:wink:
Thanks ~

it WAS the firewall - it’s new to me and I wasnt 100% up with the procedure on using it - still not completely sure - but to solve the problem I deleted any reference to Avast in the firewall - which, when I restarted, and Avast tried to access the net - forced the firewall to pop up asking if it was ok or not - and this time - I carefully replied making sure it was the correct reply!
I’m using “Tiny Personal Firewall” and it sure does come up with questions whenever you start a prohram it hasn’t “seen” before - even if not accesing the net - just running a prog will cause it to pop up ~ I’m beginning to wonder if I made the best choice!
thanks again.
Stu’