I've used spinrite to recover several drives that were in really bad shape. It's fairly expensive, but in one case, the PC would no longer boot and I didn't have a recent backup. I ran spinrite on it and got everything back (and immediately got a new drive). My wife's PC developed a bad spot on it and there were actually a few movies she had bought from itunes that no longer worked. I ran spinrite, recovered everything and replaced the drive. Notice that in both instances, I replaced the drive after using spinrite. Spinrite does a wonderful job of recovering data, but I just don't trust drives if they need Spinrite to get them to work. Besides, drives keep dropping in price, so it's usually possible to go to a much larger drive at the same time. If you can still boot and read from the drive, make a backup (I like creating images so I can restore if the drive goes completely bad). You'll need the imaging software even if you ever need Spinrite, anyway, but if you make regular backups, you shouldn't need to buy spinrite.

You are probably right about ME but whatever the reason it was a major headache. We kept 98 on our old computer until its demise a few years ago. Our other computer was 2000 and I didn't upgrade until XP2. For a non-tech, my workday is spent on my computer. I don't have time, nor knowledge to spend getting my computer to work nice with my software and settings, nor the funds to hire a tech. It took many hours to get everything working the way I needed and wanted. When I sit down at the machine, I need it to do what I want as my day is busy. My computer is networked with my other computer they work well together. I use remote connections from home and can work from here. XP is agreeable and familiar. It is so much more than 98 was. I remember all the 'restarts' and love the stability of XP. I think if I had gone from 98 straight to Vista I probably would enjoy Vista, although what I have seen and read about Vista doesn't inspire me enough to change. I hate MS Office 07. It was forced on me when I purchased this machine a year ago. Why they made the changes they did make no sense. It is non-intuitive and confusing to use. I have decided to stop using it and do all my work on my machine at work which still has 03. I can't express how angry I get each time I need to type a letter on 07. Hate it! At my age, I find computers frustrating enough, and don't want to add to it. I'll wait a few years, Jane

Couple notes: I've used the T&B Snap N Seal coax connectors with a lot of success. The tool may be more expensive than the Klein one, but it's what all the installers that have worked on our DTV over the years have used. I bought one many years ago, and I think they've at least gotten cheaper. I wouldn't do anything that requires that you have to terminate Ethernet cable into male connectors. This is a pain to do, and pre-terminated patch cables are cheap. Terminating into female Keystone wall jacks is much easier- just maintain the twist of each pair as close to the termination as you can (there are many videos on doing this). I like the impact version of the punch-down tool- not sure if a different version will cut the wires. I bought one of the cheap ones from HD that had bad reviews and it's held up so far- maybe it would be bad if you used it all the time for dozens/hundreds of terminations. We have an old house (built in '49) and I've wired or rewired a big chunk of it. I've also put a lot into improving the insulation and air sealing. For that reason, I would hesitate to use open back wall boxes. I have had great success with retrofit or "old work" boxes- it's so much easier to just cut out an old box (hack saw or reciprocating saw to the nails), reach in to fish new wires, then slip a retrofit box into the hole. I tend to do some combination of a gasket under the wall plate, caulk, and/or expanding foam in the holes in the back of the box. It's great to get it right the first time, but I also wouldn't hesitate to cut a hole in the wall or replace a box to get what I needed later. Lastly, Russ is talking about 120V AC (lights, receptacles, etc) or 240V AC (dryer, oven, e.g.) when he says "HV." I'm used to working with industrial facilities where these are still considered low voltage, and there's 4160V or 12kV that's "medium voltage." High voltage is utility transmission wiring. Good suggestions otherwise.

boba1, Nice to see all the talk about FL Speed Queens these last several months, Speed Queen was wise to bring it back and not discontinue it as it's a quality machine. Regarding your question...The Speed Queen is sitting packed up in it's original box in the cellar for the last three years as the Bosch is still running as new after the bearing replacement. I have no inclination to sell it. Edit: Just noticed this was exactly three years to the date I originally posted this thread, time flies. Jeff