The answers to all your problems are at GardenWbebs Computer Help Forum This forum is meant for the discussion of personal computers, including recommendations, common problems and solutions. These people will want to know which computer and OS you have acquired.

I am back with an update. I did talk to an independent computer tech person who immediately told me it was not worth fixing my machine. She felt that the problem I was having with it not turning on maybe the motherboard. I am also seeing the case suddenly deteriorating faster and faster. Opening the computer, moving it from my lap to a table, keeping the screen upright, are now something I have to think about and fool with every time I pick it up. So, thank you Sue for the suggestion but I've decided I am ready to get a new machine. I am especially anxious to get it done before it goes kapoot and I can't get my files off of it to a new machine. I do hope you enjoy your machine as long as you can though, Sue!! :-) I have enjoyed my Dell and would have been just as happy to stick with it. secsteve....the 'trackball' I refer to is the one that is part of the keyboard of my Dell. It is in the middle between the G and H keys and very small movements with the index finger make it very easy to place it right where you want it easily. The button to select once the pointer is where you want it is right under the space bar and I can reach it with my thumb without even taking my hand out of typing position. Very convenient and easy to use. On the Apple it is instead the pad which you swipe your finger across to move the pointer. The key to select it is below the pad, no where near the keyboard, so you are always having to change position and taking your hands out of typing position. I just don't know what they were thinking to let go of the arrangement that works so well with the keyboard, to adopt this style. We went in to the Apple Store last night and even the salesperson who demonstrated using the pad, didn't seem to have any more mastery over it than I was getting. Slow and awkward. They have NO computers that offer the trackball as part of the keyboard. He suggested a wireless mouse, which I think they offer, but didn't have in the store. From what I can see of it online, I am not sure how easily it will work. It does appear to be one that you don't actually move the mouse around so much as you move the tracking ball on the mouse. So that is one option. According to him, there are no manufacturers that are making the keyboard w the tracking ball any more. Hmmm...will have to check that out. I asked him, what about people who have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, which is a pretty common problem for people who type. He looked at me like I was speaking Greek. [g] Most salespeople in computer stores are young people it seems to me..lol. Of course, makes sense. He did show me some sort of contraption that holds the computer on it, with front support to rest your wrists on and that elevates the computer for air circulation. But if you are using it that way, the ergonomics are just not right for both the keyboard and the tracking pad and buttons. And if you use the pad to raise the computer, now your arms and shoulders are in a much more awkward and unsupported position. Very strange that for a company that put so much thought into ease of use and common sense applications that they seem to have spent no time on ergonomics. So disappointing! It is a little frustrating because if it were not for that issue, I may have already bought an Apple. It is just an issue that I cannot ignore. I was very impressed with everything I read on their website about their machines. Another thing I like is that they will transfer everything from your old computer to the new one for you. There is a store close by too. So, this afternoon, I am going to call Dell and see what their story is. Not what I expected to be doing this week. :-( Anyone else who has some Apple or Dell experience, I pretty much have it narrowed down to these two. Thanks pm2

"As soon as Windows 7 is installed, it creates a default HomeGroup. If it detects an existing HomeGroup, you will be given the opportunity to join, but you will need the password. For home and small business users, HomeGroup is an excellent tool, but there is a problem. HomeGroup only works when all other machines on the network have Windows 7 installed, which in the short term, may not be the case. There will be many situations where the network has XP or Vista machines as part of the network, in addition to Windows 7. So, how is it possible to get them all to work together?" See link above.

I have always been a fan of the high end HP printers however last August when I moved from Ohio to Massachusetts my good printer somehow got packed in a container of household goods that was not scheduled to arrive here for another 6 weeks. For the first two weeks I was selecting photos to print and putting then on a flash drive which i then took to WalMart or my local camera store for printing but that was a real PITA. I happened to be in Staples on an unrelated errand and I saw a Kodak ESP 7250 printer scanner on sale for $99. I needed a new scanner so I thought what the heck, I'll try it. Right out of the box with the sample Kodak paper that came with the printer I was impressed, then I printed a couple 8x10 with some generic glossy photo paper and the best I could say is, they sucked. I went in the printer setup and changed from draft to Best quality, but with the generic paper the prints were still a mess, often coming out with way too much ink, feeling wet and they smudged when you touched them. Well, as they say, when all else fails, read the directions. I read the directions and did the setup routine to match the printer & paper, but even though it improved, I was still not happy. As I read the directions it said that Kodak recommended using only Kodak Paper, but who pays attention to that. That is just to promote purchasing their products, right? WRONG- In further reading I discovered that Kodak Papers have a bar code printed on the back side of the paper. The printer reads that code and sets up the printer to the specific needs of that paper whether you use MATT, Semi-Gloss or Glossy paper. In fact, I used glossy in the 4x6 tray and Matt in the 8x10 tray and it worked fine. Here is the catch I thought. They offer cheaper ink but get it back on higher priced paper, but to my surprise, when I priced the Kodak Paper at WalMart it was slightly cheaper than the HP paper. I then printed 2 8x10 and 6 4x6's on this printer, then put the photos on my flash drive and had them printed at both Walmart & Staples to compare print quality. To my surprise the prints from my printer were equal to or better than those from the commercial printers.