OK, I called Tivo, and my Tivo is officially dead. And, since I'm past the warranty coverage, it's $129 to replace it. But, if I replace it through them that way, rather than going to the store and buying a new one, my lifetime subscription will still count. So I'm doing that. (My old one is a 40-hour Series 2, which they don't make any more. I wonder if the new one they send me will be a 40-hour that they still have around for replacing peoples broken ones, or if they'll just send me an 80-hour one.)

since I'm past the warranty coverage, it's $129 to replace it. But, if I replace it through them that way, rather than going to the store and buying a new one, my lifetime subscription will still count. So I'm doing that.

I didn't know TiVo did that. That's very kind of them. Really (I'm not being sarcastic)! I thought the "lifetime" sub died with the machine.

I thought the "lifetime" sub died with the machine.

So did I. I was figuring that I'd have to buy a new one and start paying for the service. The $129 is more expensive than even the cheapest new one, but with not having to pay the service fees, it pays off within a few months.

Well, hell. This can't be right. Hard drive experts, what's going on here?

Out of my hard drive comes a SATA splitter but a closer look reveals extra pins and a ribbon. The ribbon seems to be threaded through all five drives, out of which come that SATA splitter. Even my original hard drive, which came with my computer in 1999. I'm getting confused.

That's not an SATA cable, that's the power cable for your drive. The ribbon to the left in he second picture is your ATA/IDE cable. The pins that you see are for jumpers to set if your is Master, Slave, or Cable Select.

Thanks, ND. Why does it look like the ribbon is just threaded through an opening rather than actually going into the drive? Because it looks like one ribbon going through all the drives; this ribbon seems to begin and end on the motherboard.

So...I do have an IDE connection, then? That's the enclosure I should order?

So...I do have an IDE connection, then? That's the enclosure I should order?

Absolutely, without a doubt, that is an ATA/IDE drive. It is NOT SATA.

If you trace what you are calling a "splitter" back to its source, you'll see that it's coming from the power supply. Generally, a ribbon goes through no more than 2 drives. It's possible you've got a couple of ribbons that are tangled up so it looks like it's one long one?

It's possible you've got a couple of ribbons that are tangled up so it looks like it's one long one?

I'd say it's hard not to, unless he has SCSI, which is unlikely. IDE has three connections, tops: controller, drive 0, drive 1.

Why does it look like the ribbon is just threaded through an opening rather than actually going into the drive?

Don't know, but it just looks that way. The wires in that ribbon cable really do connect the drive to the motherboard.

I need to replace ZoneAlarm. Basically it stop running leaving the system vulnerable at random moments. It also hangs the system on occasion as an added gift with purchases. I looked it up: this is a known bug Zone labs is not dealing with at all. For some users, a clean reinstall fixes it, and I tried that. But it did not work. If a clean reinstall does not work to fix this bug, there is no other known fix. (BTW, though I'm using the free versions, this problem occurs with all windows versions, no matter what you paid.) Don't know what systems it happens or not with. And if anyone else knows (glares ZoneLabsward) they are not saying.

So: Comodo?

Kerio?

Any other free firewall recommendations?