Thought I would come back and update. Well, in the end, I decided to go with the Apple. :-) There were so many reasons I wanted to get one and quite a few reasons I didn't want to get another windows machine. Two of the issues that were keeping me from getting the Apple resolved at the last minute and I was very happy to see no obstacles to getting it. I have had a MacBookPro for two weeks now and loving it! Almost have everything moved over from the old computer and Monday got the new printer installed and connected. Tech support has been great as expected. There have been some issues with changing over from the windows system to the Mac. I was using MS Works on the old Dell and converting those to iWorks was not straightforward although in the end most of that is done. Going from MS Office is easier. Changing over from Windows Media Player to iTunes...if you are importing your music to WMPlayer in the wma format, well, come to find out it is a proprietary format to Windows and it is not easy to switch over to mp3 that will allow the iTunes to play it. I had to convert 800 songs to mp3 before moving it to the Apple which was not so great. Time consuming. Had to download four programs on Tuesday and only one of them actually made the conversion. Plus converting the files does lower the quality some. So, I am planning on getting as much off of CDs to replace them as I can, but they are fine for the time being. Just for your information, you can set your WindowsMediaPlayer to import into it in the mp3 format and that will make your life so much easier if/when you want to move them or use another player. Photos were a breeze to move and using iPhoto is just a treat! Such an improvement over my previous photo software for organizing photos. I have never used Photoshop software, so maybe that is as good at organizing as the iPhoto? I do plan on trying photoshop at some point. So that's my story. :-) Jane, I hope you have made the change over to whatever you liked the most and have a new machine that you are happy with. :-)

Since no one else has suggested heat I will do so. How long since you have cleaned out the vents around the cooling fan? Heat may be causing the freeze due to the processor quitting to protect it from frying. All processors are protected in this way to avoid costly repairs. Here is a 2 minute video showing you how to do the task. The other point is making sure the vents are clear during use, no resting it on a thick tablecloth. No resting that side on thick clothing if the computer is on your lap.

Hi again When I checked the event viewer on my desktop, I found this warning under the applications folder - Event ID 1517. The following is copied from the Windows Help and Support Center. ******************************************************* Details Product: Windows Operating System ID: 1517 Source: Userenv Version: 5.2 Symbolic Name: EVENT_HIVE_SAVED Message: Windows saved user %1 registry while an application or service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no longer in use. This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account. Explanation Windows unloads each user's profile and user's section of the registry when the user logs off. This message indicates that Windows could not unload the user's profile because a program was referencing the user's section of the registry. This locked the profile. The registry cannot unload profiles that are locked and in use. When the program that is locking the profile is no longer referencing the registry, the profile will be unloaded. User Action No user action is required. ******************************************************** I guess this means I just leave the computer when this happens and it will clear itself at some point???? or What does it mean to try "configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account"?? Still wondering if this has something to do with Avast's "Virus Recovery Database Generator" - maybe it's busy trying to copy programs as we're trying to log off - guess I'll check the Avast forums and see if the issue has shown up there. Thanks for all the help. June

First I have to confess that I have not gotten to backing up the hard drive - or working on the start up programs. Other computer issues in the family took priority - and then we had non-technological family difficulties. So my focus has been elsewhere. The internet connection still sometimes drops. Less often but it happens. I can just buy a wireless dongle. The laptop had been running cooler after getting all the bogus programs off. But lately it's sluggish again and running hot. The hard drive is making a bad noise. Not sure how to describe it but kind of like a car struggling to turn over. It does it just occasionally - some times if it's just trying to perform some action - and just now when I started the laptop. (It has not made the sound since it started up). Since hard drives are mechanical, does this sound like the hard drive might be failing? if it's hardware failure, is there any point in running chkdsk? or any other test? If the hard drive is failing, could that be causing it to run hot and slow at times? seems logical to me but I have no idea. I could inexpensively replace the hard drive. And get a wireless dongle. I imagine all that could be done for under $100 and just a small amount of time. The other troubleshooting I did was partly to learn. Here's what I like about the computer and why I may want to save/keep it: great size - 13", light - but has a great, great keyboard for such a small laptop. like the trackball and no touchpad. includes a free upgrade to Vista (so it could be used after XP is not supported) What I don't like: ongoing wireless adapter problems, sometimes running hot, possible failing hard drive, no web cam. Not sure if I'll put it to sleep soon - or try to resuscitate it. If I decide to let it die a peaceful death, there's no need to back up the HD. If I decide to replace the hard drive (if it needs it) or keep it if the HD's fine, I will back it up and make that a priority. And of course, now that I'm writing this post, it's behaving absolutely fine. Quick, cool, no noise. Thanks. Lynn.