OK. I'd first like to correct Lee. The chance of meeting a HACKER online is very small. The chance you meet a DUPER is (sadly) very high. There is a difference.
You can use two methods to find people. To find someone anywhere, you need a guild card. They must send it to you, and you must send yours to them, if you want them to mail you. Guild cards show you if the person is online on any ships. You can mail them from anywhere.
The other way, is ship specific (it only affects the ship you are on). It's called choice search. But the person has to have it turned on for you to see them. You can mail anyone that appears on the list. It's a good way to quickly search for people around your level, to see if they want to train.
For broadband, the basic setup is BBA for GC, and a cable. You need to know various settings if the automatic settings don't work first time. You are recommended to get a router, to share you broadband connection with a PC, but they cost a lot of money.
If you have the worst type of FSOD, FSOD-X as it's known, then yes. All your PSO files will be deleted. There is a method that might work to recover your files, but I've never tried it, so I can't say. You are more likely to get FSOD, which with some precautions, will stop any damage done to you from it.
As Lee said, once you start online, you won't stop. I've had PSO for years now and haven't looked back

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