Parasite city
When I got broadband I was advised to get a firewall, so I purchased a McAfee firewall from PC World. Now, every time I turn on my PC (running Windows 98), I get a firewall alert. Would I allow Internet Optimizer access? I didn't know what Internet Optimizer was and denied access, but the message kept re-appearing. I decided to allow Internet Optimizer through the firewall. Immediately another alert flashed up: Would I allow Actalert? (This was a folder within Internet Optimizer.) I contacted the McAfee helpline but they said it was not their problem and told me to contact the software provider or PC supplier. My PC supplier said it wasn't their problem but McAfee's. Colin Chambers

Jack Schofield replies: Many Windows PCs now have unknown programs that have either been installed from a website or included with file-sharing software. The ones that have been installed without your informed consent should be blocked and, preferably, removed. Andrew Clover's Doxdesk site says Internet Optimizer can be removed using the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs utility and also includes manual instructions. Actalert may be the "porn dialler" DyFuCA Active Alert, which is covered by Sophos.

It is a good idea to run both Spybot Search & Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-aware to find and remove parasites. Both programs are free. If you would prefer a commercial product, I'd suggest PestPatrol. You could also download SpywareBlaster, which prevents many of these parasites from being installed, as does the spyware Blocklist file.

There are now so many Windows parasites that it is worth running a firewall even if you do not have broadband. Zone Alarm is probably the simplest for beginners though I prefer the Sygate Personal Firewall. Both are available free for home use. Windows XP includes a firewall but it is turned off by default. Also, it only blocks unwanted incoming traffic, so it is no help if you have spyware programs or Trojans that generate outgoing traffic. See www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/home/using.

Audio capture
Is there a method of recording internet radio broadcasts to hard disk? Neil Sinclair

JS: I usually recommend High Criteria's Total Recorder, which works well for audio streams, and can also record LPs, cassettes, CDs and DVDs. You can read about it at TechTV and download it from www.highcriteria.com.

The registration fee is $11.95 US or $17.95 Canadian. You may find a free alternative from the long list at www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/AUDIO_RECORDING but most seem to be trialware. Silent Bob looks worth a try, but another reader, Chris Hallett, reported: "I originally had problems with Silent Bob - it recorded perfect silence! - but after reading some of the FAQs for other products, I set the Multimedia/Audio options to "use only preferred devices'." Streamripper can capture MP3 streams and is also available as Winamp plugin. There are versions for Windows, Unix and Mac OS X.

Backchat

· Last week, Jacqui Rylands wanted to connect a PC to a remote phone socket and I suggested BT's On-Air 1800, a DECT phone. John Davies says another solution would be the One For All SV1500 Wireless Phone Line Extender. This system looks like two large mains plugs, and makes an analogue phone connection over your electrical wiring. However, the quoted speed is between 22kbps and 33kbps, which is a lot slower than the 44-48kbps you can generally get from a V.90/56K modem. The SV1500 is advertised at www.buyitoverthenet.com for £79.95 (UK only, including VAT).

· I recommended The Proxomitron for blocking pop-up ads on the web. John King adds that the Opera web browser lets you "block all pop-ups, open them in the background or select which ones to allow. In addition, Mozilla allows you to block pop-ups from particular servers." I think those are worthwhile features that Internet Explorer lacks. However, I was driven to use Proxomitron to block Flash overlays. I also have it block banner ads and convert sound files to links, among other things. These options, and many more, are provided via pre-installed filters.

However, The Proxomitron runs as a separate proxy server and does not care which browser you use, and many people use it with Opera. Finally, an alternative filtering program is WebWasher. WebWasher Classic is free for home and educational use, and it is available for Windows, Mac OS (not X) and Linux.