Welcome back, everyone, to a new season of Ask The Geek. For those of you who are new, this is the column of the Tech Section where you attempt to stump Whim's resident geek Kevin Martin. E-mail us any questions you may have about computers or technology in general, and our geek will answer them for you. Try your best to stump him; last season no one was able to stump him.

Q: Why can't my friend remotely repair my Windows XP machine?
A: Your friend can't remotely repair your Windows XP machine because one of you is using Windows XP Home Edition. Both machines must run Windows XP Professional Edition.

Q: My computer is running very very slow. Why?
A: There are several reasons computers can run slow. The most common reason is fragmentation. Regularly running Defragmenter. In some cases, a RAM upgrade might be necessary. The only sure way to find out is to find your local geek and get professional advice.

Q: My Dish Network 501 receiver won't play recorded movies. What's the deal?
A: The Dish PVR models (501 and 721) are simplified computers programed to display TV images and sound. Sometimes these devices crash. To "reboot" your system, do the following: Turn the receiver off. Unplug the receiver for 30 seconds. Plug the receiver back in, and turn the receiver back on. Your PVR functions should resume. If they do not, you should call 1-800-333-3474, and select the technical support option for further advice.

Q: How do I stop those annoying pop-ups?
A: There are many programs out there that block popups. I have a client who has tried many of them on AOL with varying degrees of success. The most promising ways, though, are these: A new browser out called Mozilla has a built in "popup" blocker. Mozilla works much like Netscape's 6 and 7. If you don't want to change browsers, you can sign up for Earthlink, which is now offering a popup blocker with their service. Visit Earthlink.net for details.