I would not stay with IE6 google has just put out info it will no longer support IE6 and many other websites have gone along with them on that it is just too hard for them to continue to support so many versions, go to IE7 or 8 or as mentioned above go with firefox also but you still need to move away from Ie6 on your pc because it is very insecure so even if you do not use it you need to update it. I use firefox only unless I have to do a windows update that is the only time I use IE but I do still keep it updated. Gmail, Google Calendar Also To Drop IE6 Support Google Phasing Out Support For IE6 in 2010 that should be good evidence as to why it needs to be replaced.

Ginny wrote:_ I am just very concerned about learning W8 when I don't have anyone nearby to help with that learning curve. That's a very big issue for me. Ah but you do have huge helpings of assistance really. Here is a link to eightforums where they deal with nothing but Windows 8, plus you can come here for help. Google is also a valuable friend when you need an answer right now instead of waiting for someone to reply on a forum. As Mickie notes above, once the initial screen is gone it is very much like Win 7

More facts. My picture default is MS Office Picture software. This is the software that will not display a desktop picture, which is a pointer (link) to the picture file. But, the same MS software will display the picture from the picture file system and from the DT pointer. For manual activation, I activate the MS Office Picture software from an icon on the Windows DT. This may be related to the fact that my pointer to MS Hearts (card game) will not active either... but I do not know what software runs Hearts, maybe a browser.. I have never taken note.

More memory is good but at some point there is a diminishing return on the investment and that point is a function of what you are doing with your computer. Things like first person shooter games, video editing, photo editing (of very large files) all benefit from lots of memory. Writing an email to Aunt Betty doesn't require very much memory at all because the computer can process information far faster than you can type. Same thing for the Internet, your computer can render pages faster than your connection can supply the information. So if you have a slow internet connection, you're not likely to experience much, if any improvement. With that said, 4 gigs is probably a pretty good number. If you really want a WOW factor, get a solid state drive and use that for your O/S and critical applications. To try and answer some of your questions: - Windows doesn't care about the physical drive or any logical partitions. It does make good sense to install Windows 7 on the newer, faster drive. You'll get the best performance that way. When it comes time to get rid of XP, everything will be on one drive and that, if nothing else, should help you keep things mentally organized. - My understanding is that you have two physical drives, one with a functioning version of XP and the other blank. If that is not correct, say so NOW. - When you go to install Windows 7, it will recognize that there is another operating system (Windows XP) already installed. Windows 7 won't do anything to XP other than to set up the dual boot. Essentially it's computer language that says, "XP is there, Windows 7 is here, which one do you want to use?" - Logical partitions to a drive a largely a function of personal preference. Understand that it is more difficult (but not impossible) to non-destructively repartition a drive after you put data on it. If you, for example, have a partition for music, another for videos, and a third for pictures and find down the road that you have a lot more videos than music, it becomes more difficult to rearrange things. My suggestion is a single, large partition and use folders to organize your data.