Hi Audrey,

Regarding your text "Firstly I have to admit that this kind of thing is one of the reasons I no longer use the net for purchases. I feel if companies wish me to use their services, then it is up to them to provide the security needed - NOT ME." I would comment as follows :

Most reputable Internet trading companies use encrypted secure data transfers for the sensitive parts of your transactions. When you eventually reach the page on their website, where you are about to enter your Credit/Debit card details, you should see two changes on the web page.

1. The address line at the top of the page should change from http://.............. to https://........ indicating that it is a secure encrypted protocol for data transfer from your PC to their server.

2. At the bottom right corner of the web page, you should see a small yellow closed padlock. This indicates that a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology is being used by the Web site, encrypting information and providing authentication via a trusted third party organisation. If you move your mouse pointer over the small padlock, you should see text similar to 'SSL Secured (128Bit)' - the '128Bit' indicates the level of encryption used by the company's server.
If the website conforms to these standards, then I would say that it is as secure as it could be. If the standards are not met, then I would be a bit suspicious..............

Saving all your passwords on a floppy disk is not a bad idea, however, I would tend to make another copy of that disk - just in case..............
If you use the data on the floppy disk only when you are 'Off-Line', I would say that it is fairly secure, but this may not be very practical. Using a utility on your PC, which encrypts all your data and provides easy access for yourself, is a much better way to go. I've had 'Easy Password Manager' installed on my PC for several years now and find it very easy to use. You can download a 40 day trial version from the website mentioned above and if it suits your purpose, the full version is just under £13.00

With regard to File Deleting :
When you 'delete' a file on your PC hard disk, the file is NOT actually erased - the space which it occupies on your hard disk, is just marked as available for re-writing data, the next time you Save a file. The operating system may or may not immediately use the space made available, by 'deleting' that particular file, so it may take several different 'Save' operations before that particular space is overwritten. This may account for your comment I have heard that it takes time for deleted matter to 'drop off' your hard drive.
Deleted files can be fairly easily recovered by using a File Recovery program - many of which are available. If a file has been accidentally 'deleted', the File Recovery operation should of course be carried out before any subsequent Save operations are made, otherwise the 'deleted' file could be overwritten, thereby making normal File Recovery impossible.
Furthermore, when you select the normal 'Delete' operation in Windows, the file does not even go through the 'delete' process - it is merely moved into the Recycle Bin, from where it is a very simple process to reinstate the file to it's former folder. It is only when you decide to Empty the Recycle Bin, that all the space in the hard disk, occupied by the files in the Recycle Bin, is marked as available for re-writing.

There is a simple way to Bypass the Recycle Bin. If you are sure that you no longer wish to keep a file and 'delete' it, rather than send it to the Recycle Bin - Just press and hold the SHIFT key while pressing the 'DELETE' key. You will be asked to confirm the operation.

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Willum

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is Music.
Aldous Huxley