hey everybody i found a quick and painless, thank God!, remedy for anyone with firewall problems and not being able to connect to LW from any xp program! simply get a free copy of molliza foxfire and install it as your default browser as a result you defeat the xp firewall and i'm connected now! thank you so much for all your help especially Lord of the rings and 6-pac for your great and patient efforts - hey the ditz had a brainstorm! yeah! go girl, go girl, go girl . . . sorry i'm stoked!