Hi Harry,
In a message to Glenn Christensen you wrote:
  GC>> downgraded a a name to TRANSIENT in order to make some 
 GC>> local log-ons. After
 GC>> entering the password the line, "NOT A VALID FILE AREA," (or the 
 GC>> one
 GC>> similar to that) popped up. Here I was trapped. I couldn't get 
 GC>> out of this,
 GC>> and no matter what file area I selected, the same line kept 
 GC>> popping up.
 GC>> After a couple of warm boots, with the same results, I upgraded 
 GC>> the name
 GC>> to LIMITED and the problem went away.
 GC>> So, it would appear, one cannot assign an access level below
 GC>> what one gives to first time callers.
    What's happening is, I'm sure, you're message areas all have an ACS level 
of Limited or Sysop, right?  Therefore, anything lower than _that_ will not 
be able to access the message areas...any of them.  The same thing goes for 
file areas, too.  But when Max reads the LASTREAD pointer, it picks up on the 
message area the user was last in (area 1, comments to the sysop, if never 
changed or browsed) first, then checks the last file area accessed.  It 
stumbles at the message area because of the ACS level and never gets to the 
file area LASTREAD pointer.
    I wouldn't worry about it, though.  Anyone that you've dropped down to 
Transient you most likely don't want poking around in _any_ message or file 
areas.  But you may want to consider making the ACS for msgarea 1 Transient 
so they can at least drop a line to you.  I haven't, but you _might_ want to.
Bye bye!
  Jack
--- 
---------------