Jeremy

Are you using the Windows Messenger that comes with Windows XP, or MSN Messenger, or Windows Live Messenger? If one of the latter two, try reinstalling it. If that doesn't work, take a look in your Event Log Viewer (Start > Run > eventvwr) under Application and see if anything from today relates to the problem. If you find anything, post the error ID and description here.

Try this: Make sure you have your Windows XP Installation CD in your CD/DVD drive for the following: Download and run Dial-A-Fix and under Registration Centre, select "Explorer/IE/OE/shell/WMP".

As long as the application doesn't install a Service, it should be able to be made portable. PortableApps For most software, you only need to copy the Program Files folder to a flash drive.

I already did. I wouldn't have gone with an IDE drive myself. I don't know why you're looking for further approval from users here when you've already ordered the parts.

Why are you trying to delete the file anyway? If Unlocker doesn't work and the file is locked after you disable WFP then you'd have to boot to a CD with a file manager (Knoppix, ERD Commander, Reatogo Builder, BartPE) and navigate to the directory the file is stored and use the "del" command. If you want to remove Vista, then boot to your XPCD and format the G drive. In my opinion, that's a lot of work just to delete one file, which brings me back to my first question, why?

Which update? Link? Where do you think the help file is? Locally. C:\WINDOWS\Help or the files are stored in the Program's folder. C:\Program Files\Program\helpfile.chm. Gilbert, make sure you have your Windows XP Installation CD in your CD/DVD drive for the following: Download and run Dial-A-Fix (check everything off) and click "Go". Then click the Hammer icon, highlight "Reinstall Help and Support service" and click Go again. See if that helps.

That's about the simplest two word answer I've ever heard for a complex question. My HDD is a Seagate, that's one word. Have a whistle at me. Tinker didn't ask for specifics. Although, the brand name is irrelevant when troubleshooting a HDD problem. It can happen to any HDD.

I'm using Ultimate Defrag at the moment.

Ripken, a good link on AnandTech about Anti-Aliasing. Thanks PuntoMX for the link.

So you tried a repair install with an XP Home SP2 that came with your PC and it asked for files? The files should be located in X:\I386 (X representing the drive letter of your CD/DVD ROM). Try it again, and if you can successfully do a repair install, take a screenshot, or simply provide a list of all the software you have installed. I don't believe the longer boot time is directly associated with the defrag or registry cleaning. Something else is taking too long. Do you have any Services disabled?

Please try it first, cross the bridge as you come to it.

lol, yes i do

From my experience and from the experts at SPCR, an intake fan isn't so important anyway. As long as you have good heatsinks and a nice 120mm rear enhaust fan, you're good to go. I've heard its more important to get hot air out of the case rather then getting cool air inside the case. I'm running a fanless Scythe Ninja on my CPU as it's always at a constant 30-33C. My NV Silencer blows the hot air out of the rear of the case rather than just away from the card to be further ventilated throughout the case. Actually, when I switched to the NV Silencer, my overall case temperatures dropped 5C or more. My advice? Always get a VGA cooler that exhausts the air out the rear.

Well, your troubleshooting was very bad. If you have another desktop, connect the drive as a slave and see if that works. Burn your data with Nero Lite Micro to DVDs. I'd recommend checking your RAM with MemTest86 for any errors and the appropriate tool for your HDD to make sure there isn't anything wrong with it. If the freezing is because of software, then check your Startup entries, clean your temp/cache with CCleaner, reinstall/update your drivers with those from the manufacturer's and defragment your HDD.

My old DFI 661FX MLV mobo (which is now my girlfriend's) needed the SiS SATA/RAID drivers in order for Windows Setup to even detect my first SATA HDD. As I didn't have a floppy drive I had to use nLite to integrate the drivers.

This is true for some Services but not all. I'd never disable WMI or NLA but things like IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service, ClipBook, or RPC Locator, etc... can be disabled for most people. Granted it really isn't much of a performance increase even if you disable 3/4 of the Services like the Extremists. I have 2/3s of mine Disabled and the other 1/3 Started or Manual. You can always check the Event Log to see if a particular Service is being called upon. I personally prefer no errors in my Event Log. Anyway, there are countless recommendations and guides on practically every technical forum, so it's not necessary for people to continue to post "Mine are like this!" when you can just read existing threads and try for yourself. I would leave the Services alone and focus on startup entries and having your HDD defragmented, as well as having enough RAM.

In my opinion, it is best to connect the HDD to another PC by the means you have specified (how most techs do it anyway). The disadvantage of doing it from a Boot CD is not all anti-virus software can be installed in this way, specifically the better ones like Kaspersky and NOD32 because they install Services. ClamWin for example can be put on a BootCD because it is also portable, but it's not a reliable scanner.

Drag and drop to a folder, usually C:\XPCD.

Task Manager = taskmgr.exe Are you referring to the tabless appearance or the Japanese characters in the otherwise English filenames? The answer to the tabless appearance is to simply double click inside of the window anywhere but outside of the list.

A 6800 is by no means a crappy card. I game, edit videos and my 6800GS just rips through anything I throw at it.

If the HDD is making an "ticking" or "clicking" sounds then you may want to get the HDD replaced, seeing as how it already has bad sectors. If it is still under warranty then you should be able to get this done free of charge. If not, then the money for a new HDD is coming out of yours or a family member's pocket. Is it a desktop or laptop? Laptops are usually harder to work on than desktops because of the compact design, you have to go through layers of parts and screws for specific parts, which if mixed up can be hell.

Use CCleaner to clean out the temp/cache on your PC. If you're not one to clean things out on a regular basis, you'll likely clear out anywhere from 300 MB to 5 GBs of files. CCleaner can also check the Startup Entries. Remove any you don't use on a daily basis. If you have any of these Norton products installed: AntiSpam 2004, 2005 AntiVirus 2003-2007 Ghost 2003, 9 or 10 GoBack v3.1 - v4.2 Internet Security 2003-2007 Password Manager Personal Firewall 2003-2006 SystemWorks 2003,2006 Confidential Online 2007 Download and use the Symantec Norton Removal Tool 2007 to remove them from your PC. NAV and NIS in particular are usually what people remove. They are bloated, ineffective and extremely resource heavy. You may and likely have or will suffered from system performance degradation from NAV or even loss of Internet connection due NIS. Use jv16 PowerTools 2006's Registry Cleaner on Aggressive Mode to scan, fix and remove invalid registry entries. Then use the Registry Compactor feature to defragment your registry. Many people don't believe this affects performance at all. I have experienced differently. Maybe not for 300 KBs but for several MBs (15-20% of the registry) it does improve performance. After this is done, Reboot. Use JKDefrag v3.7 or a trial version of Ultimate Defrag, Diskeeper or PerfectDisk to defragment your HDD(s). Make sure to perform a Boot-Time defrag as well. After this, your system should be a lot smoother and faster.

Did Windows pick up your PCI FireWire card automatically and tell you it was successfully installed? Do you see it in Device Manager? Does it have a question mark or an exclamation mark next to it?

There you go, Zxian.

I don't have my own company but if I did, I would configure the network so malware couldn't get in in the first place as to not waste time on such programs. They're fine for home users where time isn't necessarily money, but not in a corporate environment. You'd also want to make an image file for all workstations to save even more time and money. If something did go wrong with an OS, you'd just restore it entirely within 5 minutes. That's what I do with Acronis True Image but I don't have to do it very often.