I've had a home network between my laptop and desktop computer that's been working just fine. Wednesday however I upgraded from IE 7 to IE 8. (It's possible that at about the same time I received an AUTOMATIC download from Window XP.) From that point on, whenever I try to ACCESS my network, I get a request for a password. Since no password was ever set up for the network, obviously I don't have one and can't access my other computer. At the same time this happened, the "shut down" box that I see when I go to shut down the system and the box the comes up when the system REBOOTS were changed. And rebooting the system now also requires a password, though simply CLICKING the "OK" box gets past that.

I don't have any viruses. I've uninstalled IE 8, and am now using FIREFOX. And when I try to set up the network again through the network Wizard, it won't allow me to do it. (It requires a CD to be made, which it won't make because it claims I don't have a removable drive, which of course I do, one that still works perfectly.) I'm clueless, a technical idiot and would appreciate any suggestions.