i use folder sharing all the time and have a pretty heavily stripped down xp.. what the hell? making unattended switchless installers broadens your knowledge far more than clicking next next next ok, finish. all computer companies (that know what they're doing) will use silent installers -usually msi's have you ever used nlite? boot times decrease, speed of user interactivity increases, and you can install xp on any dog old pc that it shouldn't really be able to run on, and they become perfect for web browsing / mp3 boxes, i've got a pii333 that i use just for this now just give it a shot before ruling it out completely Wuts wrong with system restore, backup software is only useful if you make a backup. System restore automatically backups up the files. Yes, i do hate it sometimes it doesnt work. But when and if it does it makes things much easier. whats right with system restore more like!? its a nice concept, but now viruses and spyware hide in system restore, so if you don't know to disable it, you can never get rid of any malware. its constantly running using up resources and hard drive space. microsoft should seriously ditch system restore, and keep ONLY the driver rollback part, not that i've used it for about 3 years, but that part does have its benefits as for making backups of needed files? -robocopy is a freeware tool made by microsoft that is perfect for most people