Zxian

For #1), the method that nakira linked to works... but gosh NO! Download and install TweakUI. It's got a setting in there for the Places Bar. That way, you'll never run the risk of messing up the registry.

The most important things to consider when building a quiet computer is (a) the case, (B) the PSU, © the CPU heatsink, and (d) fans. Zalman heatsinks with the fans on silent mode do really well. As long as you're not looking into overclocking the system, they'll do fine. Antec makes good quiet cases. I've got the 2650, and the 120mm case fan is **** near silent. Dunno much about quiet PSUs... the one that comes with my case is quiet as well. Fans, just look for low dBa levels. Anything below 25dBa should be fine. It's not much, but it's a start... Hope this helps!

When are you trying to install Office? is it after Windows has installed (after Windows says "Applying your settings", or at T-12? If it's the latter, you may need to use Nankai's OfficeExec to get that install to work.

Amazing!!!! Thanks for the update!!!! Can I vote for a sticky?

Or you can use Replacer to replace the original file. It will automatically create a backup of the original and deal with SFC for you.

The three girls downstairs already had their own laptops as well, and the two that were taken weren't really much to write home about (my girlfriend's was an Averatec *shudders*, and the other girl's was a 3 year old Compaq). I also know that there would be no reason for the other girls to take anything. They all know each other (my girlfriend is the only new roommate) already. And yea... it's pretty obvious that they came through the window. It was open when we got back (it's in a laundry room) and the door from that room out was unlocked (and it's always locked normally).

Crap... the master is back! Nice wall though. You always manage to make all the colours just fit together really well.

Grr... I'm so angry right now. I went to my girlfriend's place yesterday afternoon after lunch to drop some stuff off, since I was going to stay the night anyways. 5 minutes after I got there, one of her roommates comes home to find that her laptop was missing from her room. I checked in my girlfriend's room, and her laptop was taken as well. The two of them live upstairs, and three girls live downstairs - none of their stuff was taken. The strange thing about this was that they also took a bag from my girlfriends room that had a bunch of electronics in it, but they took out and left her digital camera... in the box, with all manuals and CDs, etc etc... It's pretty obvious that whoever did this was specifically after laptops. They came in through an unlocked window, grabbed the laptops, and left. The only time that no-one was in the house was between 10:20 and 11:10. I'm just p***ed off that people do these kinds of things. It's the start of a school year, the girls who live there need their computers (everything in university is now online), and they're not just stealing the computers themselves - they're stealing pictures, documents... generally just time spent from these girls. Not to mention that if the girls do poorly in their classes because they don't have the means to do all their homework, it's all the tuition fees down the drain as well. I told my girlfriend that I'd lend her my desktop computer for the time being (it's harder to steal that unnoticed), either until the police find her computer (they claim to recover 95% of stolen items) or until her insurance covers the loss. I'm just wondering about the insurance if it comes to that... she bought the laptop back in January for $1400CAD (after tax), and since the market is moving so quickly, I'm worried that she's not going to get very much for it. I wish that I could find whoever did this when I had a big baseball bat or something else heavy and hard.

Well... I haven't been sued, but I got a message from my ISP reporting "suspicious activity" (i.e. me downloading stuff...) on the BT network. AFAIK, downloading here in Canada is not illegal - sharing/uploading is. It's my ISP's policy to not allow copyright infringement. They just don't want to deal with the people with proverbial torches and pitchforks.

I think one of the questions that got omitted in the beginning of this discussion is why do you want to upgrade? I've got pretty much the same setup at home (nForce4 mobo, worse video card for me though), and it does everything that I need. If that PC was originally a 486, then you must have upgraded a lot of stuff in there (essentially everything). Crazy...

BitComet does this and you can hide most of the GUI features in the View menu. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not to mention the fact that BitLord is essentially a rip of BitComet with a higher version number to make it "sound newer". You can always get rid of the left panel easily in BitComet as well.

Not for another couple of years, but close enough...

Hmm.... I'm working with this CD (trying to get Office 2003 on here - no shrinkage, just 7-zip the full Admin install), but I'm noticing that there are times when the copying of the files at the text setup screen just seems to hang... no errors, just a seemingly unnecessary pause. Once it goes on to the graphical install screen there's no problem. I'll try re-creating the reduced source.

LMAO!!!! That's the funniest thing I've read all week...

Does that get around activation? Or is there no other way?

Another way of doing this is to use Gosh's Method to reduce the size of the XP install. You'll loose the ability to upgrade (which I recommend you never do anyways), but you'll save about 210MB on your CD (365MB for XP-SP2 with all updates vs 582). That should be plenty of room for WinPE.

AveIcon can handle multiple files at a time. I've dumped over 100 in there at a time and it spit them out just fine. Not batch file, but Ctrl+A -> drag instead.

Yup - imagine the situation where you have a file on your home computer and you need it on your laptop/workstation when you're halfway across the world. Fire up Hamachi (which is already running at home) and you're in! Your computer will see the Windows file shares as though the other computer was right there with you. No need to set up port forwarding, no nonsense. Just to apps running on two computers with internet access. So grafx1, yes, you can send files over a LAN with Hamachi, but you don't need it at all. You're better off just using Windows File Sharing

MartinL is here! Run... hide.... J/K @grafx1 - Thanks! Don't forget to vote! @MartinL - So... you're an Aston Martin fan as well, eh?

I'll say this - you cannot upgrade your current setup. You would in the end be buying an entirely new system. As for the worth of your current setup... not much I'm afraid. Selling old computers is usually a pain since most of the time, the core components are quickly outdated (The slowest AMD I can find at my computer store is a Sempron 2400+). IMO, you're better off saving up a bit of money and waiting a while. The prices of the AMD X2 processors are only going to drop, and you'll be getting a big performance boost with one of those in your system. You can also keep your current setup as a file/web/FTP server, or have it as a test system for new programs that you don't want to install on your new baby.

The question is not in place for the end user. The common average Joe only needs XP-Home, and that is usually what they are sold. People only buy Pro because they are told it's "better" and because the stores usually make commission. The ability to log onto a domain one reason businesses use XP-Pro. Remote adminstration is another. In terms of hardware, I don't think there would be too much of a problem. However, the added price that you pay for workstations usually makes up for itself in the friendly-ness of their tech support. I know that as a "home PC" consumer, it took me weeks to get HP to take a look at my laptop, whereas my friend who bought an LCD screen under his business got a shipping label the next day - no hassles.

Why thank you. The calendar is a slight modification of the Vertical Calendar config for SysStats. The next/previous month arrows are in a nicer place, IMO, and the middle button will return you back to the current month (instead of having to click on the month text). Once you've got AveDesk and SysStats up and running, PM me and I can send it to you.

I just wish that Trillian had the ability to set tabs on bottom... then it'd be pretty much perfect!!!

1TB RAM? 2TB HD? Not to mention the fact that that 1TB is still accessed through a 200 pin SODIMM slot... I'm sorry. No. There are companies being developed at my university that are starting with quantum computing, and they're just scratching the surface of where we were about 20 years ago with Silicon. With enough development, it will quickly surpass silicon technologies, but that will still take a number of years.

Another addition onto the list - Hamachi. It requires Windows File Sharing to work, but it'll also allow you to connect to your friends' computers across the internet as though they were on your LAN. It's got messaging capabilities as well.