I'm writing this from my computer that had the problem; so far so good. The dust was cleaned out it, fans were also cleaned, and the modem was replaced. We started with the cheapest part first. I really hope it is just the modem!! Like I said before: "...I rebooted and all seemed okay,that is until I tried to dial up the internet again. Boom, blue screen again. ...I got out the books and started checking the diagnostic lights, and any other troubleshooting guidance they provided. All appeared to be fine." A year ago when I had hard drive problems the diagnostic lights on the back were correct for the problem it had. I know, you're laughing at me now, those are probably like dummy lights on a dashboard and only tell you what the problem is when it is too late. But this didn't act like it did a year ago and then I only got one or two bootups in before it completely died. I'll keep everything backed up and pay close attention to anything weird and hopefully I won't see the bsod again! You are all great and I've saved all your comments and the links to both my computers! I'll let you know if this saga continues.

Thanks to bpgreen and Raven, I am now sitting here with my beautiful laptop dream machine! Yep! I am up and running fine now. My server must have been working on their end or the weather caused me to get knocked off so much when I first tried being on the net with that external modem. I thought it was the modem but it is working fine! "LUV" ya all for help making my dream come true. Seeing I am not getting knocked off, I DL'd some programs which only got half done before when getting knocked off. Audacity for one. Got my spyware and virus programs from my flashdrive. Now for the goodies, huh? Bless you all. I have to get to bed now. This is the latest being up on the puter for me! Can't blame me for basking in no disconnects. "LOL" Good night. Hugs, Urlee PS: Sorry you all can't see this beautiful laptop. LOVE the fact I can ZOOM to make the fonts larger for reading and typing just by using the % drop down on the bottom right on Windows 7 here.

Sounds like a lot of laptop for the money. Max it out in ram for graphic processing and burning. Bit big and heavy for frequently caring around though. Nothing burns fast on a laptop. Intergrated Graphics cards arent the fastest thing in the world. Nothing wrong with AMD processors, as long as its a mobile processor it wont cook your lap.

I guess it all depends on how much you call from home versus away from home or on the road. We use pre-paid cellular. The new phones were free after rebate and my wife and I each spend about $5-$7/month for the STI Mobile/Sprint service. We only make quick 1-2 minute calls for necessary reasons and it works fine anywhere in the country that Sprint covers. Voice mail and text messaging are turned off on both cellular phones. Other cellular providers are now joining the pre-paid game with good deals. We are still stuck with the old telephone company for home and home office lines. I must have the reliability and quality of a landline for my business. I do pay too much for long distance, toll-free, and local service for my business compared to the low rates available today. Bills are typically $35-$50/month for relatively low volume usage. The last time I switched was from MCI to Ameritech(i.e. SBC/AT&T/who knows?) It was a pain to switch, but the new lower rates were good for a year before they went up again. Our home phone line just went up to $22/month for local phone service. It started at $18 several years ago. Pre-paid long distance service is $.025/minute using cards from companies like Cheap Phonecards. The latest cards don't require you to enter the pin every time from home and you can program the 800 access number into speed dial. The long distance cards are great from hotels too. We are seriously considering the switch to broadband phone service, but our local numbers are not yet portable for Vonage or the others. We are just outside of their large markets. Broadband cable internet is $30/month and speed is around 300K or 10 times faster than dial-up. It is fast enough for our needs. The total bill (excluding my business) is around $67/month for all phones and broadband for my wife and I. Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Phone Cards