A little of both. I have 11 ft ceilings in a roughly 20x20 great room with 6.5 inchs. The outdoor ceilings with the 8 inch was more like 14 feet ceilings and then there is more background noise outside - and it is nice to help transmit even further since I haven't put deck or patio speakers in yet. I bet 12 feet is roughly the switch over in common practice to 8 inch. There are no absolutes and size is certainly not all that matters. But an 8 inch on 9 foot ceilings would be out of place. It is a bit like recessed cans - 6 inch on 8 foot ceilings is a bit big. I absolutely think you will be fine with 6.5 inch in your great room. You can always go bigger but going smaller would be a mess. You might think that 8 inch speakers are visuallly intrusive.

This might help, see link below: I didn't get your Operating System so I guessed it was XP. Are your CD/DVD disks in good shape? Any scratches? It's a good idea to clean them if they've been sitting around for awhile sometimes they get a film built up on them. If they are scratched then you can order a new set from HP for a small fee. Do this if nothing else works. I signed up for Garden Web awhile ago but really don't come around to often. I thought I'd stop by. I've been gardening for decades and helping out on Cnet for a little over a year, on there help forums. I hope this helps and that the link shows up. Here is a link that might be useful: Recover computer at HP

I read this forum quite regularly, but rarely post here...But sometimes.... I just gotta say it..... You people are nuts...... I am quite used to people telling me I am nuts and have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to such matters, BUT since I am never, make that NEVER the one who has neither virus/malware issues and problems and NEVER have spent even a dime nor any time on such matters, the reality of the situation is that I and the few other Linux users here are really the only ones who have any idea what they are talking about when it comes to PC Operating Systems and PC "security".... A whole forum of "what should I get","what's wrong" "I bought/installed and/but" "what should I do". Soon many reading this will be thinking "Oh he's just one of those Linux nutscases" But, ask yourself, does he "Buy this", "get this", "do this"......Oh yeah, and then ask yourself if your system can match mine on safety, security, performance. I have yet to have either of these boxes contract a virus or a worm or a root-kit nor any other form of malware, not bad for systems running zero AV/security software..... I very rarely ever disconnect from the W3 and rarely ever even turn either of these things off. I have 4 browsers running right now and my email account has been open for days. Other than an outgoing firewall, I am currently running absolutely zero "security" software of any kind. And no reformatting, no scans, no defrags, no registry anythings. I watch videos, play music, redo photo's, make phone calls and do all sorts of other sometimes fun stuff with neither and never a worry nor a care. And my total investment in Operating Systems and software on both boxes equals zero dollars and zero cents. And all my upgrades/dates are free too..... Do yourselves a big favor and go to distrowatch.com, read about the different flavors of Linux and pick yourself out a few LiveCD versions to trial. Or you can always just wait for MSWin7 to be released and start buying all sorts of new software to go along with your already penetrated and compromised, outdated and obsolete brand new high dollar Operating System. Some of the new Linus distro's are so simple to install and use that my best friends 59 y.o.wife has installed several different versions on the same hard-drive and has figured out how to use them all with little more than dang near no assistance from any body. She has even figured out how to use Knoppix6 full time and save everything she does/wants to a persistant image. Oh yeah, she is really good at kids and cooking and sewing and fishing and growing things and all sorts of DIY stuff, but, when it comes to computers, she has the techno-savvy and training of your average box of rocks..... Dang folks....even my daughter, whose "technotude" is somewhat close to absolutely zero has installed and has everything running and learned the ins and outs of both SimplyMepis and VectorLinux on her PC all by her little ol' self. And while her friends are having regular issues after frequenting such mandatory malware magnet sites as YouTube, and MySpace she has nothing of the sort, ever.... But, if you wanna believe that you must MUST have MSWin-something, feel free to spend way too much for way too little, and want to keep spending and installing/scanning/removing/etc for no other reason than you insist on running something as shaky and insecure as Vista1, hurry up and buy the fix for Vista1, Vista2, otherwise known as MSWin7, that's certainly your right.... Well, let's see...I may have exaggerated things a bit by stating the "free" thing........Getting Linux will cost you somewhere around $.125 for a blank CD-R, or the current cost of a blank DVD-R.... HAGD Here is a link that might be useful: better than MSWindows, IMHO it is anyway

Thanks to all who responded. Had posted on the LandzDown forum for help in getting rid of the virus which had resulted in the Dell computer misdirecting links, as well as not being able to obtain Windows updates. Computer was locking up as I tried to follow the Landzdown helper's instructions. After several hours of fits and starts (and a nap!), have just posted what was requested and am now awaiting the news. Regardless of the outcome, I would still like to have the option to do a complete recovery -- just as I've always been able to do on my Compaq/HP computers. Azinoh and Genes -- I had tried those options without success, but maybe it's because of the computer brand -- don't know. Seems like it should work. Might on somebody else's computer! LOL Owbist -- Afraid your instructions were beyond my capabilites. Don't know of anyone who has another copy of Windows (but then, my friends know even less than I do...). Went to the Dell site, started choosing all of of those relevant things I'd need, and realized I wasn't sure about half of them. Was going to download them anyway and hope I'd chosen correctly, but when I tried to register and was asked for a mandatory account number (and something else I've forgotten), I chose nothing after all. Better leave that route for somebody who knows what they're doing. (Are you available?? Ha) Jane - Haven't used instant messaging in years and, frankly, didn't see that on Dell's site. If I were able to just type out and post the problem like on a regular forum, I'd be more comfortable. I may do what you suggest, though, if the virus problem gets healed. I need to know how to do a recovery! It's always been a great, though time-consuming, safety net when all else has failed. Much appreciation for all of you taking the time and thought to help.