sysadmin probs; help needed

[Tom Poe]

I started to register and try out freeworlddialup.com .  It said to 
download softphone "communicator" and ... well, it was a .exe file.  
First red flag.

The screen said enter user info, so I enter my user name, tom.  Guess what?

The app froze, I decided I didn't like this .exe thing, and restarted 
computer.  Now, when I bring up network dialog, which requires root 
privileges, it won't accept root password, but will accept user tom's 
password.

I need to correct this.  Suggestions?
Thanks, Tom