Danny

I think PPP is correct http://www.orange.com/fr_FR/groupe/management/ The Directeur Général is Stéphane Richard. http://www.orange.com/fr_FR/finance/communiques/cp100225fr2.jsp As for contact.... the chances of any mail going his way are minimal but here is a list (not updated since 2009) of contact addresses for each region. Danny

Just a little mention in case it may be of use to some. Most of the current Orange Internet offers include 1 hour per month of inclusive calls to French mobiles but Orange are now offering unlimited calls to all French mobiles on the (VOIP) livebox telephone line. Cost is an extra 3 euros per month. http://abonnez-vous.orange.fr/residentiel/options/option-appels-illimites-vers-mobiles.aspx?rdt=o This is really in response to Free and SFR who are now including unlimited calls to French mobiles on their latest packages. There are some restrictions in the fine print but it is generally unlimited for normal calls. Danny

There is usually a screw which keeps it locked in its round collar. If  you loosen the screw, you should be able to rotate the LNB. For the Astra 2 satellite this (skew) needs to be turned to about roughly 7 o'clock i.e the cable coming out the bottom should be turned from the vertical (6 O'clock) The amount will vary depending on your location and you can adjust it for the best reception when you have found the correct satellite. Assuming that nothing is faulty, just to summarise, there are 3 basic things to get good alignment Elevation - up and down angle or tilt. Azimuth - left to right (or east to west) position. Skew (or twist or polarisation) of the LNB in its collar. Anton's link http://www.satpointer.com/ is great in showing exactly what direction (azimuth) your dish should be pointing - you can zoom in on your roof or whereever you are mounting the dish and get a good line to the chosen sat. Also indicated are the elevation and skew. Danny

Translation for the LNB is "tête universelle" or "tête LNB" If you want 4 outputs, you need a tête LNB quad (not quattro which is different) something like this model Danny

Andrew, the quote is not from Free but from Degroupnews. Free are a bit cheeky as they do not have a frais de resiliation as such. They only have a 'frais d'activation'  which can be paid when you start as a new customer or you can pay it at the end and it reduces the longer you are with them. In fact, I see from their price list, they now call it a "Frais de Mise en Service" So for Richy, he can cancel his abonnement whout any charge but if he just changes his box, he will have then have a new 'frais d'activation' of 96 euros on his account. Every other ISP has a frais de resiliation but Free.... They would argue that it is really a frais d'activation as it costs them to open up the line for ADSL. All the others defer this charge and charge the client if you want to cancel in an attempt to gain custom. Danny

The box change may be free but I am pretty sure that it will put you back to having a 96 euros 'frais d'activation' to pay again. http://www.degroupnews.com/actualite/n5773-free-se-separe-de-ses-freebox-v4.html "Petite mise en garde, même si cette migration est gratuite, elle entraine une remise à zéro de l'ancienneté et par conséquent fait repasser vos frais de résiliation à 96 €" Danny

Yes, there is nothing to stop you cancelling, returning the box etc and taking out a new contract. But you will be possibly without internet for a few weeks at least. Are you sure you are elegible for the new freebox revolution (if that is want you mean) For this, you have to be a 'zone degroupée' by Free. If you are in a 'zone non degroupée' by Free you can only have the freebox Version 5. Also be aware that all of their charges have recently changed http://adsl.free.fr/cgv/last/fis.html here is a summary: http://pascal.oudot1.free.fr/annexe/f/free_tarifs2011.jpg Have you checked on your espace client what you can do? Do you know if your line is degroupée or not? Danny

try a reset maybe - page 22 of the manual. Danny

The Amazon link is for a different model. the SD390EKB not the SD290EKB According to the manual available here, it has component connections. see page 20, video set up to choose Component output as An0 suggests....    Video Out   The video output of the DVD player can be selected as “Component”, “RGB” or “P-Scan”. A  In ' Video ', press  / to select  { Video Out },   then press  .   { Component }   Select this for composite video or component video connection.    { RGB }        Select this for Scart connection.        { P-Scan }   Select this when you connect your DVD player to your TV, which has component video inputs that supports progressive scan. B  Use  /  to select a setting and press OK to con- frm.         If the progressive scan feature is activated but the connected TV does not support progressive scan, press number button “1” with the disc tray opened to set the video output of the DVD player to “Component”. make sure that the component input is selected on the TV - source button, top right on the remote. Danny

Hi Martin, Thanks for the info. Watching it in HD right now on the Simba Fransat. No problems to report. Danny

I thought you might find it amusing [:)] Danny

Here you go Bugsy, a worrying demonstration of the iPhone's weaknesses. http://www.mactrast.com/iphone-virus-discovered-be-vigilant-and-seek-advice/ Danny

no problems with the livebox 2 here either. Our cats have much better manners.[:)] Danny

Quillan, your advice is very sound. I am not trying to be nitpicking.....[:)] but in Open Office, you can save and work with documents in all the common Microsoft formats like .docand .xls etc. Even the recent .docx files open no problem. I am sure there will be some limitations/ compatibility issues but it is fine (and free!) for most simple documents - letters, spreadsheets etc. here for example Danny

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="WJT"] I just visited some of those ADSL test sites to show what is available and there are many options not available to us here. But one site showed an estimation of between 14 Mbps and 16 Mbps that would be available and a distance of over 2000 meters form the central. I assume that is the source of the ADSL? 14 Mbps seems quite fast to me![8-)] [/quote] If you get that sort of speed then you probably won't need to have a dish. Did you try the website I gave you? [/quote] That's not necessarily the case Quillan, the exchange also has to be equipped to offer TV by ADSL service .Many local exchanges are equipped for ADSL2 so can give real speeds up to 18 - 20 Mb but there is no TV service. Certainly the case around here. The degrouptest results also say if ADSL TV is available as well as the internet speed possible. Danny

[quote user="WJT"]BobT, I haven't spoken to other providers yet but that is what Orange would do, they would send a box to attach to the satellite dish. She told me that English people with Sky just connect it to the dish.[/quote] Blatant sales lie to try to get you to change your package. [:-))] keeping it simple.....you need a separate dish for Orange TV by satellite if you want to also keep the dish you use for UK TV. SFR are now doing TV by satellite too but it works out more expensive than Orange. If you are still on an old Orange deal without inclusive unlimited calls, then you could well save money by changing either with Orange or to SFR or Free or some others. All of them offer packages in the region of 35 euros which have unlimited calls on a VOIP line with minor differences. You generally have the choice with all of them to keep your FT line (and continue to pay 16 euros per month for it) or give up the FT line and rely on the VOIP internet phone line. Costs vary but not by a lot. Yes, Orange/FT control and repair all the main lines. It should not be a problem to go with other companies but eseentially the other compainies priority is not with rural lines - they make very little profit - and Orange probably have a natural inclination to prioritise customers who don't have middlemen go through. For me, it is probably best to stay with Orange in areas which are not 'degroupée' i.e. areas where other companies like Free etc have installed their own equipment in the exchanges. Orange offer a range of packages.... By the way the packages with TV are exactly same price as without TV. Danny

Gardener, just a reminder just in case you missed it that these all come with Windows 7 in FRENCH.... as Pachapapa mentioned earlier. Danny

I also had this problem by ethernet -  but by wifi no problem. Never had any mention of TV license though! Danny

Assuming that your dish is correctly aligned, there should be no problem with reception as they are both on the same frequency. http://fr.kingofsat.net/tp.php?tp=512 shows all the channels on this frequency. It may be a good idea to reset your freesat box. What make/model box do you have? Danny

http://hotspotshield.com/ gives you a US IP address and Hotspot Shield runs on: Windows 7Windows XPWindows 2000Windows VistaMac OS X (10.4 Tiger)Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)Mac OS X (10.6 Snow Leopard)http://www.expatshield.com/ is by the same company and gives you a UK  IP address but a Mac version is not yet available. Works on Windows XP/Vista/7 They are both free but supported by advertising. But....if you use Firefox with the Adblock Plus add on there are no adverts.... Danny

Thank you Martin for the info. Danny

[quote user="dejavu"]Pour que votre demande de modification en Ligne Résidence Secondaire soit prise en compte, vous devez fournir une attestation d'assurance indiquant la nature de l'habitation ou une attestation de résidence à l'étranger et un document fiscal précisant l'adresse de la résidence principale (1ère page de la déclaration d'impôt sur le revenu n° 2042). La facturation que vous avez reçue est donc justifiée et ne pourra être corrigé qu'à réception des documents justificatifs." [/quote] Quick translation: In order for your your line to be changed to a 'Ligne Résidence Secondaire' you must send an insurance certificate stating that your house is just a holiday home OR documentation that shows you live abroad OR a (French) tax document which shows the address of your main residence (1st page of your tax declaration No. 2042) The bill which you have received is correct and cannot be amended until we receive the documents requested.. "is there some easy way of getting them to understand this very simple situation" Yes, you need to do as Wooly says and write to them with some proof that it is not your main residence then they will change the line status for you. Danny

yes, you can safely cancel it. You should only use one antivirus program anyway as they may conflict with each other. You can also - like a huge number of people - use a free Anti virus service like Avast or AviraAntivir or AVG if you don't want to continue with a paying service. These are very reliable. Danny

If the problem is indeed hardware related, then any change to Windows - reinstallation, system restore, etc -  will be to no avail. You can get an idea of the source of the BSOD problem from the codes in the error messages on the screen. http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.php is a good source of help. Danny

it can be a software issue but it is frequently seen in the case of failing components too like the hard drive or memory modules or other parts on the motherboard. http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001141.htm If you have two - or more - memory modules, you can try removing one at a time to see if there is any change in behaviour. This would indicate a faulty module. If you have any files, photos etc that you want to keep then you need to back up (make copies!) ASAP if you can access the files. If the hard drive is failing, you may lose any files on it. Try starting up in safe mode if you can  - hold down F8 while starting up. http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm Danny