> Why does a computer work in the morning but not later in the day? It is a machine from a more responsible manufacturer. Therefore it provides, for free, software to determine where the problem lies. Execute this comprehensive hardware diagnostic from the disk drive, from a provided CD, or by downloading that software from the Dell web site. Boot it from the hard drive, CD-Rom, or a flash (USB) drive. It executes without needing Windows or other complications. It will test all hardware with or without malware infections. It will tell you one important fact. Is the hardware good or bad? Is the problem in hardware or software? All computers have a line between hardware and software. Diagnostics will quickly identify which side of the line has a problem. In your case, the problem is probably on the software side. However this software, only provided by better manufacturers, makes identifying problems faster and easier. Removes all doubt. Everyone should execute their comprehensive hardware diagnostic once when the machine is still good to know what it does. Most do not even know that software exists. Important is to first identify hardware integrity before moving on to software problems. Malware can be first removed by the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool. Downloaded from their web site. Latest version is probably 14 Feb 2012. This will remove the simplest problems. Enough to get most machines functional enough to do other solutions. The program even can be loaded on a CD or flash drive to be executed from there. It does not remove all malware. But it is an easiest solution to implement on the worst infected machine. Your mal-ware software (McAfee, Norton, Trend Micro, etc) then can execute to remove more comprehensive infections.

I would have a hard time tossing the scanned slides also - but understand your space limitations. I have an Epson flatbed V200 scanner that I scan slides with. LOVE IT! Love it even more with my new computer that runs so much faster (didn't have any trouble with it working on the new Windows 7 OS either) My Epson is no longer available, but the V500 is pretty much the same unit. I looked up both the Epson and the Cano Scan on Amazon. Looks like both will scan 4 slides at once. I have done large batches (hundreds - not thousands though). It take a while, but if you leave a stack, and just swap them out while you are on the computer, you can get a lot done! I like reading the reviews on Amazon - gives great reviews from people that have actually used the unit. Both the Epson and the Canon have lots of reviews. Price is very similar. I like the Epson flat bed personally. You can scan documents or photos. I find it super handy just to copy a paper when needed. It is NOT an all in one. Just a flat bed scanner. But if I need a copy of a paper, I can just hit "copy" and it will scan and send it to my printer. I scan at 600dpi - which is plenty. Unless you are going to print somthing wall size, you don't need to use the super high settings. It will just make a huge file and take a long time to scan. Make sure you have a couple back up sources for you scans if you are going to dispose of the slides. DVD's can go bad - hard drive fail... I would use at least 2 different backup methods. Here is a scan from a slide from the late 40's or early '50's. Slide had dust and a few scratches.....

Thought I'd update. Got Windows installed without a hitch, Dell talked me through it. I debated whether to put Win 7 in since I was starting from scratch but worried some of my software might not work Everything went well except I couldn't find drivers for some things such as my wireless adapter so couldn't get on line. Called Linksys and they spent over an hour trying to get the driver in and finally did. That was the best part, finally getting on line and getting hit with a zillion MS updates. I have misplaced or lost some software. We moved here in March and I could not locate my Office disk, wireless mouse/keyboard software and a few other things, might have gotten lost in the move. I'm most concerned about Office 07. I paid for it. Dell says they can't help and I could try contacting MS and see if they would do anything. I haven't moved any of my files back yet. Otherwise, I feel like the computer runs better than when it was new. Things seem different, have to fool with fonts and views, but I'm amazed how effortlessly the machine runs. This computer always seemed to have a few 'glitches' but I was used to it. Now it seems so fast and smooth (of course there isn't much running on it yet.) I don't know how to thank everyone for all the support and help I received. You are the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! Thanks from the bottom of my heart... Jane

I think someone mentioned that what you posted, the registry change wasn't necessarily bad but could be from a program being removed. I wonder if there is a way to find out if you were actually infected with something? This is why I suggested the Panda scan because it would have told you. btw, make sure you do windows updates. I personally would get rid of Mcafee. I know you paid for it but it's a resource hog. For backups I have multiple hard drives, they are cheap. I have an external enclosure that holds 2 drives. I have a computer running windows XP, installed the Maxtor Maxblast program and use that to back up to the larger drives. As far as I know, they don't have a program (Maxtor) like this for Vista but I could be wrong. What it will do is back it up as files verses a file that you have to unpack. If you back up your C drive, you will see every folder on the C drive in your backup.