First of all, I want to thank you folks for being so polite. I've been trying to resolve this issue for two years, and I've been called a lot of names. I'm glad I've found a place with open minds.

There was an unwilling (on my part) connection with a group that might be related to the government, but I can't really give any information because I don't have any. But I do want to stress that this might be something new. Until about three years ago, they were hacking me in ways that I could stop with a firewall, anti-spyware programs, etc.

I'm going to take those pictures. I have the laptop apart down to the motherboard. I'll also take pictures of the external connectors. I'll also include some netstats, adapter lists, ipconfigs, whatever I can think of.

But one thing. They didn't design this just for me. If any of you have free time, you should look at your own computers. Look for the following: This thing works beneath Windows. Information you get from Windows isn't necessarily correct. For instance, one of my .dat files shows as being much larger on the command screen. Look at MUI caches and see if the information is being directed anywhere. Anti-keylogger showed a problem in wbem, but I couldn't correct it. I didn't have access to delete the spy files. Check to see if your firewalls, antiviruses, and antispyware programs are actually working. It's been my experience that the first time I install them, they work. Then they're disabled and always show zero problems. I can't even install my Zone Alarm security suite anymore. It used to be able to stop my computer from trying to connect. If you just look at Windows, everything might seem fine when it's not.

See if you have complete access to your computer. Are parts passworded where you created no passwords? Are you really the administrator. You might have an administrator file but lack administrative powers. For instance, you won't be able to change other identities.

Do you have a remote registry that you didn't suspect? You have to actually read your registry to find these anomalies.

There's lots more, but I'm expecting to get bumped off at any minute and I can't think. I'll write the whole deal offline and paste it when I go to a print store with computer access. You all know more about computers than I do, so maybe you can think of other places to look to see if your computer is really your computer.

I never heard of Firewire. I'll try to look it up and also to find the URL with the RAC ad.

Thank you again. Ann