InBox

Bill can't seem to get the satellite tracking image to work when he accesses the website at www.lyngsat.com. All he manages to get is a box with a red cross.
As that particular component is a Java item, you need the Java Virtual Machine for it to work. Early versions of Windows had it built in but because of a legal battle between Microsoft and Sun Microsystems (which owns the rights to Java) it is no longer included in Windows XP. The good news is you can download it for free from the java-virtual-machine link below.  The satellite tracker should work correctly when it is installed.

Pick your broadband account carefully; low-end accounts have low data limits! Joop writes that he is on Xtra broadband and does not download much, but he seems to reach his limit very quickly, and then the whole connection slows down. He has his webcam on most of the day and is wondering if that affects his allocation.
Broadband seems to be a hot topic these days. Yes, it's more than likely the webcam being on continuously is chewing up Joop's meagre 200 megabyte data allocation. Video can guzzle huge amounts of bandwidth, even though a webcam is usually very low resolution. A 200MB account is only suitable for e-mail and very limited web page browsing. An Xtra web page explains data usage for several common activities: see xtra link below.  For instance, 40 three-minute MP3s, 10 hours of internet gaming or one hour of streaming video - each can eat 200MB by themselves. You would probably need at least 5 gigabytes of allocation if you intend to run that webcam, although 10 would be even better. In five days this month I have used 375MB of data. Six times that gives us 30 days or 2.25GB. I don't often use a webcam nor do I engage in huge downloads except for updates, but I do load many web pages and collect substantial e-mail. Unless you only intend to do e-mail, the 200MB for $29.95 account is totally unsuitable for your needs - especially with that webcam running.

To email your questions to Don McAllister click on the link below, including software name and version.