In "computer years", your machine is up there in age.  What you describe 
sounds to me like it could be related to components in your machine that 
are giving up the ghost.  You could *try* reformatting the drive, 
although I am not of the opinion that doing that is the end-all, 
be-all.  In this case, your problem really sounds hardware related.
I'm sure it has served faithfully over the years, but it may be time to 
consider replacing your machine.  Dell has some good deals on machines, 
if you want to stick with Dell.  I just bought (for our office) a very 
nicely configured system, including 19" LCD monitor, for $800.  The 
price would have been about $200 cheaper, but I had them put some 
upgrades on it...


Tony Mayer


Jim wrote:
>    Recently half the time I boot I get the following window: "DrWatson 
> Postmortem Debugger has encountered a problem and needs to close."  The 
> "Detail" button does not reveal anything comprehensible - to me, at least. 
> Just code gook.  Then the pc usually (not always!) fails to complete 
> booting. The curser shows an arrow on the desktop - but an hour glass on the 
> Task Bar. And clicking - on anything - does nothing.  I then have to hit 
> "Ctrl/Alt/Del" and shut down from "Windows Task Manager".  Then to boot 
> successfully I have to reboot in Safe Mode and restore to a previous 
> successful date.
>
>     In addition, E mail ( O.E.), browser (Firefox), and other apps frequently stop working - "Not Responding".
>
>     I've  housecleaned: Disc scan, defrag, emptied cookies, temp files, 
> scanned for malware, etc.  Didn't help.
>
>     At about the same time the thumb button (for doubleclick) on my Logitech 
> "MouseMan Wheel" stopped working.  I re-installed its driver which fixed 
> this  - but only till next re-boot!
>
>     I have XP Pro on a 8 year old Dell. Anyone have a suggestion??

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