A word of advice for Dialup users It is getting harder and harder to use dial-up internet. First is the fact that many popular websites have so much going on that they take forever to load. Next is computer security. You should keep your Windows operating system and Anti-virus program up to date. Now some Microsoft updates are too large to be downloaded at dialup speeds. Service pack 3 for Windows XP is 69 megabytes. It is bad enough to download a 1 meg picture at dialup speed. You will never get 69 megs without a server time-out. Updating Anti-virus products Norton and McAfee are horrible. Just a virus definition update will usually work, but a product update will not. I have had several people complain that they paid for an update but were never able to download it. What should you do? By all means get DSL or cable if you can. Many of us are in rural areas that cannot. I have it at my office but cannot get it at home. It is frustrating, to say the least. If you have friends or family nearby with DSL or cable you could haul your computer there and get the updates. Plan on spending a few hours. It is a pain but still an option. Take it to your local computer repair shop. Most shops can run your updates for a reasonable price. Page last updated May 22.2008