[MourningStar]

Thnx for responding lgerard. Your analysis was most helpful. It did turn out to be faulty hardware and, in addition to weak signal. In this case the splitter was replaced and the cable company boosted the signal strength. I was unable to try your suggestion in lieu of the restart as my machine does not have that navigation path. Probably due to my running WinME. Don't see the pop-ups either. Again, probably an XP or later feature. Thnx again good person!