I just inherited a Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100, with Windows Media Player 9, running XP Pro SP2, with 512 mb ram and a 1.7 Ghz Pentium 4. It has a DVD drive, but I put in a standard TV show DVD and it said it didn't have the files to run it. Should I bother trying to find Media Player 9 compatible files, or is the hardware not even up to it?

edit: display adapter is an NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go

Hammerhead HMR989 is the best 'exposed' PC case mod we've ever seen

DARWINmachine's Hammerhead HMR989 isn't just another exposed PC with its case blown off. The HMR989 is high-performance PC built for gamers who like to blow stuff up in their games and want their computers to look like something other than a gigantic tin box.

Everything from the way the HMR989's NVIDIA ENGTX460 graphics card is mounted vertically to the never-boring blue LED lights to the custom, hand-built anodized aluminum and ecoresin frame screams of attention to detail.

This stunning PC case mod takes two weeks to build and can be ordered for $2,900. It comes with a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-860 processor, 4GB of RAM, 40GB SSD, 640GB hard drive, extra slot for a second hard drive, optical CD/DVD drive and runs on Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium.

Connie, if you have a broadband connection, I would download and install Windows XP SP3, first, and then reassess. A lot of newer programs need the fixes in SP3.

[link]

I strongly doubt it's a legal copy of XP. That'll be a problem, won't it?

I have applied SP3 to someone's copy of XP where I have had doubts to it's authenticity and been successful.

Your mileage may vary.

You might also try VLC Player to play DVDs.

If anyone is curious, the VLC player works wonderfully on the laptop. Thanks, DC.

You're welcome.

ION, I'm finally free of my 1999 Power Mac G4 450. I am currently migrating to a G5 Power Mac 2.0 Ghz Dual Core we bought from Drew and Kristin.

It's only a 6 year leap, but what a leap! In the current millennium, again!

So, I may have to replace my current home computer quicker than I thought. Suggestions?

I've only owned 3 laptops in my life (all Toshiba) because they've lasted me 5 or more years each, but I'm open to other PC brands, netbooks, etc.

Money is not really an object. But since I just need it for Word/Excel, email/Internet, and iTunes it seems silly to pay out the nose (I don't watch video or play video games and I don't intend to). Also, I'd like to keep using Office 2003, which I assume wouldn't be a problem regardless.

Also, I'd like to keep using Office 2003

Make sure you have disks and CD Key. I did a netbook thing but it was out of desperation. This meets by immediate needs, but I know damn well it is likely to die in two years. If I had money I would have gotten either a decent notebook that would take 8 Gig of Ram, a decent side solid state disk and a version of windows 7 that could accss that much RAM. Decent speed now, decent speed even after 7 gets patched over the years and starts eating more memory. Alternatively I might consider a MacBook air, but the office 2003 thing might be a bit expensive - might have to go to one of the pricey places that specializes in getting people legal versions of older office versions.

Sorry for disappearing. My laptop fan is not working and I'm using the 15 minutes or so of computer time to back up everything in stages.

Make sure you have disks and CD Key.

I only want to keep Office 2003 because I own it already and see no reason to upgrade when eveything I've heard about the newer versions is bad.

I hadn't really considered switching to a Mac. I would love something small, but I don't really know what netbooks can handle and what they can't. And I think that ultimately I do still want a DVD/CD drive.

Is there any reason I shouldn't get this at Best Buy?