Okay. You guys are great. Clearly the collective wisdom is not to throw money at the problem - but figure the problem out. Owbist - in my thread on not connecting my husband's vista laptop to our network, I tried quietly, methodically to troubleshoot the issues - to no avail. I found lots of similar frustrations on google - but no solutions that worked - and I think I tried them all - at least to the best of my ability. thanks for those great, easy-to-follow instructions to transfer to an external hard drive. He'll want to do that anyway - even if he keeps this computer. This computer guy is pricey - but where I am in DC they seem to fall in the $125-140/hour range - and they can usually fix a problem. Others that charge $40-75 - that the uninformed think are good - but their know-how is less than what I find here. I tried a few of those locally recommended guys - and they accomplished the simple tasks but also made mistakes I had to hire the more expensive guy to fix. My main complaint with him is that he's wedded to his biases - he hates Vista - so his recommendation is usually to avoid or ditch it. Our struggles with Vista seem to often be how often we're blocked from things or performing simple tasks have all sort of obstacles - for "safety's" sake. Thanks to everyone for pointing out that Windows 7 is just a revamped Vista. I got my first issue of Smart Computing and they were tauting it and described some features I thought I'd love. DA - if W8 is in process, is there any indication of what it will be like? Probably worth waiting for - or at least waiting to hear more about how Windows 7 is panning out. So I'll keep plugging away on my other thread to get him connected. If I don't succeed by Tuesday, the computer guy will come and fix it. I guess we'll stop there. Thanks. Lynn.

Yes, that is a good video for resolving such an issue....with one major exception. When a person is going to work on a computer, they would be wise to turn the computer off before doing anything to the computer. If it is a desktop, turn it off and then unplug from the wall outlet before making a repair. If it is a laptop, turn it off and remove the battery. When repairs are completed on the desktop, plug back into the wall outlet and then turn the computer on. When repairs are completed on the laptop, re-install the battery and then turn the computer back on. For some people this may seem like elementary information, but for others this information is not known. I would say that if that young man in the video works on his computer enough times with the power on, he will probably experience ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) and will be headed to the store to purchase a new motherboard.

Not all are dual core.. dual core is nice. If given a choice avoid the Celeron processor,, but they are ok. Buss speed can make things peppier,, 1066 v/s 667, if given the choice go faster. I've a 6 pound toshiba 15.4 screen right now and find it rather large compaired to the 14.1 it replaced. Both have the same size keyboard. Actually both are the same weight but due to leverage the 15.4 feels heavier & obviously has more plastic and flexes slightly to save weight. The 14.1" laptop keyboard fills the width, no edge room to spare.. I assume thats probably the smallest screen with normal sized keyboards. Slower processers are cooler. Some people have laptops that are too hot for laps during the summer. And too hot sitting on their desks too and stick fan cooler pads under them. Lighter the better in my opinion. Moving it from room to room that weight isnt as important as the picking it up and setting down while on the sofa or recliner. While I enjoy the 15.4 screen,, the 14.1 was fine and much easier to handle. Faster hard drives are nice. But not a must. Vista likes memory 2gb,, more is noticably better. Windows 7 comes out end of October I believe so maybe try to get a rain check on a free upgrade when buying.

Sorry, I should have added that any other games we have downloaded onto the laptop computer from computer game sites have worked fine on the default screen setting.