Hugh wrote: Slowness is more likely to be a result of spyware, or a need to defrag.>> To that, I'd add: Or too many programs running in the background. If you happen to have Ms Office installed, its internal fast indexing service is a known memory hog, and many people have reported drastic performance improvement after disabling it. Run Msconfig/startup tab, and see how much is running at startup. Very likely many or most of those aren't needed at all times, and you may find that unticking those that aren't essential will pay dividends. Also, in XP there are many services which are set to run by default, many of which are probably not needed. To disable unneeded startup services for a safer, faster XP, use the "Services" Admin Tool (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). If you are a single user of a non-networked machine, you should disable the following items, with no ill effect. Alerter Clipbook Computer Browser Fast User Switching Human Interface Access Devices Indexing Service (Slows the hard drive down) Messenger Net Logon (unnecessary unless networked on a Domain) Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security) Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security) Remote Procedure Call Locator Remote Registry (disabled for extra security) Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security) Server SSDP Discovery Service (this is for the pointless "Universal P'n'P", & leaves TCP Port 5000 wide open) TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Telnet (disabled for extra security) Universal Plug and Play Device Host Upload Manager Windows Time Wireless Zero Configuration (for wireless networks) Workstation Don Penlington From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland. Computer tutorials, local scenery, and other things at my website: http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html PCSOFT's List Owner's: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>