Hey Steve,
This is a good topic. Sharing of ideas is what it is all about.  I
understand that the scorched earth approach may seem like burning down the
house to fix a leaky faucet...  I tend to look at it from a "quickest route
to a solution" standpoint.  I've spent literally hours chasing down some
conflicts on my own systems.  When a client calls me, it's because they are
already experiencing problems that have probably become intolerable.  I know
that there are methods, techniques and software tools that supposedly can
diagnose a myriad of problems, but as I tell my clients... the quickest way
to solve almost all of the quirkiness and come out with a cleaner system on
the other side is the rebuild (i.e. "scorched earth") approach.  Of course I
open the case as part of this process and do a visual inspection (ugh! the
condition of some PCs when they come in).  I clean out the inside of the
system with a blower/vac.  I check all the fans, etc.  I then have a
checklist of items that I document and back up.  This varies a little bit by
user of course depending on what software is installed on the machine.  The
method I use to back up also varies from zipped diskette sets to Zip disks
to saving to a networked drive.  I often install a PrintScreen utility so
that I can hard-copy document network settings and driver data.  Then I have
at it.  Fdisk, Format and Windows Install.  I've found the Windows
Installation procedure to be a very good exerciser of system components.  If
there is a hardware problem, it usually shows up in the installation.  Once
install is complete, I add the necessary drivers, restore settings and then
restore user data from the back up media.  I still think that this approach
gives my clients great value for the 4 - 5 hours I charge them for it.  The
computer installation is as good as day one when I built it.

My background is in corporate data processing.  Spent 15 years in bank DP
first in mainframes, then heading the personal computer group.  Been
consulting full time for the last 10 years (dang that makes me sound old!).
I feel like I have a "solutions" outlook on computer problems.  I like the
"nitty-gritty" of the hardware, but find that most of my clients really
don't care how things work, they just want their machines back so they can
get back to business.

I'm still curious to see one of the "Standards" sheets that somebody
mentioned.

brian.

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