Hi zep, I have a desktop that has Windows 7 on it, a laptop with Vista,Husband's computer is Windows Vista, Daughter has a wireless laptop with Vista and a wireless netbook with XP and they are all in the HomeGroup. So I guess I am all up to date with all of the networking in this house.

REplaced the hard drive - uh-oh. Your legally installed Windows system was on the old drive. When the replacment drive was installed, the existing system needed to be transferred to the new disk (if possible). This can not be done by a simple copy. An image of the old disk must be transferred to the new disk. Software such as "Copy Disk" is used to do this. If the old drive was failing and could not be effectively accessed, then the computer system has to be rebuilt by reinstalling the sysem from your original CD and it needs to be 'activated' from the MicroSoft site. Contact MicroSoft's web site for instructions. If you do not have the Windows original software disk, then the store from which you bought the computer may have a legal copy and should be able to reinstall for you. Look around in the material that came with your computer (when you bought it). If you do not have the Windows software, is there a "recovery disk"? Look for instructions about how to use the recovery disk. This may save you. If you can not find a way to resolve this issue, then you may be faced with buying a copy of Windows and starting over. This points out the need to make a recovery disk soon after you get a new computer.

This is one of those things that really does take a lot of research and most GCs won't even bring it up (unfortunately for home owners who are then stuck with the energy bills). Since we wanted (and could do on this site) passive solar, we went a step further than most. For those who might be building a new home, here are just a few of the things we did for energy-efficiency. We have Low-E squared , which is more advanced than Low-E, having to do with the layers of silver, reflective capabilities, etc. We have a passive solar design and the Low-E squared is so important for hot summer climates. It may not be as important in cooler zones. There is a slight green tint on our windows which you won't have on Low-E. Energy cost savings in monitored field testing have shown a 30%-50% improvement over regular double pane windows. In addition to zoned heat (upstairs and downstairs), we have a dual-fuel system. The electric heat pump is used until the outside temperature drops below 38%, then the natural gas kicks in. We use programmable thermostats so that we have automatically set heat and a/c for "wake up" "leave" "return" "night" temps. We never go above 71 degrees on the heat or below 75 on the a/c and are very comfortable. We also have insulation that is Guardian, Green Guard Certified, SuperCube II fiberglass. Energy efficient and green certified. We are currently replacing most incandescents with CFLs. The kitchen and master bath are 100% CFL now. Our energy bills are half the cost of previous, much smaller homes that we have owned. We happen to have the cheapest electricity provider around here, too. That helps. I hope this information will help someone. I'm happy to provide more details in an email if needed. Cameron

I wound up breaking down and buying the new Office but I wish I hadn't. I don't like the layout either but you can go for a "classic" look on that too. I use OpenOffice for a few things too. I like OpenOffice but it doesn't work well with complicated forms and things I made in Office. But I'd much prefer to use the open source items rather than give MS anything more than necessary. If you don't like Vista, what makes you think you'll like Windows7? From what I'm reading, it's nothing more than "Vista 2". They still have dreams of the subscription based Windows but can't get it working right. Surprised? Nor am I? I guess I figure that a new OS requires a new machine with double the ram and hard drive. I'm disappointed with the sidebar. Thought it could be convenient but it's very amateurish. The three things that I found somewhat useful were a month calendar, but it's JUST the calendar, no other functions, but it does show week numbers which I find useful. But I use Rainlender now. Far more features, better clarity, better program. Another is a basic timer, but 1time works just as well, if not better. And the other is the Weatherbug, but I find WeatherWatcher to be better with the icon temperature. So I shut off the sidebar altogether. I run a lot of browsers. I use Opera for general purposes, Kmeleon for email and for when I have trouble with a website. And Firefox is often used too. For various things. I do like a couple of the weather add-ons on FF and version 3 has improved on speed but it's still much slower than Opera or Kmeleon. But nothing like the Microsoft Bloated Beast! So I often sit with at least two browsers open at all times, sometimes three. And running several things in the background. One thing I noticed is the latest version of Opera doesn't seem as smooth as the last several revisions. They had new versions about every two weeks for a couple months. Not sure when they'll release v10 but I'm interested in seeing how that will be different. The problem is I do a lot of tweaking on things. I condense the toolbars and customize it, use one button for the main toolbar and have button shortcuts to programs. I don't suppose that will convert to v10 but I'll have to see. One thing I've found is there was a lot of talk about software not working on Vista. I just haven't found this to be true. It doesn't always load up easily, often you need to turn off UAC or something but I can't think of a program that doesn't work on here. PageMaker was one that was said no-way, no-how and they wouldn't even consider updating it. They said buy the new version for $1200! I don't use it very often but figured a $600 program should last a bit longer and I had nothing to lose to try it. Well it's working fine... now. Problem is, I can't find my FrontPage disks.... and I need to update some websites... (sigh)