Karen Griffiths, via e-mail

A It depends on how paranoid you are about your data. Some people are quite happy to share their connection with others, although you should check with your service provider that you’re not breaking any of its terms. I would counsel against it, however, if you store sensitive information on your machine, as an open wireless network can attract unsavoury attention and ne’er-do-wells. If you have a spare computer attached by cable to your network, you can lock the network against unauthorised access with LucidLink’s free wireless security program (http://tinyurl.com/c8zk7).

Q The fan on my computer regularly becomes noisier and the machine freezes up. Can this be cured?

Justin Morris, London

A You may have an errant program running in the background that is sucking up processing power. When it happens in Windows XP, press Ctrl-Alt-Del and select the Processes tab. Click on CPU twice to see what is being a hog. You can then uninstall the process through Control Panel, Add/Remove. It could also be that you have a Trojan horse or other virus buried within the system, so update your antivirus and spyware software, then run a complete check.

ELASTIC BANDWIDTH

Q Last week, you claimed to download 6-7 gigabytes of data every month. How can you tell how much of your internet bandwidth allowance you have consumed? Is any kind of meter available?

James Howley, via e-mail ()

A Some of the better broadband suppliers provide a bandwidth reading, either continuously updated online or at the end of the month with the billing statement for a capped service. If they don’t, I suggest that you complain vociferously. I also use Down2Home (http://jitserv.coolfreepage.com/download.htm), a free program that provides a running total for my own records. Remember that your charges and limits relate to upload and download figures — not just to downloaded data.

JUKEBOX JURY

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming