Adriana

Try this site http://www.infofrankrijk.com/pagina/Televisie+en+radio/506/ . Very useful and friendly.

I have used MS Security Essentials since about two years, I think. I started because I had had troubles with AVG. At that time MS Sec. Ess. was tested to be both very good and to have a very small impact on the computers it is used on, ie scanning etc. doesn't slow your pc down too much. I recently read though that the package has slipped down to an almost bottom position in recent tests. I wanted to put a link to the article, but cannot find it again. I will stick to MS Security Essentials: years of reading tests on this sort of thing have taught me that no package stays at the top all the time. I have had no trouble, but then I don't visit risky websites, and it is true that the programme does its job quietle in the background without slowing down the machine. This is very important to me.

Thank you!

Wow! Thank you very much. Very useful again. The picture shows clearly the turn should indeed be very slightly. In another couple of weeks we will be trying all this out.

One more thing, please. You write: "he LNB (the sticking-out bit on the dish) to be vertical, for the Astra satellites, housing the English-language channels, it needs to be set at a slight skew". Which way? Could you perhaps express it in clock-language, i.e ten to two or something?  Or is it a matter of fiddling around a bit?

Thanks again. You have been very helpful.

Very useful information, thank you all! We are not interested in HD. Will we be alright with our old tube-type telly, a decoder and a dish?

Thanks very much, Will. We are in the Provence, so we'll need a biggish dish, I guess.

Thank you both for very quick replies! We don't necessarily want Sky, just as long as we can receive the major BBC channels. Some ITV would be nice as well, but is not essential. Would we need a freestat decoder for that? PS I understand no names can be given, but I don't even have a clue as to what sort of shop to go to for a dish and decoder...

The message in the Faq about "TV in France" was posted 20/05/2004. Is it still up to date? It says: "...while there are several companies that will supply and install Sky systems overseas, and provide subscriptions to Sky..." Can these companies be named, please? We currently receive  only French channels via an old fashioned "fork  aerial" but will be using the switch to digital to upgrade to a dish so that we can receive the Beeb as well, but I have not a clue as where to buy the necessary equipment. All help much appreciated!

[quote user="Gastines"] A joint current account as Mr AND Mrs will be frozen on the death of either partner, whereas an account in Mr OR Mrs can be used by remaining partner. [/quote] Is this correct? It does not seem at all logical. We have a joint account so that we both have access. If we'd wanted the other half not to have access we would have taken two accounts in our separate names. Why would after the death of one partner precisely the opposite happen to what we wished? Edit: I had not seen the OR and AND. Makes sense now.

[quote user="woody234"]do the dutch pay more for a house than the french or germans [/quote]I doubt it. It is repeatedly stated on this forum that the Dutch are a mean people;-)

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]You are going the right way but one word of warning.  Don't rely on WEP keys anymore. [/quote] I used WPA encryption on my new Windows XP system and couldn't understand why my husbands old laptop with Win ME wouldn't connect. After a lot of Googling and mailing to helpdesks I found that Win ME can only handle WEP encryption. Just mentioning it to save people with Win ME the trouble I went through.

[quote user="james_robins"] with regards to work, most of what i do is on the internet and i will be doing this in france, as well as freelance web design [/quote] In that case, make sure you'll have proper internet access. Not all villages are connected and not all connections are reliable.

[quote user="Clair"]Lyre is the keyword, it gives the name of the handle shape [/quote] Thank you!

[quote user="Clair"]Espagnolette lyre, like these? [/quote]Yes,  but not the espagnolette itself, the thing that goes across (as in the photo I put online - I don't see how I can attach a photo to this message).

We have wooden shutters with a sort of "espagnolette", one of those things that  curls itself at  top and bottom around a pin in the  window frame. It is closed with a thingy that you push across and behind a hook. Does anyone know what the thingy is called in French? One of ours broke this morning so we need to reorder. I can not describe it properly so I've put a photo online here: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hogen/test/voorbeeld/

Thank you both!

[quote user="fulcrum"]Edit: The MegaMax refers to the speed or megabytes per second [/quote] Thanks, in that case one megamax will be sufficient. Where did you find the info?

We want to change our haut débit abo with Orange. The cheapest will do, just as long as it is a permanent, unlimited hours per month and reasonbly fast connection. But I cannot decide before I know what "megamax" means. Is it the amount of traffic you are allowed? I know how many gigabytes I use every month in my main residence, but I haven't got a clue how to do the sums. Of is megamax something completely different?

[quote user="Bugbear"]I use a Belkin Modem / Router F5D7632 which I bought in th UK and it works fine. You set it as normal inserting the details of your french service provider when asked during the setup stage.[/quote]Same here. no problems.

[quote user="thunderhorse"]Why not just close the browser page? That will log you off. When you click on your bookmarked link again, it should ask for username/password, unless set to remember. That confirms you were logged off previously. (I don't think remaining logged on hurts anyway...) [/quote] I like to leave things neat and tidy.;-)

[quote user="cheryla"] I`ve looked for the icon at the bottom right of the screen, but there isn`t one as described. At present we`ve got Norton security on a free 60 day trial (it was pre-installed on the new computer). We used to use AVG Free. Is Norton better? Does anyone know how much it costs after the free trial? Again, it`s all in French, so would it be possible to change it to English?[/quote] If you don't see the two little tellies, do you perhaps see a tiny blue monitor with "beams" sort of coming off it? That would be your wifi connection. Try right-clicking that. Because it is hard describing the icon, I've put an illustration online: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hogen/voorbeeld/icon.htm . I personally hate Norton: it is far too obtrusive for my taste and very hard to remove (if you want to remove it, google for 'norton removal tool') and it is no better than AVG. There are always tests to show this or that product is best,  but there is very little in it and who is to say those tests are reliable. I have used AVG for years on all our five pc's and we have had no problems so far.

On the first page of 'mes comptes' on the Orange website, there is a déconnexion link at the top, but when you go deeper into the site, browse around, there does not seem to be a way to sign out other than going all the way back to that first page. Or am I missing something?

[quote user="cheryla"]Now we`ve got broadband, the internet starts up as we switch on the computer. Is this normal? Sometimes we don`t want to be on the net, so is it possible to change it so that it only goes on the net when we ask it to?[/quote] You'll probably find a little icon on the bar at the bottom right, near the clock, that looks like two monitors or little tellies. You can right-click on it (unless you are on a Mac) and disconnect. But we too prefer to be always online: you can hear your email coming in and listen to radio four.