Rather than simply showing up on the page, ads have to be HTML-coded to appear on a certain part of the browser window. These web pages are also highly scripted, reaching out to various other servers that dish up the ads. When your browser status bar is displaying "waiting for..." or "transferring data from...", that is likely a script at work. Technicians at gardenWeb write the code and script. Advertisers merely submit their graphics and text. Incessant browser upgrade versions and the moving target of coding standards make designing web pages more art than science.

Is there a reason you want to get rid of XP? If no, why not dual-boot? Don't expect your wireless to work in the Live CD. If you know what kind of wireless card you have, It'd be a good idea to do some research to find out if it's supported. Also if a wired connection is available while installing Ubuntu that is highly recommended. I have two installs of 10.04 running on two Dell desktops. After installing, go to System > Administration > Hardware Drivers to see if any additional drivers for your video or wireless are available. I discovered after both installs that the audio was muted, so I had to locate the audio control and increase it. I've had no issues with dvd drive or display. Any printer I connected was recognized automatically.

Thanks everyone. I didn't imagine folks would try to locate this file and check on their computers. that's very nice of everyone. I think people are finding the short guide (which is just a few pages). The manual is different (it's over 40 pages) - I will link it here: http://www.dvdflick.net/guide/guide_new.pdf This is what I can't get to print. Most other documents do print. I have had occasional trouble printing - but usually it's a pdf file that only Acrobat will read (or at least some pdf readers won't read them). had this experience with some Medicare/government documents. Saving to my hard drive doesn't help. Bob - I think you had the right document. I looked at properties as well - and sure enough, it says printing not allowed. This is really bizarre to me that printing is not allowed. That makes it very difficult to refer to the manual while you are actually working with the software. I see that the author wants me to ask permission to print - it's password protected. He's asked to be contacted via the forum - so I've just done that. Bob - thanks for the linux/ubuntu link. I have no idea what any of that means. I can download and burn to disc - but don't know what it would look like to boot into linux - never done it - don't know if I could figure it out. I think this is useful sometimes - but this isn't so urgent. So I will leave learning linux for another time when I'm not drowning in more pressing tech clean-ups. Thank you. Lynn.

Having just set up a couple of Win 8 PCs for the first time, and having returned one, here's what I did. It's my suggestion to you: Before you do anything set up a restore point. Do that by doing Search, Control Panel, and the result will take you to something that looks like the Control Panel of old. Go to system, system protection, and set up a restore point. The restore point will let you revert back to "out of the box" status as a last resort if your subsequent setup steps need to be undone or reversed. When it's done, tell Windows to update, and come back in an hour or two. Start a browser (it'll have Internet Explorer), search for and then download Classic Shell, then go on with life as before. I gave the Win8 dynamic a try and found no advantages and too many disadvantages. I know the guts of the OS are improved and more efficient and I appreciate that. As for the user interface, I found it to be different but not better and a waste of time. Good luck.