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 for responding- i am talking about a desktop- i do not want a laptop at this time. I guess i thought a router was only for wireless computers- so if i get the wireless card does that mean i then have to get a wireless internet plan or will the wireless card and router work with the regular dsl? For about a year the computers will be by each other and after that they will be on different levels of the house.. So is there a preferable way of how i should go meaning hard wire or wireless? And does whichever way i chose determine what kind of router i need to get or are they all the same? So this also leads me to a question and that is how will i know if my current printer will be compatible with the new computer? i only ask because i heard people had that issue with Vista. I also want to ask about the antivirus programs you are referring too. I have always used AVG..can i still use this on windows 7 or do i need to stick with the ones you are referring to. Thanks again

I did this recently for a family's new house and my own as well, and yosemitebill's description summed the process up. In my home, I knew where my 'home office' was going to be so I added extra CAT5e there to account for the additional equipment. I also had 5.1 surround sound and knew that the TV would be in one of two locations, so I wired speaker wire in a way that either location could be used without re-fishing wires. I also beefed up the number of RG6 and CAT5e plugs in those areas (enough for my network enabled devices). Considering this is a rental, what I would recommend is having 1 CAT5e/CAT6, 1 RG6, and 1 telephone to each room. You probably want two setups in the tv/living room. You can add speaker jacks if you want. I prefer bananna jacks but they're more money. This recommendation is pretty minimum since this is a rental - it's enough to prevent you from having to drill holes in floors/walls and gets you credit for having in-house wiring. If this was a personal home, my 'recomendation' would change. Similarly you could go crazy and try and anticipate every scenario placing multiple plugs on each wall but the costs for that goes up so you'll have to decide what's worth anticipating and what you'll get back from tenants for doing more. Also, what will the access be like to add new lines in the future? Using a centralized closet to run all the cables to will keep wire costs down. It will also be a good spot to place the wireless access point / wireless router. If the closet is at one end of the house, then the other end might struggle to get good wi-fi and you might end up using more wiring. Make sure to have all wires labeled on both ends. I have probably 15 RJ-45 plugs but only use 4 or 5 at a time. Since large ethernet switches can get expensive, I use a small switch and keep the unused wires unplugged. The same thing goes with the RG6. If I had all of them connected at once I would need some amplification, which was pointless for me since only 3 cables have something connected to them. If you buying the plugs and wire yourself, try monoprice.

Think about furniture placement and where you could potentially move your TV to in the the future. In our Living Room, I only have 2 spots we could ever place our TV, so I have wiring at both locations. Same for our master bedroom and DS's bedroom. Our phone company will be providing the TV and internet - they will put in 10 TV wall jacks (is that the right term?) and a phone jack for free. I went through each room where we would have a TV (living room, master, 2 bedrooms upstairs) and had jacks on two walls in each room (I left room to move furniture around). Our internet modem will go in the office; and some sort of power unit will go in a closet with our alarm panel and NVR system.