Dracion1

I don't think I really need it, and it's cocked up before so there's no guarantee it won't do it again. I don't want to be locked out of my PC. The only updates being shipped to XP now are security ones and I'm getting a new PC in the summer anyway. Afaik WGA is only used for other MS software which I already have or don't need. Tbh the problems & annonyances outweigh the somewhat limited advantages.

The problem I find with things like Norton and McAffee is that they have uncessary bloat which you don't need, which is why they hog up so much memory. I used to use Norton Internet Security, but it gave me problems when I tried to play certain games as my PC only had 1GB of RAM back then, and my PC was often sluggish at times. I've since upgraded my RAM to 3GB and switched to AVIRA and Ad-Aware and I've noticed a big performance increase : Anyway, since you've got a top spec PC and you've just bought a subscription, it's probably best if you stick to McAffee until it runs out. You can always turn off some of the unwanted features if you want to.

Find some articles by big name computer brands, Firefox has been rated as a good browser alternative to IE by a lot of companies. Alternatively, download it anyway and stick an IE theme on it :P

Since about Wednesday I've had a small annoying window that appears as soon as I log in asking me if I want to install Windows Genuine Advantage. Is there any way to get rid of this? I've tried looking in 'msconfig', but I don't think it's in there. If it's any help, there are two WGASetup[Caution: Executable File] processes running as SYSTEM and my computer username. Before anyone moans about piracy, I've had problems with WGA before when I tried to install Windowx XP SP3; it wouldn't let me log on claiming my copy of XP needed verification or something and I've had to roll-back to SP2. Since my PC is a Dell, it's obviously not going to be a false copy since it came with the computer. Any help appreciated, thanks :)

Not when you get paid to do it it isn't :D

You've been beaten to the punch by people who've been beaten to the punch by people who've been beaten to the punch by the original person who suggested it. And? My opinion on the matter still counts ;)

Atheism, just to proove all the evangelical religious nuts wrong.

"If the theory doesn't fit the facts, change the facts." - Albert Einstein.

Have you been given a budget? No good suggesting a top of the range $1000+ one if you can only spend $600 or less. The problem is laptops can't really be upgraded that easily like desktops can. To replace things like CPU and graphics you'd have to buy a whole new motherboard for the laptop, so you may aswell just buy a new one. RAM and Hard drives aren't such a problem, though they can be a pain to do on some models.

We have a big massive thread for CoD 4 already :) - viewtopic.php?f=151&t=714283

Thereotically it could, but 2-3GB is enough I find on XP when it comes to gaming and such. I rarely use over 2GB, that's even with modern major release games, and things like steam + Xfire. Only way I could someone needing more would be for intensive graphical editing, but I don't think OP wants to do that.

Watched a Horizon program about this a while back, I'm very interested to see if it becomes a viable power source. It's got a lot of potential, if we could work out to make it economial the benefits would innumberable. There's another test reactor not far from where I live called JET (Joint European Torus), the largest one built so far , though not as powerful as the Z Machine. Anyway, an interesting picture on wikipedia showing the torus. The section on the right is the plasma formed when the machine is 'running':

OP said he couldn't download Firefox, because he's on a limited account and his dad won't let him; which is why I suggested Fx portable. That doesn't really help much, we're trying to establish if IE is causing the problem, not which browser is fastest.

Your internet speed isn't a problem, my net's much slower and facebook is fine for me. If you can't install Firefox, then why not try Firefox Portable? It's the same as the real thing, the only difference is it installs in one place, useful for memory sticks. And yes, just go to run and type 'dxdiag', and then take a screenshot of the window that comes up. Is Norton on both computers or just one?

Perhaps if said "Try Firefox" instead? If he tried another browser it would let us know if it's simply IE handling the scripts badly that's causing the problem, any alternative would do, it just so happens that Fx is the most popular one. Anyway, having thought about it might be more to do with system specs. I know OP mentioned he was using 2000 and had Norton so I'm guessing he's using an older PC. Norton is infamous for using system resources, and iirc it integrates some features into IE, so that might be the cause of the problem. It might be worth trying a more lightweight AV if none of the other solutions work.

Try downloading Java again, perhaps using Internet Explorer this time. It also might help to update your graphics drivers if you're playing HD, but you'll need to find out what graphics card you have. If you go to Run and type dxdiag and then click on the Display tab that will say, you should simply be able to type the manufacturer's name into google to find driver downloads.

How fast is your internet? Go to www.speedtest.net and see, that's the main determining factor.

Mods feel free to lock if you think it's inappropriate to discuss this less than legal matter. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8003799.stm What do you think of this? Personally I think it's OTT since technically they haven't hosted any copyright content, just linked to it. Sure that's what they've been charged with, but I don't see how that justifies such a big fine and the jail sentenct. I mean, this isn't really going to affect anything, the site will most likely remain up as will all the other P2P file sharing sites. It's just a PR stunt really, nothing more than that. Discuss.

Most of the nasty stuff that is out there nearly always has to be activated by the user accepting a download or a script. I think you'll find that most people agree that NoScript is the safest way to browse. It's been reccomended by various big names; PCWorld (a leading PC store in the UK), CNET, Forbes, even the New York Times. Personal preference. Sure Opera comes with more features as standard, but some people may feel the need to have a lot of addons, while perhaps others just want a barebones browser. For example, I find a mouse gestures a pain to use, I'd rather use a keyboard shortcut or even click the buttons at the top but to each his own.

I think WinRar can decompress almost every compression types as far I saw. I find it extremely fast and easy to use. WinRAR doesn't support gzip, tar or bzip2. 7zip is less bloated I found and doesn't bug you to buy it each time, because it's open soucre and therefore completely free.

What problem that isn't up to par with XP? Explain some more, I doubt anyone will be able to help you since your message is so vague.

.rar is type of file compression used to make files smaller, very useful when it comes to downloads and such. I wouldn't reccomend winrar, 7zip is another free program which is much better and can decompress most compression types.

It's anything but crap, especially things like NoScript and Adblock+. With these two addons firefox is the safest browser available. Anyway it's better having these as optional extras as it makes for much more customizability, you tweak things so they're just how you want them.

Yup. :

Ok then.