Check how much RAM is operating: Open the Control Panel and click on System. It should list several facts about your computer's system and how much RAM it sees. If you are supposed to have 2 Gb of memory, but see only 1 Gb, then a memory card could be missing or poorly seated, or the memory card is bad. Just because you machine has been in the shop, do not assume that everything is ok inside the case. I had a tech attemp to give my computer a checkup. He called me and said it had failed and he could not figure out exactly what the problem was, but I was probably due for a new computer. I took it home and during boot up, saw only 1 gb flash on the screen and I knew it should have had 2 gb. I opened the case and found that one memory board was not seated; On one end, the clamp was hanging open and the board was partly out of its socket. I reseated the memory card and that was the end of the problem. Apparently, the memory board had been disturbed during their check out and had not been fully reseated. Win XP ran ok with 2 GB of memory, but Win 7 likes a lot more. Performance deterioates if there isn't enough memory. Open the task manager: Control panel>Performance Information and Tools>Advanced Tools> Task Manager Or do: Ctrl+Alt+Del and then choose Task Manager. This will show you all the processes that are running and memory used. Most of the processes are system related and you'll recognize such things as printer programs, etc. What you are looking for is a memory hog that is not supposed to be there. The computer may crash or behave badly if you close an essential program. Do not confuse the two 'explorer' s. "I. e. explorer" is the browser; plain explorer is the system. If you mess up the computer by closing an essential program, it is fixable by shuting down and rebooting. Some anti-virus programs will slow the computer considerable. Open your anti-virus program and examine tis settings. Is it running scans all the time? Does it run in background or foregound? Another big hit is having 2 firewalls running. If you are using the firewall in your anti-virus program, turn off the firewall in Windows. Use one or the other, but never both.

I later versions of Windows, you can type Crtl-f and a search box will appear, and it may hang around after you are done using it.

I haven't had adobe for years - pdf xchange had been doing all I needed it to do. But within the last week, I received (email attachments) documents I needed to print for DH, a state stream survey of 6 pages, and a map one page. The stream survey would print the last page, hang up on the other 5. I forwarded it to a friend at his office and it printed for him. I could read both attachments, couldn't print and properties didn't show any restrictions on reproducing them. The map would print, but in mini and nothing I could find to try would adjust the size which didn't show enough detail reduced to be helpful. I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling pdf xchange. Material was sent to me from same company, same computer as we've been receiving from for years. I downloaded free Adobe reader and had no problems printing the documents...Can't imagine what changed, have Win 7, IE10, updated Firefox as backup.

If lightning took out the computer it may well have taken out the cable modem too. You should check that first. I see far more damage to equipment through the phone lines than through power lines. That's the first thing I'd check.