So after much thought - we decided to talk to our daughter and let her know that we wanted to get her a laptop - but that we also have concerns about her use of technology - and that we would only do this with a contract. I'm going to be working on the contract for a while - and would welcome any ideas. So far, I know it will include that I have administrative control of the laptop - which will be used to update programs, run antivirus and antispyware - and generally ensure me that I have access (unlike her ipod which she changed her password on so I don't have access). It also includes that all technology (ipods, laptop, etc) will be in the parent's bedroom - from when it's time to get ready for bed - until after school the next day (or the next morning if there's no school). (not having it in the kitchen over night bc. she'll sneak down and get it if she's awake in the middle of the night. She won't sneak into our bedroom to get it.) This will prevent her from using it in the middle of the night (esp. tempting when her friend lives in Vietnam is is available to chat at those times) - and thinking she can have the laptop open in the bathroom while she's getting ready for bed. For now, I am not setting time limits - but will include that those could get added in the future if we think she's using it too much. The reason to not add it now is that she is using it a bit too much. BUT - that's bc. she loves her new Sims game - which is actually motivating her to do her homework as soon as she comes home. For the first time ever, I do not have to monitor her homework and keep asking her to do it (I still pay attention to what she's doing, but it's nice that the impetus to do it and stay organized is now coming from her). She's also coming out of a serious depression - and having some pretty terrific, responsible behavior - so any limits on amount of her free time spent on the computer - when she's meeting all her responsibilities - isn't as pressing for right now. She's also healing form a broken ankle - so in fairness to her, there's not as much active stuff she can do with her free time. ------------------------------- I have some questions about how to set up her computer so I have administrative control. I have that set up on my computer now - and she can use it as a guest. But if my computer is off - and restarts, she needs the password to get on. She doesn't have the password to my computer (which is how I want it). But I do want her to be able to log into her own computer without me giving her the administrator's password. Is there a way to do this? Set it up so she can start the computer and log in as a guest? Thanks. Lynn.

What email program are you using? Quite a few email programs place limits on the total size of attachments that can accompany a single message. If you are sending a lot of pictures, particularly ones that are right off your digital camera without reducing them in size, you could be easily bumping up against that. Unless the person on the other end actually needs the original size files (like there is a need to do some Photoshop work on them), you can easily reduce the file sizes substantially and they will look just as good displayed on the computer screen at the other end. In my case, I use Hotmail, which has an attachment limit of 10MB total. A typical digital picture I take is usually about 2 MB or so in size, which means that I can only send about 4-5 of these pictures at a time. But I almost always reduce such photos to about 100-150 Kb each, which means that I can attach up to about 80 of them at a time.

I truly believe these people are logging in like they always do with "Admin privileges" It was the first question I asked above, If they have more then 1 account set up that will be presented at boot up and the user has the option to select anyone account, on my computer I have 2 accounts 1 is joe and the other is guest, the joe account has "Admin privileges" meaning I can download & change any setting I want, the guest account does not have "Amin privileges" so nothing can be downloaded or settings changed. All these accounts can be set up in the control panel by selecting "User Accounts" really no need to press f8, these people have been using the computer I am sure and able to download and change settings ect in their chosen account, but now out of the blue they are presented with a restrictions error, this is a sign of a virus, probably (Vundo) The virus places restrictions on the "Control panel" and sometimes the "Registry" just to make it more difficult to get rid of it. It's been common lately, this virus also will generate pop ups telling the user they are infected click here for help and of course if you click on and you shouldn't, it will take you to a website with a product claiming to remove your virus for only $29.00 HOG WASH. Below are the 2 windows Registry keyes the are changed by this nasty devil: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ Control Panel] System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ Control Panel] Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value) Value Data: (0 = disable restriction, 1 = enable restriction) I do not suggest any one going into the registry unless you know what you are doing an error will cause problems where you may have to re-install the software, and anyway the virus should be removed with special tools and the help of an expert yes Norton, Macfee, Avg, will not work, I belong to a help site that does this for free, I am currently training to do this work so I am very aware of the virus that are out there.

Yes, I know that. House A is our primary residence--that's essential so we can get the tax deduction when we sell that. C isn't an investment property--so I don't know if that advice would work for us. It's a little complicated. Our 18% share is because we refused to take money from MIL's assets when we had huge legal fees when other relatives were stealing from her. We were legally entitled to be repaid for bringing the matter to the court's attention, but as the outlaws had already stolen a quarter of a mil from her, we weren't comfortable taking even a penny of the little she had left for her end care (she had Alzheimer's). The lawyers (ours, MIL's financial guardian, and the out-laws' lawyer) and came up with the solution that they'd put a percentage of the house in our name which we'd get after she died. She did (outlaws never even told us, so we missed the funeral, but that's another post, GRRR). So, long story short--I'm not exactly sure how you would classify that bit of property--we've owned it on paper for a few years, but haven't had use of it, nor income--but we also haven't had any expenses for it's upkeep, either. So it's all a little complicated. Only thing I know, is that we really couldn't afford the money we put out at the time--but we felt we couldn't afford NOT to either, and now my sweet MIL is at peace, and we will finally recoup what we spent to protect her from a bunch of folks who professed to love her with their mouths, while they were shoving their hands into her pockets. But I do appreciate the suggestion and will bring it up when I get to sit down with my accountant. I was sort of thinking that I might want to invest in some sort of property eventually, once we've liquidated all this extra real estate we've found ourselves holding at the moment.