealogy & History Sites of Joyce M. Tice</A>