Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate that. So do I understand that apart from checking out the 'Wake on LAN' feature that is the way it is? If so I have no problem, it was just that at times when I am not at my computer and he calls 6 to 7 times then gives up I feel he may lose interest. That was when I would like to call him back so he does not get despondent. As he almost always calls between 10.10 and 10.20 every morning my time I had better start rising a little earlier to get a few chores done so I can be here regularly, ha ha. At least I have found and had him bookmark a couple of interesting live webcams including one on a Bald Eagle's nest where the chicks hatched a couple of days ago so perhaps he will go online more to check out the birds. Then I might be able to 'find' him and make contact. Hopefully those kind of sites might stick in his mind better so he can become more comfortable with and understand the simpler concepts of computing. Once we get there then the sky is the limit. Thanks again for the help.

I have been using, building, and buying computers since the mid 80's and have found that you just cant beat Dell Computers for the price, support, and customer service combination. I dont even build them anymore because Dells prices are so low that it makes building them not worth the time and effort when I can buy one prebuilt and software preinstalled for a few hundred price difference. I have had terrible experiences with Hewlett Packard and Gateway. I wouldnt even recommend them to my enemies, so I advise against buying from those companies. Deplorable customer service, and very glitchy hardware that needed to be replaced frequently. I had a gateway like 7 years ago that went through 2 motherboards, 4 hard drives, 2 cd drives, and 2 monitors. Supports, while polite, was time consuming, as was the patrs replacement scheduling and delivery. My experience with HP was bad customer service. They didnt know much and all they seemed to do was regurgitate from a manual. Dell reps, the one or two times i have used thenm, seemed to know their stuff and work with me knowledgably to solve issues I was incapable of solving on my own, plus they have an excellent online resource for issues. I do not recommend norton products ... almost all of their products are huge system resource hogs. McAfee is my choice in that area for email, virus, firewall, and enviroment protection. Very low on system resource consumption and complete protection. We get the whole McAfee Protection Suite free with our Comcast Internet Service, so I also recommend comcast cable internet if available to you. Dell still offers Windows XP over glitchy Vista.

I would suggest the first action is getting some prices on options. You have not offered a model number so none of us can go there. How much is the replacement screen itself? How much would a repair shop charge? Is any of this worth the expense? If you are not needing it as a laptop consider plugging in a regular monitor which means no repair bills and very likely considerably less expense overall. Replacing the screen is not really that big a job. If you assume the price you paid for the computer was nothing then everything you do will not reduce that figure. So you could grab the bull by the horns and remove the damaged screen before buying the replacement. If it comes apart successfully as I am sure it will if you act carefully and confidently then would be the time to consider buying the new screen. According to Best Buy new Toshibas can be had for $270 and up. Replacement screens you need to Google for as only you know the model number. New free standing monitors can be had for under $100 and up.

I would say Avast is as good as many others and it is free. as well as one from AVG. Give it a shot. If you dont like it, you can always go back to Trend Micro. Also, if you dont have a Firewall installed give a look at ZoneAlarm (also free). Some anti Spyware programs available (free) are Spybot Search and destroy, AdawareSE Personal and SpywareBlaster (which runs in the background stopping spyware from loading. Make sure SpywareBlaster is updated every couple of days to get new signatures. The others, update each time before using.