Q Could you please explain to me the meaning of the messages I receive when downloading files from the Internet. In the downloading box it states "Estimated time left: 2 minutes ù 2.57MB copied". But in the status box for the Internet connection on the taskbar, it says: "Bytes received: 4,467,092; Bytes sent: 525,266".

A The "Bytes received" figure displayed by the Windows 95 Connected to dialogue box will never match the number reported by your browser. This is because they are measuring different statistics. Browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator report on the download progress of an individual file, whereas Windows reports the total number of bytes received during your current Internet session.

Don't forget that any Internet-based communication is a two-way process. Whenever you request a file, click on a hypertext link or send an e-mail, your computer is transmitting data. Windows maintains a running total of the number of bytes sent in the Connected to dialogue box. Since the typical Internet users pull much more data down from the Internet than they send up to the Internet, the "Bytes received" figure is usually much greater than the "Bytes sent".