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Compiled by PETER SINCLAIR

Welcome to InBox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.

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Here's a tricky one from Francis Miller: "Almost every time I do a cold start (i.e. after it has been off for about 5 minutes or more), the startup sequence displays the message "Updating ESCD... Success", and every time this message comes up, the modem literally disappears from the device manager and refuses to work... When I click Modem Properties/More Info/Diagnostics, I get a message saying it couldn't open the port..."

Microsoft's all-seeing, all-knowing Tom Crozier says mysteriously: "ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data) is a format for holding data about the peripheral devices plugged into the computer, mostly legacy cards.
ESCD data can be stored in a disk file or non-volatile memory. Some BIOS's allow you to remove this information from the ESCD record once you've removed the (legacy) card. Look for something like Reset Configuration Data, usually found in the PNP/PCI Configuration section of the BIOS..." Well, Francis, all I can say is I'm glad I'm not you - but you're not alone. To learn from the identical experience of others click here.

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From go to whoa - to the many anguished readers and listeners who have e-mailed with Windows shut-down hassles I say: Courage! Microsoft is onto it and has a patch - or, at least, is testing one. Click here.

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Lynn Price has a touch of newbie paranoia: "I must be one of the last remaining people to have acquired e-mail [far from it, Lynn]. Being thus a novice - can you shed some light on deleting e-mail messages and making
sure that they remain deleted? My main concern is that despite having trashed read e-mail and deleting it, it still can be retrieved. Is this so, and how can I prevent someone from retrieving it?"

After deletion, e-mail can only be retrieved with considerable difficulty by someone who has your hard drive physically in their possession, Lynn. If you're really worried, buy a copy of Norton SystemWorks - Speed Disk has an option for wiping unused sectors of your drive to FBI paranoia standards. But honestly, unless you're dealing in nuclear secrets, I don't think I'd bother.

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More of your Inbox questions will be answered tomorrow in CyberLunch, on air 12:00-1:00 with Murray Lindsay and Peter Sinclair on Classic Hits 97FM.

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