Here are the minimum and suggested requirements for Call of Duty. From what little I know of those kind of games the video card is an important part. The higher quality the card the better graphics are displayed. I see you live up here in the great white north. You might consider visiting Red Flag Deals. This is a Canadian forum with mostly younger members, any bargain going they know about and post their findings. Just reading some threads can be an education on how the younger set think, never mind the bargains they post about. Here is a link that might be useful: Red Flag Deals

To be extra safe once you download the .exe for the game file go to the location you stored it and do not open it yet, first right click on the .exe and chose to scan it with your virus scanner from the list, that will do a direct scan on that file to see if it is clean. If you have malware scanners that have that option it is a good idea to scan the file with them also. I use McAfee site advisor, which can be added to your browser, it will tell you valuable information about websites and if they are safe to visit. You can get it free for both IE and firefox. Here is a link that might be useful: site advisor

Hey Sandy...did not mean to overlook you. Its getting near quitting time, but - while having huge difficulty with the desktop (an AT&T support tool set-up request screwed up the first attempt) the flash player said something on the order of 'Helps secure router something or other signals'. "Helps" isn't quite enough...so the Windows Firewall Advanced 1394 coverage is remaining checked along with the other checked boxes on that menu. I don't know if I made a mistake or not, but watching grass grow would be faster than the 'backup files' feature. The transfer for 1GB of files has been almost 2 hours. I selected the 'turn off computer upon completion' button and am heading for home. Tomorrow I will ask about another subject...my boss got a bill from an internet provider for dial-up service that she doesn't have...the company has a site ...but I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if its legitimate and/or if responding will only make things worse. No one around here has ever heard of this company. marf

Just to give everyone an update, I met with my SIL last weekend and we went over my nephew's transcript and the 504 information she has. The situation is pretty bad. Last year he only received 3 credits when he took 6 (he failed English, Math, Health, History). He is currently failing at least History and Chemistry. I also read the testing information and it was very confusing. The testing done in 10th grade contradict the testing done in 7th grade. In other words, they found LDs in 10th grade, but not the ones found in 8th grade. The school has been updating his 504 every year, but his teachers seem to know nothing about it. She was going to talk to the guidance counselor again and get back to me. I have laryngitus right now, so I haven't called her this week to see what he said. Part of the issue, I think, might be that his IQ testing came out low. I think it was in the high 90s. That makes no sense to me, he seems very bright. I wonder if the IQ testing could have biases based on his issues. I think that because the IQ is low, their expectatiions for him are low. In other words, the school views him as "dumb" rather than learning disabled. I made an impassioned argument for her pulling his computer and TV from his room. She isn't buying it. She is afraid that his "friends" online are his support system right now and she is afraid to take that away. Friends? They could be 50 year old sex offenders for all she knows. She is very computer naive. She admitted that he almost never does things with his group of friends anymore. He won't go to their houses because they aren't allowed to sit in their rooms all day and play computer games. The only time he sees his friends now is at school and when they come to his house (and they lock themselves in his room). I love my SIL, but she have a serious case of denial.