Thanks very much "Carpet Rodent"
I will put forward your suggestions to my friend.
I didn't notice any Virus programs running on his PC, so will suggest that he get one.
I should think his copy of Outlook Express came with his Freeserve package, but I will say that only Outlook needs to be wiped, I don't think his Internet settings will be affected with another install.
Thanks again for your help
Mark