Yes...but...the search is now out again. GW updated us though about their ongoing efforts to get it fixed. This is the banner on the main page here under "What's News at GW. January 31: We are continuing to work on search engine issues. You may get incorrect results on all forums. We are also aware of broken links on some forums. We are continuing to make repairs and appreciate your patience. If you are having other issues, not related to search or broken links, please contact us. I know lots of folks collapse the message there, so they may not even be aware of the update today. Sue...rbb

If it turns out that you do not have a hard drive or other hardware problem, there is something else to consider. Taking the machine to someone and paying them to figure out and fix your problem may not be cheap or quick. If your machine is capable of running Win 7, maybe your $ would be better spent to upgrade to that...unless you are trying to save files that you absolutely cannot afford to lose. Even if you fix the machine without doing this, you have to identify how and why this infection occurred in the first place. If you do not do this, then all your time-effort-money will be wasted because you will repeat the same errors and will certainly become infected again. Do you have any idea how this happened? Did you download any free toolbars-games-screensavers? Did you open an email attachment without scanning it? Do you normally click on unfamiliar links (especially on Facebook or MySpace) without checking them out first? If you did any such thing, you have to STOP until you learn more about how to keep yourself and your machine safe.

You're aiming for a two-bedroom/two bath house? This is considerably bigger than a typical two-bedroom house, and it gives me concerns for resale and for financing (not that I know whether either of those are in your plans). Consider the public "living spaces". You have a great room, a study, a media room, and a second living room. Do you really need each of these rooms, and do you have a plan for how to use each? It seems odd to me that you'd need so few bedrooms, yet so many living areas. What's downstairs? Could some of these living spaces go downstairs? The real problem with this plan is that it's lacking "flow". That is, the rooms don't relate to one another well and don't have a logical pathway from room to room. I don't think the second bedroom is "working" back in that corner. I don't think you'll be happy in the long run with occupants of that bedroom being forced to walk a winding path by the garage door, then through the second living room ... to reach the bedroom. You could open up a second doorway through the breakfast room ... but that would be the exact opposite of private. What's downstairs? Could the second bedroom go downstairs? Putting aside space concerns, this second bedroom will have problems because the doors are spread all over the place. This also isn't the spot I'd splurge on a specialty ceiling. Note, too, that it would be cheaper to keep this back wall in line with the great line's back wall; it'll keep the roofline running straight. Likewise, I don't love the second living room pushed over to the side /again, past the garage door. It feels like an afterthought. You can only reach it by squeezing through the kitchen (disturbing the cook) or by trekking through the laundry. Either way, it's not welcoming. If you really need all these spaces, I'd consider moving the living room to the current study ... and moving the study to the back of the house, where it'd be quieter and more private. I think you might do better to flip the media room and the second living room. In a media room, you're going to want a dark space with no glare on the TV -- a space just like the second living room! In contrast, the media room has the best connection to the outside, something you'd probably prefer in the living room. The breakfast spot and the media room have a major problem: At only 7' wide, you have space only for the smallest of tables, and it's going to block comfortable entrance to the media room. I vote for extending the kitchen a bit and moving the table out to what is now labeled the media room. The windows will make for a lovely table area. In reference to extending the cabinets "down the wall" towards the media room -- yes, I like the idea. I think the desk-in-the-kitchen idea is over (I have one; it's never, ever used). I could see this area boasting floor-to-ceiling glass-front storage for dishware ... or plain cabinets would give you a space to set out a cake or a fruit basket /things you want to keep handy, but don't necessarily want right there in your prep space ... or a place for cookbooks. Yes, so many options for this area. I totally understand your desire for a large pantry, and I like the way it's placed near the entrance -- you can either turn left if you come in the door with groceries, or you can go straight if you don't. This is one of the house's strengths. I'm not in the camp of must-have-giant-laundry-room, but I hate your laundry area. It's inconvenient to both bedrooms. Consider the pathway to tote baskets of clean clothes to your closet: Thread your way through the great room, turn through the bedroom door, turn again to walk through the maze of bathroom, and finally you're in the closet. It's going to make an already thankless chore worse. Could you make the half-bath by the front door into the laundry ... and place the half-bath somewhere else? Then you could open up a door (or even just a pass-through) between the closet and laundry. Yeah, I agree that the great room could use a few more feet, given that you must allow walkways around the edges of your furniture. Are you planning a table in the great room? (I don't really see a place for a good-sized table anywhere.) If so, you need more than a few feet; I'll reference the idea of putting the table into that currently-media-room bump-out. That would give you more breathing space in the great room and just sort of "fixes" a number of issues. The problem you're going to create by adding a few more feet to this great room is that you're probably going to want to make the room deeper ... and that will widen the roof, changing the trusses. Widening the room will extend the roofline in the easier direction, but I don't know that that'd give you the space you want. I already don't like the garage in the photograph of the house. It sticks straight out in front of the house, which is never a good look, so I agree with you that I fear it won't look right if it's even bigger! I'd definitely add windows to the side wall of the master bedroom; rooms with windows on two sides are always nicer than those with windows on only one side. I personally don't care for a cathedral ceiling in the bedroom; I like cozier spaces for bedrooms, though that is personal preference. Where I would like to see a cathedral ceiling: Either the great room OR if the media room becomes a dining space -- but not both, both would be overkill. I don't see why the shower is recessed. Expand it forward and make it a nice, comfortable size! Note that one of those sinks is behind the bathroom door -- not so useable. Overall, I think you're looking at too many changes to this plan. With this many changes and tweaks, I think you'd be better off starting from scratch.

Oh Jinx! I saw that group photo last year, and at first I was so happy to see it. I examined all the faces and recognized so many! It was great fun. Then I got a little sad, because yes, so many are gone now. Lots of great people in that photo. kswl, that bread loaf looks amazing! I think I might have eaten the whole thing too! haha. That was a nice compliment your son paid you with eating it all. But now you have to make more!! And we need to stop by for a visit to see you and eat bread. Yum yum!! I have some good news that I'll share! We've been without heat since Christmas in the downstairs living and kitchen area. Our trusty gas fireplace, which is our main source of heat died on 12/24. It's taken this long to get a service team to replace the unit. I'm going to have heat again!! Yay!! I've been so cold for so long I expected to have lost some serious weight! I've read that being cold burns more calories. I can truthfully report that this is NOT true! lol Keep sharing good stuff everyone!! I've really enjoyed everyone's contributions!! :-)