Antivirus software? Update the drivers for your peripherals? Run Microsoft Update? Install something other than IE?

Duh - see....that is why I love my buffistas.

There is probably more too....sigh.

Oy, Maria - thanks for the reminder about the MS Update...geeesh, so much to download and install. Yikes, upon Yikes. But Firefox is all set too along with a few choice add-ins.

Antivrus software is next and then scouring the house for my missing software.

eta - FOUND IT! I think. We will see after the download of 72 updates.

You're welcome, Suzi. It took me the better part of a day to upgrade my mother's computer (she hadn't installed SP2 yet), so I feel your pain.

I can't remember everything I need to do when reinstalling either. It usually ends up being discovered when I need the plugin/software/driver, or when XP implodes because I looked at it funny.

I need to do SP2 on my laptop. Not going to mess with it until I have desktop going again.

SP2 takes some time, but it's an automatic install. I wasted most of my time downloading and installing the updates needed to even contemplate putting SP2 on her machine. You should be able to do both at the same time.

So also yesterday, we picked up a cheapie little $100 5.1 system with DVD player and am/fm tuner at Sears. It's okay, and it makes the HUGEST difference in the sound. We used to have to crank the TV really loud to hear the dialog on most movies and TV shows, and would be deafened when music or sound effects played. Now, with a center speaker and a subwoofer, even cheap ones, we can keep the TV at a much lower volume and hear dialog perfectly.

Right now I'm only using it as 3-channel stereo (+sw), as the cables for the front speakers are actually pretty short and I had to use one of the surrounds as my front right channel so it would stretch to where the tuner is (don't get me started on the geography of the living room). I think I want to wall mount the speakers, but I'll almost certainly have to splice in extra speaker cables on more than one speak in order to place them where I want.

Thank Drew I'm a sound guy and I've done this a hundred times already.

I knew that would pay off eventually.

What I need now is a good way to get a few remaining files off my iPod and back onto my hard drive. There's about 7 that I had purchased and not backed up -- and they're tantalizingly just out of reach (but listening distance!) on the iPod!

Surely there is a good program or two that will do that for me. Mind you, I'm not trying to rip Apple off, just to retrieve files that I actually did pay for.

Please?

Theodosia, Mac or PC? If Mac you can go to www.senuti.com