It would have been a year or so ago when Dell responded to my message. She mentioned she was from Dothan which is about 3 hours from where we plan on moving and I think there is a good nursery there which might be worth the drive. Vicki

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Raven and Owbist, I am so grateful to you. It seems I am safe using the screws for the hard drive bay that I already used. Raven - they are the ones in the first link. Owbist - I pilfered the only screw from my old Dell desktop that looked like the right kind. I only found one screw that seemed to match - I'm not certain what it was holding in - perhaps the power source or fan. At any rate, I think I best replace that before I might ever try to start that old computer up. I don't believe it had a floppy drive - or I'd be happy to remove it (it had just a cd drive). The case is fairly secure for now - but I'd feel better securing it completely - if the cleaning woman bumps the vacuum against it - or my daughter roots around there for a lost ball or toy, it might accidentally open. There's no urgency there, but I'd rather get it taken care of. I suppose I could open the tower again - and take out one of the screws - and match it at a store that builds computer parts. But if I don't have to, I'd rather not power everything down and unhook it. If the hard drive seems securing screwed in (and no part of the screw is protuding), can I safely assume it's fine - and just worry about replacing the case screws. that would be easier. I wish I'd come here first - and saved myself some aggravation. not a single person at Dell was able to give me this information - even though they had all the information you guys did. I truly don't want to have to buy from them again. They were similarly inept when I wanted to add a firewire port last summer. They have a front slot for it - but nobody had the right part numbers. Luckily the Dell forum was filled with trials and tribulations of others who'd attempted this - with no consistent accurate answers from Dell. At least someone there provided the necessary parts - in fact, when I ordered what Dell insisted was all I needed, it was only 1/2 of what I needed. Soon my daughter will be ready for a new desktop. Is there a company to buy them from with good reliability and quality and good technical/customer support? Should I just have one built from a computer place that builds computers? that purchase is likely to be in 2010. Thank you again. Lynn.

Starter Edition seems to work fine on computers I've seen it on.. Equal in speed to or faster than other versions with minimal memory. It seems to be just missing some options \ Manufacturers like a toshiba I noticed probably all ship third party options to replace the missing components and wallpapers and things most home users would need... installed & on seperate DvD

Any sounds? Nothing on the screen indicates a problem not related to Windows because you're not even getting past the POST. Likely hardware related - could be lots of stuff - motherboard, video card, memory. You might try pulling the battery (and disconnecting it from the wall charger) and letting it sit for 30 minutes or so. If that doesn't work, try pulling the coin cell (CMOS battery) - it's and a small access door on the back of the machine and also (again) the main battery. Let it sit again. Maybe you get lucky.